This is not The God of Thunder we knew.
I am a lifelong reader of Marvel comics, and have consistently tried to see every single MCU film in the theater going back to the first Captain America film. I was blown away by INFINITY WAR and ENDGAME, and unlike some fans that have soured on Marvel’s super hero adventures after the latter, I’ve hung in there, finding a lot to like even in film efforts that paled when compared to what came before. Though Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans have retired their parts as Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, there was still the consolation that Chris Hemsworth would continue as Thor, the Asgardian God of Thunder. Hemsworth is a perfect fit in the role, with a real movie star’s physical presence, and a good sense for comedy, two attributes that are not always evident in others. For these reasons, I was really looking forward to THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER, the first stand alone Thor adventure since the excellent THOR: RAGNAROK back in 2017.
Sadly, I was disappointed. Though I didn’t find LOVE AND THUNDER to be the disaster some fans did, I thought the film was done in by a script and a director that took the God of Thunder down the wrong path in a big way. I have admired a lot of Taika Waititi’s work in the past, especially on RAGNAROK and JOJO RABBIT, but this time he leaned into the humor way too much, doubling down, and then tripling down, on the humorous elements that worked so well in RAGNAROK, but forgetting that there needs to be some heart and sincere emotion for the humor to play off. That’s something that even a lesser MCU film like last summer’s BLACK WIDOW pulled off well. LOVE AND THUNDER picks up post ENDGAME where Thor is roaming the galaxy with the GUARDIANS, enjoying the adventures of being Space Viking. But soon, he is back on earth trying to hunt down a villain going by the name of Gorr the God Butcher, who, for reasons of his own, is going about systematically killing off all the mythical Gods of the many civilizations spread throughout the universe. This is where Thor, and his trusty sidekick Korg (CGI, but voiced by Waititi) meet up with his old flame, Jane Foster, who is now wielding the hammer, Mjolnir, and going by the name of Lady Thor. After an awkward reunion, Thor, Jane, Korg, and Valkyrie (again played by Tessa Thompson) are off in search of help to fight Gorr, who has kidnapped the children of New Asgard. What drags this plot down is the incessant humor, with most of the jokes centered on Thor being a clueless oaf, and his relationship with his ex, who is now his equal when it comes to super heroics. And for the first two thirds of the film, that is just about all it is: setup and punch line…setup and punch line…repeat and repeat. And in case we didn’t get the joke, Korg says something to underline it. The God of Thunder himself is reduced to being a big muscle bound doofus in scene after scene, a far cry from the prideful and earnest character trying to do what is right and be worthy that we knew in The Avengers films and his own earlier solo screen appearances. I agree with those who say that much of the film felt like badly written SNL skit—especially Zeus’s lightning bolt, which looked as if it had been found in NBC’s prop room. Having Matt Damon, Sam Neill, and Luke Hemsworth (joined by newcomer Melissa McCarthy) reprise their cameos from RAGNAROK only diminished the joke, and the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY were totally superfluous the story. There should be a new rule that cameos have to be pertinent to the plot in some way. I have no idea what they were going for in Russell Crowe’s small part as Zeus, a part played in a way that seemed to belong in another movie. And the deficits in the script only highlighted how badly this film relied on CGI effects.
Only in the final third, when there is a showdown with Gorr, does the story switch gears, and it feels like we’re in a real super hero film. And that is because Christian Bale, who plays Gorr, really does show up and give a heartfelt performance. Gorr’s origin in the pre-credits opening is well done, and anytime Bale was onscreen, everything is kicks up a notch. But even he was hurt by an inconsistent script that had Gorr, traumatized by the loss of his daughter, turn around and terrorize the children of New Asgard.
But despite my criticism, I won’t say I hate LOVE AND THUNDER and consider the MCU dead the way many online have done. If you don’t ask much of it, the film is entertaining, and I did like seeing the Marvel concept of Eternity brought to the screen. But mostly, I’m left with a sense of an opportunity missed. We didn’t get a rousing adventure with a self described Space Viking, which would have been nice. But most of all, we don’t get an idea of where the MCU is heading in this next phase. There were two post credits scene, one of which implied that a dead character might have a way back into the MCU, and in the other, we briefly glimpse a super powered being not shown before. I was hoping for something dealing with the next GUARDIANS film, or maybe a hint at who the Big Bad will be in this next phase. Then there is the introduction of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four to the MCU proper after MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS. It would have been nice to see some progress on that front. I know Covid has scrambled the time table for the MCU after ENDGAME, but right now, it feels as if they are simply treading water. And more films like LOVE AND THUNDER will burn up a lot of goodwill with fans like me.
I am an indie author and my latest novel is ALL THE WAY WITH JFK: AN ALTERNATE HISTORY OF 1964. It is available at the following:
http://amzn.to/2jVkW9m on Amazon
http://bit.ly/2kAoiAH at Smashwords
And coming soon, my vampire trilogy, Big Crimson.
Visit my Goodreads author's page at:
http://bit.ly/2nxmg
Sadly, I was disappointed. Though I didn’t find LOVE AND THUNDER to be the disaster some fans did, I thought the film was done in by a script and a director that took the God of Thunder down the wrong path in a big way. I have admired a lot of Taika Waititi’s work in the past, especially on RAGNAROK and JOJO RABBIT, but this time he leaned into the humor way too much, doubling down, and then tripling down, on the humorous elements that worked so well in RAGNAROK, but forgetting that there needs to be some heart and sincere emotion for the humor to play off. That’s something that even a lesser MCU film like last summer’s BLACK WIDOW pulled off well. LOVE AND THUNDER picks up post ENDGAME where Thor is roaming the galaxy with the GUARDIANS, enjoying the adventures of being Space Viking. But soon, he is back on earth trying to hunt down a villain going by the name of Gorr the God Butcher, who, for reasons of his own, is going about systematically killing off all the mythical Gods of the many civilizations spread throughout the universe. This is where Thor, and his trusty sidekick Korg (CGI, but voiced by Waititi) meet up with his old flame, Jane Foster, who is now wielding the hammer, Mjolnir, and going by the name of Lady Thor. After an awkward reunion, Thor, Jane, Korg, and Valkyrie (again played by Tessa Thompson) are off in search of help to fight Gorr, who has kidnapped the children of New Asgard. What drags this plot down is the incessant humor, with most of the jokes centered on Thor being a clueless oaf, and his relationship with his ex, who is now his equal when it comes to super heroics. And for the first two thirds of the film, that is just about all it is: setup and punch line…setup and punch line…repeat and repeat. And in case we didn’t get the joke, Korg says something to underline it. The God of Thunder himself is reduced to being a big muscle bound doofus in scene after scene, a far cry from the prideful and earnest character trying to do what is right and be worthy that we knew in The Avengers films and his own earlier solo screen appearances. I agree with those who say that much of the film felt like badly written SNL skit—especially Zeus’s lightning bolt, which looked as if it had been found in NBC’s prop room. Having Matt Damon, Sam Neill, and Luke Hemsworth (joined by newcomer Melissa McCarthy) reprise their cameos from RAGNAROK only diminished the joke, and the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY were totally superfluous the story. There should be a new rule that cameos have to be pertinent to the plot in some way. I have no idea what they were going for in Russell Crowe’s small part as Zeus, a part played in a way that seemed to belong in another movie. And the deficits in the script only highlighted how badly this film relied on CGI effects.
Only in the final third, when there is a showdown with Gorr, does the story switch gears, and it feels like we’re in a real super hero film. And that is because Christian Bale, who plays Gorr, really does show up and give a heartfelt performance. Gorr’s origin in the pre-credits opening is well done, and anytime Bale was onscreen, everything is kicks up a notch. But even he was hurt by an inconsistent script that had Gorr, traumatized by the loss of his daughter, turn around and terrorize the children of New Asgard.
But despite my criticism, I won’t say I hate LOVE AND THUNDER and consider the MCU dead the way many online have done. If you don’t ask much of it, the film is entertaining, and I did like seeing the Marvel concept of Eternity brought to the screen. But mostly, I’m left with a sense of an opportunity missed. We didn’t get a rousing adventure with a self described Space Viking, which would have been nice. But most of all, we don’t get an idea of where the MCU is heading in this next phase. There were two post credits scene, one of which implied that a dead character might have a way back into the MCU, and in the other, we briefly glimpse a super powered being not shown before. I was hoping for something dealing with the next GUARDIANS film, or maybe a hint at who the Big Bad will be in this next phase. Then there is the introduction of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four to the MCU proper after MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS. It would have been nice to see some progress on that front. I know Covid has scrambled the time table for the MCU after ENDGAME, but right now, it feels as if they are simply treading water. And more films like LOVE AND THUNDER will burn up a lot of goodwill with fans like me.
I am an indie author and my latest novel is ALL THE WAY WITH JFK: AN ALTERNATE HISTORY OF 1964. It is available at the following:
http://amzn.to/2jVkW9m on Amazon
http://bit.ly/2kAoiAH at Smashwords
And coming soon, my vampire trilogy, Big Crimson.
Visit my Goodreads author's page at:
http://bit.ly/2nxmg
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