Thor: Love and Thunder is a 2022 American superhero comedy film based on the Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Taika Waititi, who co-wrote the script with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, and stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor alongside Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Waititi, Russell Crowe, and Natalie Portman.
In its essence, it is a direct sequel to Thor: Ragnarok but unlike Ragnarok which was fresh and brought a humorous element to the Marvel superhero, Thor: Love and Thunder makes him super-woke and fails in both humor and plot as it tries to squeeze in a LGBTQ agenda, like many other failing Netflix shows and movies to appease a single minority while ignoring what truly attracts audiences – entertainment. In Thor Love and Thunder we are given it all – homosexual aliens, a female Thor who while wielding Mjolnir gets the suit and flying abilities while poor Captain America got none of that in Avengers: Endgame. But hey, virtue signalling is how these Hollywood makes its money as LGBTQ sells these days just like sex used to and the weirder your agenda, the more attention it grabs.
The movie’s plot won’t be discussed as you can probably get it anywhere on the internet and the movie is an extremely short one so it’s not worth the effort. Basically Thor is raising hell with the Guardians of the Galaxy and he has a mixed relationship with his axe Stormbreaker, still yearning for his hammer Mjolnir and Jane. However, Jane who has Stage 4 cancer gets Mjolnir which turns her into feminist Thor. Then there is a new villain called Gorr who is called the God Butcher due to his vendetta against all Gods (Christian Bale who looks like Voldemort with too much sun screen and no dental plan). Gorr kidnaps all the children of New Asgard and Thor, female Thor, the alcoholic Valkyrie (played by a bored Tessa Thompson) and Korg who was super funny in Thor:Ragnarok but is unfunny and dull in Love and Thunder and whose most important job is to be a virtue signaler for the LGBTQ community (basically which Valkyrie already achieved by being a lesbian but guess it wasn’t enough for Marvel or basically anything these days).
The CGI is dreadful – Marvel’s second phase has been horrible when it comes to CGI. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was iffy at times, Ms. Marvel’s new light construct powers don’t look great (just like the show), and She-Hulk could use loads of improvement (basically by not existing). Due to flat lighting, iffy shot composition, and shoddy set design, many of the various backdrops have no depth to them in Thor: Love and Thunder. They immediately stand out and are very easy to spot. It ends up looking no better than a cheap greenscreen or worse.
The movie’s humor sucks compared to Thor: Ragnarok. The first hour of the movie ends feeling like an endless train of jokes more than anything else. It comes off as if Taika Waititi is throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. Even the entire Guardians of the Galaxy feel like they’re only there for a gag so that the director can rush them out of his film. Also it really feels as if they have no real role or powers until Thor comes in and attempts one of Van Damme’s iconic splits. The last time we saw Thor, in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, he’d decided to join Guardians of the Galaxy for some spacefaring adventures in the wake of Thanos’ defeat. But the God of Thunder totally outclasses his new allies, making him seem like an overpowered video game character as he crushes their enemies and leaves the Guardians looking a bit useless.
Christian Bale provides an incredible performance as Gorr, no doubt. But what the character needed was far more time on screen. For one, his backstory held back for no reason. In the comics, he loses his mother, then his wife, and then his children, thanks to starvation. That’s some heavy trauma to carry, which would have made his snap far more believable. He does touch the Necrosword, which then starts to corrupt him, but intensifying that backstory could have worked better. In theory, it would have also led to more scenes with his daughter, making the end of the movie hit harder. His name is Gorr the God Butcher, and throughout the whole movie, audiences actually only see him kill one God. It makes the threat feel far less impactful, and he never truly feels like a danger.
The entire idea behind Gorr is to explore the concept of putting faith in a higher power. What happens when that higher power doesn’t exist, or worse, simply ignores you? Past the opening scene of the film, that theme is almost entirely dropped. It was a thematic thread that should have weighed heavily on Thor; what does he mean to the people who look up to him? Are Gods even worthy of love and praise given all they don’t do? In the comics, Thor comes to realize that the answer is no—causing him to become unworthy of Mjolnir. This eventually leads to Jane being the one to pick it up next, though it clearly played out in a far simpler fashion in the movie.
Next up is the plot and the writing itself which lacks coherence. The story is filled with plot conveniences or questionable continuity gaffes. One example is in how the group’s visit to Omnipotent City goes. Their reasoning for the trip is for them to gather a group of Gods to help in their crusade against Gorr. However, not only do they quickly make up their minds that the Gods won’t help them, but Valkyrie then suddenly becomes obsessed with Zeus’ lightning bolt. There’s absolutely nothing even hinting that the weapon is particularly special in any way or how it could give any specific advantage over Gorr. All it ended up doing was giving Val a weapon to use and then conveniently being there for Thor when he lost Stormbreaker later in the movie.
Then there are inconsistencies in continuity when it comes to Thor’s abilities—all so that the plot can get from A to B. For one, how can Zeus’ lightning bolt function like the Bifrost? Also, since when can Thor just temporarily grant his powers to groups of people, using another God’s weapon no less? The writing needed the story to advance in a certain direction, and the writers could have used more time to smooth the journey out so that it all felt more organic and not rushed. Also, Thor certainly found out where Eternity was pretty fast for a location that no one has theoretically made it to up until this movie.
Finally, Russell Crowe’s Zeus – one word – UGH. Firstly the accent which was grotesque and would have led all Greeks to choke on their olives. Second, he wielded the most fake Thunderbolt one could have imagined. Third, as the leader of all Greek Gods, couldn’t they have chosen an actor with some sort of physique as he looked more like the CEO of Kentucky Fried Chicken rather than the Greek God Zeus. Lastly, the mid-credit introduction of his son Hercules got more laughs from the audiences than anything else. Zeus in the DC universe looked like a badass but as with everything else, Taika Waititi turned him into a clown.
JAY’S VERDICT
Watch Thor: Love and Thunder if you are a Marvel addict and can’t miss anything they make even the Phase 2 crap currently being offered. Avoid if you are watching a Marvel movie for the first time.
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