Thor is the first original Avengers who got a fourth outing among all the other team up movies. This has been one of the selling points. Being a lot younger than some of his co-stars, there is still a lot of juice in Chris Hemsworth’s Thor.
However, for me, technically this is only the second outing for me of the Thor I liked. I did think the first movie did a decent job setting it up, but The Dark World…well…The Dark World.
Anyway, moving on to today, I did anticipate to see Love and Thunder, and see where Taika Waititi is going to take the character. Not to mention that Jane Foster’s Mighty Thor is going to be an important part of it. The Might Thor story, without spoiling it for others, for me, is one of the most moving storylines in the comics. I just hope they got it right. And then we have the Batman turned Gorr the God Butcher. I have a feeling that I might scream like the goats.
I personally felt that the second Thor movie did no justice to any of the female cast members. For me that was a huge issue with me – why must strong female characters in superhero movies be killed or be turned into damsels in distress? The Marvel Studio kind of redeemed some of it with Endgame, but Love and Thunder, I think is the first time it really addressed it. For me it was good to see Natalie Portman and Jaimie Alexander coming back, and be someone they are meant to be.
Love and Thunder combined two main storylines in the comics – Gorr the God Butcher and the Mighty Thor. Taika Waiktiti managed to merged these two significant stories together without losing its roots while telling a new story. I think that’s always Taika Waititi’s strengths – making old new again. Great storylines with a good personal and signature touch, I did not once check my phone for the time during the whole two hours.
The chemistry among the main cast was undeniable. Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie with Chris Hemsworth’s Thor plus Waititi’s Korg and Portman’s Mighty Thor had sparkles everywhere whenever they are on screen together. Just like their fight with Zeus’ guards. And if Christian Bale’s Gorr is responsible for draining the world of its colours, this quartet is the reason all the retro colours came back on screen – yeah it is ridiculously retro but the story took place a few years down the road from Endgame – that’s Taika Waititi for you. I read that Natalie Portman buffed up for the role and you can tell. As a superhero, she did not look an ounce less than Hemsworth’s Thor, but she is the brainy Thor too. She might be new but she has the tactical brain and the ability to analyse through the situation. Her sisterhood with Valkyrie was a good surprise and not to mention Korg with his usually rock in the brain humour.
Yes, Thor has shadow monsters from Gorr, but it is in no way comparable to what we saw in the Multiverse of Madness. The shadow monsters were, for me a plot point, for things to happen and something to be disposed of. I read that Waititi wanted to be a bit more hardcore but they were knocked down and ended up on the editing room floor. It would be interesting to see those scenes, but then again, we just had the Multiverse of Madness, so two films in a roll with similar elements would become too homogenous for the genre. This is another road trip film, just that this time the Hulk was replaced by the Mighty Thor and Korg. You lost one but got two. That’s not bad a bargain.
I think Natalie Portman as Jane Foster really brought some weight to ground the story. As for the first time, I felt moved in some of the scenes between Thor and her, and that’s was something I did not expect. I think Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman really relish this opportunity to do their storyline justice, and it tells. I am quite glad that Waititi made an effort to put a lot of backstories back into the canon so we exactly know what happened between them. I know of course what happened in the real life, but trying to tell a missing chapter in the MCU in this movie helped to consolidate more about this couple, and made the stake that they put out in the movie a lot more logical.
I think what I like particularly about this movie is the rivalry the Storm Breaker had with both Jane and the Mjolnir. From the trailers we already saw how Thor missed Mjolnir, which now responds only to Jane, while Storm Breaker was trying to ‘steal the thunder’ when Thor was trying to summon Mjolnir. That kind of silence jealousy was fun to watch and technically these two weapons became part of the main cast throughout.
It is an MCU film, so naturally they have mid and post credit scenes, and they both have future implications. So, make sure you stay for them.
Thor: Love and Thunder is now in the theatres.
