Film Reviews & Movie Analysis

One pony – one trick…

There isn’t much to say about the latest movie in the Thor franchise without me spiralling into a list of predicted disappointments. I wasn’t terribly enthused when Love and Thunder was announced, but it’s a Marvel movie and luckily for them, I’m part of the hoard that makes that single fact enough to blindly buy a cinema ticket.

Though I have more negative things to say than positive about this odd conclave of a psychedelic romantic comedy thriller – I’m a woman of balance.

I’m just going to dive right in and say the humour wasn’t humouring (sorry couldn’t help the expression). At this point I don’t feel like I’m watching Chris Hemsworth as Thor – I’m just watching Chris Hemsworth. The transformative magic of Thor: Ragnarok will forever be cherished, but where the jokes were subtle the cameos were a blink and you’ll miss it event and there was genuine heart, Love and Thunder beats you over the head with the gags. You’ll end up coughing out a pity laugh just to make it stop.

One story arc I was looking forward to the franchise carrying forward and expanding on was Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie. To say we were left dissatisfied is a massive understatement. Aside from a couple of epic fight sequences she was very much reduced to a third wheel.

This moves me swiftly onto one of the main….erm, wheels – Jane Foster (Agreed. No more wheel references). It was nice to have Natalie Portman back in the Thor/Marvel fold and have an adequate close to her story. If you recall, the last we’d seen of the good Doctor was in Thor: The Dark World, and we’ve been dealing with mundane excuses for her absence ever since. The idea that a mutual break-up reduced Jane’s intelligence and capabilities as secondary to her role as a girlfriend was annoying… but that’s just me.

Three paragraphs before I told you that I didn’t find this movie funny. This is true as a whole – but a whole is made up of parts, and one part I found hilarious was Thor’s sentient Axe. I had a good number of laugh out loud moments with that particular piece of comedy.

Last but by no means least, the best part of Thor: Love and Thunder will come as no surprise to you; Christian Bale. I’m not really sure what else to say except that I have started to do a little eye roll whenever a ‘top tier’ actor dips their pool into the MCU (Jude Law, Jake Gyllenhall etc). It feels weird and it takes me out of the movie I’m watching. However. Bale’s Gorr was an immersive antagonist that elevated Thor: Love and Thunder. Admittedly the darker tone of Gorr’s mission, not to mention his entire look was at odds with the overall light and comedic theme, and yet he still managed to make it work to perfection.

Having eked out two positives, holding back to two negatives, and splitting the difference with one fence-sitting take-away from Thor: Love and Thunder, I might have to backtrack on my earlier statement. The movie was less than average in my humble opinion, but it was a disaster I walked into with my eyes wide open. Depending on how things look for Thor in the future (and by that pre rolling credit scene it’s not looking good) I think I’ll wait and watch from the comfort of my own home.