Film Review: THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER (2022): Taika Waititi Shakes Up the Marvel World With an Interesting Superhero Comedy

Thor: Love and Thunder Review

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Taika Waititi, written by Taika Waititi, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and Stan Lee and starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Jaimie Alexander, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Carly Rees and Ben Falcone.

Taika Waititi is a comic genius. He isn’t for everyone but he’s a genuine master in the art of comedy. If you “get” his humor, you’ll simply cherish it. It’s no surprise that Waititi directs the latest Marvel movie, Thor: Love and Thunder, in such a way that it’s almost unrecognizable (thematically speaking) when compared to the other Thor movies. It helps a lot that Waititi’s creative film uses terrific songs to move the action along and brings in the Guardians of the Galaxy characters almost right at the start of the picture. This movie is a unique vision and not a wholly successful one. However, the effort, as a whole, is to be admired despite the movie’s minimal flaws.

This film opens with a pre-Marvel logo scene. We meet Gorr (is that Christian Bale underneath all that makeup? Yes, it is) who is faced with a God-like figure that threatens his existence. Gorr takes down this unusual and evil “God” and Gorr, himself, becomes the film’s antagonist. When the movie goes into the backstory of Thor’s past (romantic and otherwise), the movie plays Enya’s wonderful song, “Only Time.” Enya’s music beautifully sets the stage for the eventual arrival of the Guardians of the Galaxy characters who enlist Thor’s help in battle. Pretty soon, “Welcome to the Jungle” from Guns N’ Roses is blasting on the soundtrack. It’s a lively and energetic way to keep the pace of the film moving along steadily.

Natalie Portman is showcased as the love of Thor’s life, Jane Foster, who when we meet her is discussing a book that she wrote with a fan. Jane, it turns out, has cancer. She is in stage four and is in denial that her end could soon be coming. When the plot thickens, Jane takes over the role of Thor, becoming a female version of the character complete with her hammer which was, of course, once Thor’s.

This movie’s plot revolves around Thor’s attempts to see that a group of children are saved. Really, though, it’s just an excuse for some witty banter between Thor and Jane who still hold a lot of affection for one another. Jane/the new female Thor tries to come up with perfect names for herself and a catch phrase. However, the movie pulls a Lost in Translation when Jane whispers the catch phrase in Thor’s ear and we don’t get to hear what it actually is.

Russell Crowe pops up in the weakest segment of the movie as Zeus who bans Thor (the Hemsworth original Thor) from being able to participate in an orgy and strips the male Thor of his clothes which leaves our superhero in his birthday suit. Crowe is the movie’s weakest link through no fault of his own. These scenes with him featured in the picture fall flat and aren’t funny. They seem more improvised than scripted whether they were indeed scripted or not.

Much more successful are Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie and the rock-like Korg (voice of Taika Waititi). These characters have some valuable screen time together and the dialogue between them plays in such a way that audiences will be smiling throughout their interactions. Korg ends up as just a head at one point when he loses his body and the results are hilariously entertaining.

Portman creates a character who is more heroic than ever despite her ailments. She single-handedly carries the notable hammer-type weapon in certain scenes to a terrific degree of success. Some scenes where Hemsworth’s Thor feels like he’s cheating on his old hammer with his new weapon feel forced and aren’t the best but the movie can be forgiven for tacky moments such as those. Technically, Thor’s hammer is a “Mjolnir” so let’s keep the correct terminology in order!

Sprinkled into the movie are quite a few cameos. Matt Damon and Melissa McCarthy are funny as actors who re-enact Thor’s historic past in a show for a small town crowd.The after credits scenes have some cool appearances too which will definitely pique the curiosity of Marvel fans.

The Guardians of the Galaxy characters steal the show at times. It’s hilarious to see Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista’s characters hanging out just for the fun of it. That goes for the more non-human characters from that franchise as well. They’re hanging out having a good time and the audience will tend to enjoy the movie more because of the integration of these characters in the new film’s plot.

Waititi goes for broke in Thor: Love and Thunder and I respect that. He could have conformed more to the standards these Marvel superhero movies typically obey but then the new film would have been a lot less fun. This franchise needed to be revitalized and it is, indeed, to a decent effect with this new picture. Christian Bale is a terrifically energetic villain with a backstory regarding the loss of his daughter that is actually quite touching in a movie full of heart as well as action.

I’m not sure the cancer angle in the movie is handled as delicately as it should have been but that’s a forgivable flaw because of Portman’s charismatic turn which makes us like the character a whole lot despite the need for some sharper writing regarding her character’s personal dilemmas.

However, Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman ultimately make this movie the fun time it is under Waititi’s creative and unique directorial guidance. These two performers (Hemsworth and Portman) do make this movie a success with the help of a fun soundtrack which culminates in a terrifically used song at the start of the end credits– Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” You’ll be rooting for love to triumph and for Thor and Jane to end up together in any way possible. Waititi could or could not make another Thor movie but if this film is any indication, I wouldn’t mind seeing another Thor movie with Waititi behind the camera orchestrating some more intriguing scenarios.

Rating: 7.5/10

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