Thor Love And Thunder - Movie Review

Critics Score - 9 of 10

General Audience Score - 9 of 10

Taika Waititi is a fascinating actor, writer and director. After directing the critically acclaimed and generally beloved superhero film

Thor Ragnarok back in 2017, he went on to win an Oscar for his 2019 Jojo Rabbit screenplay. Apparently the executives at Disney liked him enough to have him back for the fourth Thor installment, Love And Thunder. Taika’s got a wacky sense of humor that some people can’t get on the same wavelength with but he also has a very smart take on the superhero genre. Thor Love And Thunder deconstructs the superhero Thor and if you know anything about Waititi, he does it with a humorous spin on it. But while Ragnarok had it’s moments of hilarity, Love And Thunder is an absolute riot. The jokes fly at a near constant basis through the first two acts but the film settles down to establish some emotional stakes in the third. Some will say it’s too goofy, the characters can’t be taken seriously, which is a fair criticism. Me? I feel like Waititi was just warming up with Ragnarok, he’s got his finger on the pulse of the Thor character and he’s able to deliver, not just one of the best superhero films of recent memory, this is one of the best films of the year.

SYNOPSIS - The story opens with the origin story for our villain, which works in a very intelligent way to start establishing connection, we want villains we can empathize with and understand their motivations. Gorr (Bale), a pure white skinned humanoid alien, walks through a barren desert holding his child and is praying to his gods to spare him and his daughter from dying of thirst. But after burying her, he stumbles upon an oasis and finds out the god he’s been following wasn’t quite what he thought he was. He acquires a sword that, like the one ring of power from The Lord Of The Rings, seems to have a mind and will of it’s own. He cuts down the god he was disillusioned by and becomes Gorr the God Butcher, vowing to destroy all gods. While Bale is really putting on hell of a creepy show for us, considering he’s got such a recognizable face, he disappears into the role with the help of the white body paint and eye contacts. Then we get a backstory on Thor (Chris Hemsworth) as well, as Korg (voiced by Taika Waititi) Thor’s friend made of boulders, tells us how Thor became a warrior, as Enya’s Only Time plays in the background. This is the starting point where Taika’s strange, wacky and wildly entertaining humor takes center stage. He begins to poke fun at the other Thor and Avenger movies as well as beginning a dissection of the Thor character and it’s superhero tropes.

As is the standard for Marvel films, none would be complete without an action sequence in the first ten minutes. Thor fights with the Guardians Of The Galaxy, but while they struggle to defeat their enemies, Thor shows up unconcerned and takes the battle into his own hands. The intro to Guns N Roses Welcome to the Jungle kicks off as Thor obliterates an army of furry owl people riding some of the pod racers from Star Wars Episode 1. But as the Guardians get ready to depart from Thor, Star-lord (Chris Pratt) remarks, “After thousands of years of living, you don’t seem to know who the hell you are.” Thus begins our humorous but in depth exploration of this character, his motivations and desires. Without jumping into the story too far, Thor departs with his rock buddy Korg and they begin investigating the deaths of other gods scattered around the universe. Gorr the God Butcher is up to no good on earth, surprise surprise, and Thor reconnects with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who’s been experiencing some changes as well as the king of the rest of the Asgardians left on earth, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson). Taika’s wonderful screenplay exploits all kinds of wonderful aspects of the story for laughs aplenty. Thor’s relationship with his former weapon, the hammer Mjollnir, and his new weapon, the Stormbreaker ax. The delightful cameos and the accent, the accent is, well, it’s everything. With it’s on point humor, action and character work, the film does so many things at an almost great level, Love And Thunder easily rises to the top of the four Thor film series.

Taika is some kind of genius, he got his feet wet five years ago with Ragnarok, but he’s clearly developed an eye for the genre that not many other directors have. The ability to deconstruct the superhero genre, in much the same way as the Lego Batman did, is such a unique ability. Taika understands these characters and he’s able to take them apart and find the humanity, the humor and the fun that’s there and he milks it for all it’s worth. Although he exploits the humor that’s to be found in many of the tropes, the film is well balanced with some interwoven somber sequences. The soundtrack that the trailer alludes to and fuels many of the actions scenes was an absolute banger. The classic rock tunes combine well with the rock and roll inspired original score by Michael Giacchino, even if it falls short of his work on The Batman score earlier this year. There are several sequences of black and white that are visually quite stunning, the use of shadows is also very impressive. The ending might have been predictable, but the underlying emotional beats of the story gave it a satisfying conclusion. But you can tell everyone is having a blast doing this film, Love And Thunder is first and foremost a joy ride, I haven’t clapped at a film in theatres in quite some time, but for Thor, I put my hands together.

SUMMARY - This is easily some of the most fun I’ve had, not only at a Marvel or superhero film, but any action comedy, in quite some time. Even if you’re suffering from superhero fatigue like I’ve been, most audiences will Love riding the lightning and feeling the Thunder with Thor and company.