Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios-Disney via AP
Thor: Love and Thunder is the newest Marvel Cinematic Universe release, which arrived in theaters this Friday. It is also the newest MCU entry of Thor canon from “Thor:Ragnarok ‘’ and “Team Thor ‘’ directed by Taika Waiti. As is Waitit’s calling card for all of his films, the movie is infectiously charming, ridiculously saccharine, and just as silly. The movie, as obsessed with Guns N’ Roses as Waiti is, looks like something that would have been painted on the side of a van in the 80’s in the best way possible.
When we find our titular hero, he is searching for a sense of purpose and meaning he hasn’t attained in his 1,000 years of life or the 11 times we’ve seen Chris Hemsworth portray him. Teamed up with the Guardians Of The Galaxy, they have once again come to defend a planet that has been invaded by aliens. The group that needs defending once had a god much like Thor, but reveal that he has been murdered. So begins a series of battling and antics anyone familiar with the MCU could recognize.
The god, as well as many others we discove,r was murdered by another alien, Gorr The God Butcher, played by Christian Bale in an unsurprisingly show stealing performance. His character with understandable motivation swings between terrifying and subtle to grandiose and comical with adept skill. In an attempt to thwart Gorr, our hero teams up with Dr. Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman, who is terminally ill but hopes that “viking space magic” can heal her. She is called to Thor’s hammer and in turn becomes a “Thor”. This is Portmans return to the role after not being featured in Ragnarok for a number of reasons. While Portman is a wonderful actress, many of her scenes grind the movie to a halt. The love story between Portman and Hemsworth is also frequently placed on the back burner, particularly in a scene at the end of the film where Bale’s performance overshadows the rest of the movie.
Another notable Academy Award winning actor gives himself over to a grandiose performance in the movie as well. Russell Crowe plays Greek god Zeus, complete with charming accent and dainty skirt. The scene which features a nude Hemsworth could be viewed as Thor looking at himself in the future. Another god who is absurdly confident and proud of himself even though we as the audience aren’t quite sure why or that the character believes it themselves.
Waiti’s film is sweet and funny as has become his modus operandi for each of his films. The jokes land in a particular style specific to him and fellow New Zealand born comedian Rhys Darby, with whom Waiti makes the HBO show “Our Flag Means Death”. The auteur has created a style unto himself and his fingerprints are all over Love and Thunder and while many people claim to suffer from Marvel and Taika fatigue it is enjoyable to see a Marvel film in which the director doesn’t become an anonymous cog in the Fiege/Marvel machine. Speaking of that fatigue however the character of Thor has seemingly been written into a corner. Each Thor movie after the next spends the majority of the work insisting that Thor is the most likable god you could ever meet and that his charming antics are much like the average person, but it begs the question: is that sustainable?
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