Thor: Love and Thunder
Disillusioned by his own god, Gorr (Christian Bale), is empowered by an ancient sword of darkness and sets out to slay all other gods in the universe– including Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Wise to his challenger’s plight, Thor must call upon the help of his friends including Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi), and his now ex girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). But, will their efforts be enough to stop the God Slayer before his plans impact eternity?
Written by Taika Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and Directed by Waititi, this summer time romp back to New Asgard is ripe with Waititi induced humor, often falling into the screwball and socially awkward variety, challenging the viewer to remember previous installments of Thor haven’t been really “serious” Marvel films at all, in fact, far from it, this is no different. Although, it would appear Love and Thunder has been written with kids on the brain, or at least written with them in mind, given the sub-plots of several of the Asgardian children (played by the actual children of Waititi, Hemsworth, and Bale for example), it’s a family affair, and the writing skews young. Meanwhile, it would also appear Axl Rose and rest of G n R crew are set to receive a decent royalty check for musical support, chuckles, eye rolls at the same time. Bottom line, is this the top of the pile, no, is this the bottom, no. It’s fine, it’s a feelgood chuckle fest with a few laugh out loud moments built on a large majority of existing pop culture with a saccharine finish. Not to be taken seriously, running just under two hours, Thor: Love and Thunder is rated PG-13.