Another THOR-Mulaic Marvel Movie, But That’s Okay, I Guess

Opening tonight at every multiplex in the multiverse:

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

(Dir. Taika Waititi, 2022)

This fourth THOR film, the 29th movie in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), checks off all the expected boxes with its air-borne battles, callbacks, cameos, catchphrases, and spectacle-filled set-pieces. It’s the Marvel movie that fans know they’re going to get from before they ever saw the trailer. It’s the big summer superhero blockbuster we all feel like we’ve seen a million times. But I’ve come here to appraise the return of Chris Evans’ Norse god, not just toss off a jaded dismissal, so I’ll say that the film pops with enough laughs, and likable character activity for me to be okay with it.

Director and co-writer Taika Waititi, who also appears via motion capture as the Thing-like Korg, follows his previous turn, THOR: RAGNAROK, with a less weightier story about Thor saving the children of New Asgard from Gorr the God Butcher, intensely portrayed by a Nosferatu-esque Christin Bale (easily the most compelling thing on screen in the entire film). That’s the THUNDER.

The LOVE in the title comes from the rekindled romance with Natalie Portman reprising her role as Dr. Jane Foster, who wasn’t in the third film. Deemed worthy by the Mjoinir Hammer (whatever), Portman’s Dr. Foster joins the action as her own version of Thor dressed in likewise garb (Evans: “And that’s my look”), but her real fight is with cancer, an element that Waititi and co-screenwriter, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, fail to give much emotional power.

Still, Evans and Portman do conjure up some cute charm together, and, after such performances in the strained sci-fi of ANNIHILATION and LUCY IN THE SKY, it’s nice to be reminded that Portman can be an effective comic actress.

Alongside Thor and Mrs. Thor (She-Thor? Lady-Thor? I’m not looking it up), we’ve got the always welcome Tessa Thompson as Asgardian warrior, Valkyrie; Jamie Alexander as Lady Sif, the aforementioned Waititi’s soft-spoken Korg, and a glorified cameo by the Guardians of the Galaxy (Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper), who aren’t given much to do – they aren’t even accompanied by some ‘70s K-Tel hit on the soundtrack.

One amusing factor is that the premise is packaged in a Guns N Roses theme with several of the band’s ‘80s anthems and power ballads blaring throughout, and even a character who wants to be called Axl. GNR’s tuneage even flows through Michael Giacchino’s orchestral score – I still have the instrumental strains of “Sweet Child o’ Mine” bouncing around in my head hole days later.

What’s both good and bad about THOR’s fourth can be summed up in the centerpiece sequence of the film, which features Thor ‘n friends traveling to Ominpresent City (whatever) to seek out the help of Russell Crowe (appearing have a blast as the chubby, smarmy deity) as the god, Zeus, in his lavish gold palace. It plays out as an attempt to merge the movie’s mythology with Mel Brooks by way of dick jokes, and that results in a bunch of hit or miss back and forth one-liner.

Working better are such running gags as Portman’s brain-storming of catchphrases, Matt Damon, Sam Neill, and Luke Hemsworth reprising their roles from RAGNAROK as Asgardian acting troupe versions of Loki, Odin and Thor; and a pair of giant screaming goats, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder. Hey, these gags do actually work better than they sound, but I’m not claiming it’s all primo material.

As summer sequels go, THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER is a typical offering that should basically satisfy superhero fans or just folks looking for a couple hours of air-conditioned entertainment. These movies feel more and more disposable the more they make, but it feels so futile and useless to be cynical about them.

So if you like Marvel movies, Evans, Bale, Waititi, Portman, GNR, and/or screaming goats, you’ll most likely go for this round of more THOR. If you don’t care for those things, I’m not sure why you read this far.

More later...