[7.5/10] Thor: Love and Thunder is a great big mess. But also a fun mess? Director/co-writer Taika Waititi throws every idea in his grab bag at the film. Anti-theism. The loss of a child. Cancer. Closing yourself off so you don’t have to feel the pain of loss again (Are we having fun yet?) Crossover Pantheons. Giant screaming goats. A trifecta of glowing, mystical weapons. Shadow monsters and kidnapping. A death sword. A mid-movie black and white escapades. A magical wish-granting realm that requires some mystical key to open. Remembering to keep fighting no matter what. Opening yourself to human connection despite the risks of hardship. Bringing a child into the world to share in that joy. Love. Thunder. More love. More thunder.
It is a lot. Little of it fits together neatly. Like many of Waitit’s works (including his best ones), it’s a tonal mishmash. Sometimes the film is a heartbreaking tale of imaginable loss and the winnowing away of oneself. Sometimes it’s a goofy romp where a talking rock gets tied to the back of a viking warrior king who was last seen wearing a Phantom of the Opera t-shirt. Waititi and co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson marry the quippy style from The Avengers with the irreverent comic style of Guardians of the Galaxy and Waititi’s own blend of the loony and the heartfelt. The result is a cinematic stew, constantly full of flavor, but almost entirely lacking in balance.
And yet, at the end of the day, it’s still strangely tasty, as endearing for its lumps and bumps as for its elegantly crafted moments. This is not Waiti’s finest hour, the crown jewel of the MCU, or event the stand out of the vaunted/maligned “Phase Four”. But it’s an enjoyable, distinctive, imaginative film that takes more than its share of big swings, and that counts for a lot.
Granted, everything and everyone is a little loonier than even in Waititi’s last outing in Thor: Ragnarok. The title character himself has leaned a little more comic lead than dramatic lead for a while now, but his goofy big lug energy is off the charts in this one. Valkyrie is snarkier and sillier, and has developed a pronounced British accent for reasons that are unclear. Jane Foster (and, naturally, Natalie Portman) makes a return to the franchise, getting a send-off that befits the character and her heroic, good-natured qualities, while she too has her wacky dial cranked up to eleven. The whole returning cast feels a little out of character here, even if the more comically exaggerated versions of the characters are still enjoyable.
Two big new guest stars are along for the ride and, though it’s ironic given the roles they play, are the heaven and hell of the film. Christian Bale is inspired as Gorr the God Butcher. Waititi leans into the Oscar-winner’s dramatic chops. The opening scene of a true believer losing his only child amid the indifference of the gods, who swears vengeance upon the pantheon itself for the deities’ deaf ears, is grim and piercing. His closing paroxysm of pathos and bittersweetness at her return redeems the villain of the piece, just a bit. But in between, Bale isn’t afraid to chew scenery, going big but never violating the tone of the piece, and delivering some genuine creepiness amid an impressive make-up job and unhinged air that pervades each scene he occupies.
On the other end of the scale is Russell Crowe as Zeus, who represents the biggest misfire of the film. He puts on this broad, goofy Greek accent, and the mostly comic scene where he basks in the adoration of his fellow deities isn’t funny, isn’t clever, and just drags and drags and drags. Nothing Crowe does works, and none of his scenes click, save for the post-credits tease. His presence serves the thematic ends of the film -- a lionized figure who the heroes turn to for help, only to discover that he’s a lazy and uncaring coward, to where they can only depend on themselves and their own bonds. But Crowe is the antithesis of Bale, seeming out of place the whole time and making wrong choice after wrong choice in his approach.
The visuals and special effects are more of a mixed bag. The production design and make-up team does outstanding work, with some neat designs for the cosmic figures the good guys encounter, and some memorable alien worlds along the way. But the CGI elements once again look shockingly chintzy for a mainstream project with an enormous budget. Poor compositing, cheesy-looking effects, and big set pieces that lack any sense of authenticity in the imagery bring down the look of the piece. It doesn’t help that most of the fights are with nameless goons, edited to all hell, with very little sense of anything at stake.
Still, when our heroes enter the Shadow Realm, the film takes a bold black-and-white shift that brings out the best in it visually. The final land at the center of the universe may borrow a similar depiction from Kingdom Hearts 3, but still captures the sense of an ethereal place. And some of the unreality of the effects actually compliments Waitit’s cartoony, anything goes approach to this larger than life story, making some of the more exaggerated elements feel natural within that context.
The movie does depend on certain things that may fall flat if you’re not super invested in certain things. It’s right for the Thor franchise to put a period at the end of Jane’s part of the story, and it’s nice to see her assuming the cape and hammer. But despite a brief but deeper exploration of what happened in her and Thor’s relationship, it’s never one I’ve been terribly attached to, leaving much of the material falling flat. Likewise, the coming out party for Heimdall’s son and the return of Lady Sif doesn’t mean much given the undeveloped parts they’ve had to this point.
Still, if you can set those things aside, and the questions of whether everything Waititi and company introduce in a packed two-hour movie ultimately adds up, Love and Thunder remains a good time at the movies. You do wish that the filmmakers could have focused on one or two key impulses or ideas, rather than tossing them all into the pot. But the ingredients are still good, the characters are still fun, the humor is still winning. And the end result, messy though it may be, is still a dogpile of ideas and themes and gags well worth digging into.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-11-12T05:09:55Z
[7.5/10] Thor: Love and Thunder is a great big mess. But also a fun mess? Director/co-writer Taika Waititi throws every idea in his grab bag at the film. Anti-theism. The loss of a child. Cancer. Closing yourself off so you don’t have to feel the pain of loss again (Are we having fun yet?) Crossover Pantheons. Giant screaming goats. A trifecta of glowing, mystical weapons. Shadow monsters and kidnapping. A death sword. A mid-movie black and white escapades. A magical wish-granting realm that requires some mystical key to open. Remembering to keep fighting no matter what. Opening yourself to human connection despite the risks of hardship. Bringing a child into the world to share in that joy. Love. Thunder. More love. More thunder.
It is a lot. Little of it fits together neatly. Like many of Waitit’s works (including his best ones), it’s a tonal mishmash. Sometimes the film is a heartbreaking tale of imaginable loss and the winnowing away of oneself. Sometimes it’s a goofy romp where a talking rock gets tied to the back of a viking warrior king who was last seen wearing a Phantom of the Opera t-shirt. Waititi and co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson marry the quippy style from The Avengers with the irreverent comic style of Guardians of the Galaxy and Waititi’s own blend of the loony and the heartfelt. The result is a cinematic stew, constantly full of flavor, but almost entirely lacking in balance.
And yet, at the end of the day, it’s still strangely tasty, as endearing for its lumps and bumps as for its elegantly crafted moments. This is not Waiti’s finest hour, the crown jewel of the MCU, or event the stand out of the vaunted/maligned “Phase Four”. But it’s an enjoyable, distinctive, imaginative film that takes more than its share of big swings, and that counts for a lot.
Granted, everything and everyone is a little loonier than even in Waititi’s last outing in Thor: Ragnarok. The title character himself has leaned a little more comic lead than dramatic lead for a while now, but his goofy big lug energy is off the charts in this one. Valkyrie is snarkier and sillier, and has developed a pronounced British accent for reasons that are unclear. Jane Foster (and, naturally, Natalie Portman) makes a return to the franchise, getting a send-off that befits the character and her heroic, good-natured qualities, while she too has her wacky dial cranked up to eleven. The whole returning cast feels a little out of character here, even if the more comically exaggerated versions of the characters are still enjoyable.
Two big new guest stars are along for the ride and, though it’s ironic given the roles they play, are the heaven and hell of the film. Christian Bale is inspired as Gorr the God Butcher. Waititi leans into the Oscar-winner’s dramatic chops. The opening scene of a true believer losing his only child amid the indifference of the gods, who swears vengeance upon the pantheon itself for the deities’ deaf ears, is grim and piercing. His closing paroxysm of pathos and bittersweetness at her return redeems the villain of the piece, just a bit. But in between, Bale isn’t afraid to chew scenery, going big but never violating the tone of the piece, and delivering some genuine creepiness amid an impressive make-up job and unhinged air that pervades each scene he occupies.
On the other end of the scale is Russell Crowe as Zeus, who represents the biggest misfire of the film. He puts on this broad, goofy Greek accent, and the mostly comic scene where he basks in the adoration of his fellow deities isn’t funny, isn’t clever, and just drags and drags and drags. Nothing Crowe does works, and none of his scenes click, save for the post-credits tease. His presence serves the thematic ends of the film -- a lionized figure who the heroes turn to for help, only to discover that he’s a lazy and uncaring coward, to where they can only depend on themselves and their own bonds. But Crowe is the antithesis of Bale, seeming out of place the whole time and making wrong choice after wrong choice in his approach.
The visuals and special effects are more of a mixed bag. The production design and make-up team does outstanding work, with some neat designs for the cosmic figures the good guys encounter, and some memorable alien worlds along the way. But the CGI elements once again look shockingly chintzy for a mainstream project with an enormous budget. Poor compositing, cheesy-looking effects, and big set pieces that lack any sense of authenticity in the imagery bring down the look of the piece. It doesn’t help that most of the fights are with nameless goons, edited to all hell, with very little sense of anything at stake.
Still, when our heroes enter the Shadow Realm, the film takes a bold black-and-white shift that brings out the best in it visually. The final land at the center of the universe may borrow a similar depiction from Kingdom Hearts 3, but still captures the sense of an ethereal place. And some of the unreality of the effects actually compliments Waitit’s cartoony, anything goes approach to this larger than life story, making some of the more exaggerated elements feel natural within that context.
The movie does depend on certain things that may fall flat if you’re not super invested in certain things. It’s right for the Thor franchise to put a period at the end of Jane’s part of the story, and it’s nice to see her assuming the cape and hammer. But despite a brief but deeper exploration of what happened in her and Thor’s relationship, it’s never one I’ve been terribly attached to, leaving much of the material falling flat. Likewise, the coming out party for Heimdall’s son and the return of Lady Sif doesn’t mean much given the undeveloped parts they’ve had to this point.
Still, if you can set those things aside, and the questions of whether everything Waititi and company introduce in a packed two-hour movie ultimately adds up, Love and Thunder remains a good time at the movies. You do wish that the filmmakers could have focused on one or two key impulses or ideas, rather than tossing them all into the pot. But the ingredients are still good, the characters are still fun, the humor is still winning. And the end result, messy though it may be, is still a dogpile of ideas and themes and gags well worth digging into.