Taika Waititi seems to be suffering from the same extensional question that plagues Thor, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Axel Rose; where do we go now? After directing the Thor resurgence/slight reboot movie, Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi returns to the god of thunder as a co-writer and director on the aimless but fun, Thor: Love and Thunder.
The film is filled to brim with Waititi’s signature absurdist but deadpan humor. Screaming goats, non-sequiturs, visual gags, and silliness are abundant in Thor’s fourth solo outing. What’s missing is Waititi’s signature brand of pathos. This is not the Marvel version of JoJo Rabbit and what’s frustrating is that it could have been. There is a deep emotional core to this film, which for the sake of spoilers, I won’t divulge here, that is largely left to just be surface level.
While the Marvel films have always stood apart from some of the more dour superhero films due to their levity, after nearly 15 years of the same formula mixing it up with a little melancholy wouldn’t be a bad thing. This is a film so concerned with being quirky, and weird that it leaves most of its characters behind. Especially Natalie Portman’s Jane whose transformation into the Mighty Thor is mostly glossed over.
The most notable exception is Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher. Bale’s performance is able to elevate the baddie beyond the one-note stock marvel villains of Hela, Malekieith, Yellowjacket, etc… Which is a refreshing change of pace for a studio not known for memorable bad guys. Bale is able to tap into the deep pain and suffering of a man who lost everything and has now dedicated his life to killing the deities he once worshipped. He’s creepy and his movements come straight from a horror film but there is a shoehorned attempt at connecting him to the larger story that falls flat. While Gorr is a great villain the stakes he presents never feel that urgent or high.
When the new bad guy shows up an aimless Thor (Chris Hemsworth in top form) leaves the Guardians of the Galaxy (who barely have five minutes of screen time) to find out who is responsible for killing the gods. His quest reunites him with Jane who is now known as the Mighty Thor. So at this point, we have Thor suffering from an existential crisis, a man hellbent on killing the gods (including Thor), and now Thor’s ex-flame has god-like abilities and a terrible secret. All of this seems like a screenwriting slam dunk to discover Thor’s place in the universe and what it means to be a god, but no Waititi is more interested in having fun.
He skips past the crucial development of the villain. For a God Butcher, he doesn’t do a whole lot of butchering. He plays scenes that should be heartbreaking for laughs and then half-heartedly attempts to connect all the loose narrative threads through the power of love and a lot of Guns N’ Roses. While there is nothing wrong with playing it light and fun, it becomes a problem when you set up a darker theme and then just fail to explore it.
A lot of the issues with Waititi’s film stem from an issue that is bothering the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe; where do we go after Avengers: Endgame? There is an attempt to explore that and the answer just seems to be more Thor goofing around. His character is now a bit lost after his Endgame arc, and the impacts of that film are mostly glossed over.
Thor: Love and Thunder is still fun though and full of wonderful cameos that aren’t all name that obscure comic book character. Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie is a bright spot and her character is set up for some fun future adventures. The real MVP is Russel Crowe’s Zeus character. Crowe seems to be having the time of his life playing the character and it shows. His take on the Greek god is funny, perverted, and memorable.
There is also a beautiful sequence that is almost entirely black and white, a refreshing visual reprieve from Marvel’s usual safe but boring cinematography. It’s fun to see when there are some bold choices in either storytelling or technical aspects in these films. They don’t work all of the time (see The Eternals) but I appreciate it when they try something new.
Like most of Phase 4 of Marvel (I have not seen Ms. Marvel yet) Thor: Love and Thunder is aimless, trying to find its ground but it’s still a lot of fun.
3/5
Thor: Love and Thunder
Directed by Taika Waititi
Written by Taika Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Russel Crowe, and Natalie Portman
In Theaters Everywhere July 8th