The amazing blending of moods and genres that “Thor Ragnarok” director Taika Waititi achieved largely falls short in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which isn’t as hilarious, moving or romantic as it should be. Even though it is well-placed and lasts just under two hours, this is a little too close to feeling like a letdown after the Fourth of July in place of the anticipated fireworks.
With the mythical ‘Eternals’ and other of its weaker Disney+ attempts displaying symptoms of fragility, Marvel’s enviable track record of artistic as well as commercial darling dating back to ‘Iron Man’ has started to appear less formidable.
While Waititi and Chris Hemsworth’s reunion sounded like a can’t-miss opportunity and should elicit a great deal of excitement, the most recent endeavour feels overly preoccupied with the actor’s comedic skills and related tomfoolery while lacking the memorable villain that helped elevate “Ragnarok” when things got serious.
Spoilers
Although Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale have the same initials, Hela is far superior to Gorr, the God Butcher, whose tragic background takes a dark turn when he obtains the Necrosword and makes a dreadful promise to use the magical weapon to kill gods, including Thor and his Asgardian friends.
While Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), the love of his long life, unexpectedly flies back into Thor’s carefree existence, it turns out that Jane has acquired Thor-like powers through a bond with his old hammer, ‘Mjolnir’ while also harbouring a secret that explains her sudden interest in magic. As Thor leaves the Guardians of the Galaxy behind, it becomes much more complicated.
The film also features an impressive array of cameos, including Russell Crowe as a very eccentric Zeus, adding to the sense of playfulness that director Taika Waititi who also co-wrote the script with Jennifer Robinson has aimed to create.
Other notable touches include a sort of recap of Thor’s prior adventures as well as some tastefully placed Guns N’ Roses song following Led Zeppelin’s contribution to “Ragnarok”.
The Ouchies
The jokes in “Love and Thunder” frequently fall short, despite some genuinely stunning visual flourishes and Hemsworth’s gameness in playing Thor as a swaggering oaf, including a naked part that has already been overexposed in the marketing but should still provoke loud laughter.
Additionally, the way that children are included in the plot has a certain air of laziness about it.
Thor Will Return
Overall, a mid-closing credits sequence that teases a more intriguing plot for the next fifth movie and makes the clichéd promise that “Thor will return” might actually be the most heartwarming part of the film.
When it comes to Marvel movies, there is always hope. It is fortunate, nevertheless, to have to place one’s hopes in the following stage given the gap between two enormous projects.
Though “Thor: Love and Thunder” is muscular and attractive, it only manages to be sporadic, likeable and even harder to love.
Nevertheless, the movie essentially sets up that scenario in US theatres, “Thor: Love and Thunder” debuts on July 8.
The rating is PG-13.
Anita Zuuri
Annie is an entertainment and lifestyle writer. She enjoys reading and writing about music, celebrities and their lifestyles, food, cars and tech.