Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Look, if you loved ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, you will LOVE Taika Waititi’s 2022 Marvel offering ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, even though the two films are world apart. Ragnarok was all about Thor’s awakening as the Asgard God and defeating his evil sister, while this later film is a little less personal and a lot more goofier, despite a diabolical antagonist.
The movie starts off with the genesis of the villain, so there’s no confusion or suspense over what he wants, which works out quite well for the story. Christian Bale plays Gorr ‘the God Butcher’, who is going around the galaxy, seeking the death of all Gods and the cause of his vengeful mission is explained in the first few minutes. He is ghost-like and terrifying in the role, really makes one think he could make a damn good Voldemort in the Harry Potter universe. Bale’s got his American Psycho mode on, but at an epic level, he isn’t seeking the lives of petty humans, but Gods themselves. It’s up to Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to stop Gorr and he he teams up Korg, King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) with his ex-girlfriend Dr Jane Foster AKA The Mighty Thor (Natalie Portman) who now wields his ex-weapon Mjolnir.
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ is unlike most Marvel movies, it strays from the typical superhero realm, and almost feels like a lavish fantasy-themed play in motion, with Gods, superheroes, supervillains, aliens, talking trees, talking rocks, giant goats and what not! And most importantly, it’s made like a children’s film. Director Taika Waititi voices Korg and also serves as a hilarious narrator for the movie through the character. So to those who don’t remember much from the old Thor movies, Korg is always filling up the holes with his quick recaps of who is who.
Also Read: Gorr’s Grudge with The Gods – Personal Yet Universal
Chris Hemsworth is back to being the ripped God he is, while the superhero looks sits well with Natalie Portman. There are a lot of killer photo-op worthy battle scenes in the flick, even though there aren’t as epic as the awakening scene from Ragnarok, where Thor descends from the sky, Led Zepellin’s Immigrant song playing at the back; that’s one of the greatest sequences in the MCU. The climactic battle isn’t firework inducing, but was super fun, due to a surprise element which some fans might find amazing, some might go ‘meh’.
After a lot of jokes, silliness, the climax was emotional and cliched, but considering the theme is “love and thunder”, the ending fits well with the overall story. And while there isn’t a lot of romance, this film goes miles ahead of other MCU movies in terms of LGBTQ+ representation, Valkyrie is a lesbian, Korg’s into dudes and there’s also a pivotal trans character. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough time for character development, nobody gets enough screen-space, and often-time it might seem like a chaotic mess. But a fun chaotic mess. The Guardians of The Galaxy have a amusing little cameo at the beginning, and that’s that.
I found the movie’s humorous casual tone to be entertaining as hell, not something we are used to seeing. Not everyone is going to feel the same. There are two post-credit scenes, so watch out for them. It’s a 7.5/10 from me!
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