It’s the long awaited return of the Space Viking and The God of Thunder. Chris Hemsworth once again is Thor in another space adventure directed by Takia Waititi which people will know from What We Do In The Shadows, Jo Jo Rabbit and the previous Thor film, Thor: Ragnarök. Which was hailed as an revelation taking a tired franchise making it a comedic, fun film.

Thor: Love and Thunder, is set up all thanks to Korg, Thor’s friend. He is telling the kids the myth that is Thor and what has happened since we last met him. This takes us to the Guardians of the galaxy which Thor befriends  during the Avengers films. It also sees the return of Thor’s ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) now Dr.Foster, not looking good, who heads to New Asgard which seems to be in Scotland with King Valkyrie (Tessa Thomson), meanwhile Thor gets a distressed call for help from a God requesting help which sees Thor now heading to a new Asgard which Gorr is now heading to, only to see return of Mjolnir and Jane Foster as The Mighty Thor. This storyline come from the recent run of Mighty Thor comic books. We get a little intro about Bales Gorr struggling in a barren sun burned planet desperate to save his daughter (who is actually played by Chris Hemsworth’s actual daughter India), this shows how Gorr becomes the God Butcher.

What gets Thor and co search the Cosmos for Gorr, he takes the Asgardan kids into the shadow realm which is devoid of colour, who is trying to search for eternity. , The cast themselves are faultless, Hemsworth has proven he does have comedic chops and has the best of fun as Thor. Russell Crowe is in this as Zeus and hams it up in a accent cross between Super Mario Bros and Stavros, the Harry Enfield character. Jeff Goldblum in Ragnarok was hilarious, Crowe is goofy but slides towards cringeworthy.

Waititi tries to fill the screen with plenty of action and comedy with Matt Damon once again with another funny cameo. This time he is joined by the likes of Chris’ brother Luke Hemsworth, Sam Neill and Melissa McCarthy.  the comedy is elevated , silly, wacky and even falls flat at times. The screaming goats are fine at the beginning. This film fires in so many directions some work like the rom-com side. CGI, storyline feels bloated, shame Bale’s Gorr story doesn’t get explored more, it’s very dark tonally for Marvel.

Thor: Love and Thunder has a lot of faults, like the soundtrack using virtually Guns and Roses greatest likes like a standard Spotify playlist. If you enjoyed the last film you may find some satisfaction, however if you are expecting this to take you to another level, you maybe disappointed.

★★★

Action, Adventure, Comic Book | 2022, USA | 12 | 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, Disney+ |3rd October 2022 | Walt Disney Studios | Dir: Taika Waititi | Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Russell Crowe

Originally posted at The Peoples Movies 3rd October 2022 | Original Review Link