REVIEW - "THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER"

What has Thor been up to since we last saw him at the end of "Avengers: Endgame"? Read on and see.

With "Thor: Love And Thunder", Chris Hemsworth has managed to do what no other Marvel Cinematic Universe character has accomplished; starring in his fourth solo film. However, the fourth time isn't exactly a charm. Love and Thunder has some entertaining moments and flashy set pieces, but this time around, the humor and nostalgic rock and roll needle drops that were so refreshing in Taika Waititi's MCU directorial debut "Thor: Ragnarok" now seem forced and disjointed

The framework of the film is told as a sort of campfire story narrated by Korg (Waititi once again provides the character's voice). The film's villain is Gorr "The God Killer" played with uneven menace by Christian Bale. That's right, Batman somehow managed to wind up in a Marvel movie! After an opening sequence that sets up his "motivation", you can understand why he did what he did to the first God he meets. You can even understand his emotional state in that scene but what he goes on to do from there is only justified by a wafer thin throwaway line of dialogue later. Gorr's mission is clear; All Gods Must Die!

Thor returns to Earth and "New Asgard" to discover that there have been several things to change since his absence. One of the most notable involves his ex-girlfriend Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) in a story-line pulled directly from the comics. Upon re-uniting with his long lost love, things just get kind of... sit-comy. None of the action in this film ever holds any real weight, nor do you ever feel any real sense of danger for a group of children that have been kidnapped by Gorr. There were at least two plot details that made absolutely no sense in context of the story that was trying to be told and seemed only to exist because... well... it's fashionable. These details add zero to the development of this story and do not effect it's outcome at all.

The Frat-Bro Of Thunder Is Back!

Probably the most disappointing part of this whole film is the reversion of Thor to his earlier portrayal as an egotistical and slightly dim-witted man-child. Sure, he's always had a bit of a goofy bro quality about him, but he was also a character you could actually take seriously and invest in his journey. His character was allowed to grow beyond that simple one dimension from his first movie and yet, that one note gets played almost exclusively in this film.

"I love playing the character, I really do... I'd like to exit before people tell me to exit." - Chris Hemsworth

When asked if this will be his last time playing the God Of Thunder or are there more Thor films on his horizon, Chris Hemsworth said; "Each time, if the opportunity comes up and presents itself, I'm just open to whatever creative exploration can happen, thanks to different writers and directors and so on. But I love playing the character, I really do. It always comes down to: 'Is this script different to the last one? Are we repeating something?' And when it becomes too familiar, I think that's when I'd have to say, 'Yeah, no, this doesn't... I think I've...' I'd like to exit before people tell me to exit."

As much as I think Chris Hemsworth is PERFECT as Thor, if future installments of his solo film franchise play out with the same overly jokey/ borderline parody/ forced comedy beats that this film did, I think maybe someone should tell Chris that maybe it's time to exit.

All in all, it's a fun, family friendly romp that looks great and has a lot of fantastic visual set pieces that I'm sure young children and teenagers (Disney's target audience) will enjoy. It just could have been so much more. Let me be crystal clear on this next point; I do not want to see Marvel films go the way of the bleak, hyper-violent and morally bankrupt characterizations that are the hallmark of Zack Snyder's infection of the DC Cinematic Universe! (Not EVERY character has to be Batman!) However, remembering that these stories should be treated with care and a dose of grounded realism (you know, the way Marvel Comics always have since it's inception) would go a long way towards keeping these films relevant and entertaining for ages 8 to 80 for many years to come!

RUNNING TIME: 1 Hr. 59 Min.

OVERALL SCORE: 5 out of 10

MARVEL CHARACTER CAMEOS: Excluding a brief sequence with the Guardians Of The Galaxy; 1 (And that doesn't happen until the first post credits sequence!)

NUMBER OF POST CREDITS SCENES: 2. One near the beginning and one all the way at the VERY end so don't leave if you only see ONE Post credits scene!

RECOMMENDED PRE-FILM VIEWING: "Thor", "Thor: Ragnarok", "Avengers: Endgame" All can be found on Disney+