THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
11 years and counting as of writing this, you would think we would be tired of seeing Thor Odinson be a scene stealing Avenger in the MCU. Lucky for fans like myself, this isn’t case.
PLOT
His fourth solo entry Love and Thunder follows the demigod getting in better physical shape after defeating Thanos for good. He now travels through the universe with his friends Korg and the Guardians of the Galaxy. He and the Kronan’s time with the team reaches an end when they choose to reach out to fellow Asgardian Lady Sif calling for help. When they check on her, they find her severely injured with a missing arm, claiming that someone is becoming a God Butcher by slaying many gods and is coming for New Asgard. When returning to his home, he encounters Gorr who is the mass murderer himself thanks to the powerful Necrosword. Unaware of it being able to corrupt those who wield it and curse them with impending death, he chose to wield it when his prayer to gods led to no aid and the death of his daughter Love (India Rose Hemsworth). With it, he is able to manipulate shadows and create monsters out of them. Although Thor does hold his own with the Stormbreaker axe, and is aided by the likes of Korg & King Valkyrie, things take an unexpected turn when reuniting with his ex girlfriend Jane Foster, now wielding the reforged Mjolnir as ‘Mighty Thor’. Foster has been diagnosed with terminal cancer for the past six months and was able to wield it not only for being worthy, but Thor also left an enchantment to protect her before they broke up. Despite that the heroes gained better odds, Gorr gets the upper hand by abducting the children of New Asgard, imprisoning them in the Shadow Realm. However, Astrid aka Axl (Kieron L Dyer), son of Heimdall (Idris Elba), reaches out to Thor to let him know where he and the other children are. Rather than reaching out to the remaining Avengers, Korg, Valkyrie and both Thors go to Omnipotence City to get help from other gods. There, they meet the father of all gods known as Zeus, who refuses to help, believing to feel safe if hiding from Gorr. He then demands the group of heroes to be captured to prevent them from exposing the city to Gorr. They defend themselves, but Korg gets destroyed in the hands of Zeus, surviving only by his head. Thor avenges his friend by wounding the fellow God with his own thunderbolt and taking it in hopes to better his chances to stop Gorr. On the way to the Shadow Realm, he confesses to Jane that he still cares about her, but even she reveals of her cancer diagnosis. When they arrive, it is deduced that Gorr needs Stormbreaker to Bifrost travel to Eternity, a cosmic entity that can grant wishes. This means that the kidnapping was only part of the trap. When the heroes try to retreat, Gorr is able to steal Thor’s weapon at the last moment. When they return to New Asgard, Thor sees that Jane is getting weaker every time she wields Mjolnir. He is able to convince her to stay and recuperate while he faces Gorr alone. Valkyrie stays as well due to being injured as well. He is able to travel to Eternity with the thunderbolt and get help from the abducted children by sharing his power with them to fight the shadow monsters while he fights Gorr. Sensing him in danger, Jane wields the magical hammer for the last time to destroy the Necrosword. The children return to New Asgard with Stormbreaker, but both Thors enter the realm of Eternity as the gateway was able to open. As Jane succumbs to her illness, Gorr is so moved of her and Thor’s affection for one another, that he wishes for the return of his daughter before his dying breath, rather than slaying all gods like he wanted to. When he dies from the curse, Thor chooses to adopt her. Some time after this, New Asgard honors the sacrifice of Mighty Thor, Sif & Valkyrie train the children, Korg grows back a new body and falls for another Kronan named Dwayne. As for Thor, he continues to travel throughout the galaxy but this time, he wields Mjolnir once again and Love joins him to help others, wielding Stormbreaker in the process. The film ends in a shocking mid credit scene, showing Zeus ordering his son Hercules (Brett Goldstein) to kill Thor, along with a post credit scene showing Jane officially enter Valhalla.
THOUGHTS
The best way to discuss this film is through Pros and Cons.
PROS: I was very skeptical about fourth film for this hero because it's hard to maintain the interest once the trilogy is surpassed, but since the directions were going swell prior, I remain as open minded as I usually try to be. Returning to the director's chair, Taika Waititi is able to make a general payoff by fastening the pace in a comfortable manner. In between, the visual effects are quite the view when we look at the beautiful Omnipotence City or the eery Shadow Realm. Both locations end up providing the dopest of fight scenes throughout the film. In all honesty, they're at their finest during the Shadow Realm. The way the colors would blend with black and white were outstanding. Even Michael Giacchino's score was able to match the right moods we were supposed to feel as the story progressed. You still get your fair share of laughs like Melissa McCarthy playing Hela in a play to Ragnarok, Zeus' clique being in awe of Thor's nudity or the screaming goats whose nonstop screaming actually got cackling. Aside from that, I was very moved of its explanation to the feeling of love being an ultimate source of meaning and purpose, which I understood thanks to an impressive. For the ninth time in live action, Chris Hemsworth gives another memorable performance as the iconic Avenger. When you look back at the past 11 years that have led to this story, you know Thor has had its own significant growth since. That growth was possible partially due to the ringer of emotions he was going through every time he went through loss. When you add breaking up with Jane with the list of loved ones that have died during his adventures, he got to a point where he felt there was no point of continuing to give love. Once Jane returned to his life, he never realized that he didn't have to feel empty until then. This made Natalie Portman's return to become Mighty Thor very satisfying. I can't be the only one that was giddy to see her disassemble and reassemble Mjolnir at her will. We already loved Jane because before she ever got powers, she had an obstinate will to help and do what she wanted, not being afraid of whatever challenge came her way. She had proved worthiness every chance she had and seeing her focus on anyone but herself further solidifies it. She becomes a role model in the end because she never gave up until she reached her end and remembering that this character was battling cancer made it all the more empowering. It was her selflessness that taught Thor to be worthy in the first place, hence leading for them to fall for each other. Breaking up is always tough, but knowing they were afraid of losing each other is a relief because at least the intentions were always good. Jane had to be the one to end it then because Thor would've been too afraid to do so. Despite the given circumstances, it was further satisfying to see both of them still having the same love. It was tough to see her go because she fought so hard to live, but it's nice to know that Valhalla honored her as a hero like the Asgardians before her. Her passing was not in vain because it helped the villain Gorr understand that love can triumph over hate. From the beginning, Christian Bale showed the terrifying God Butcher as one who gained his hatred from being abandoned from the gods he trusted. His religion shockingly meant nothing as it originally cost him his only child. Seeing him descend into madness proved that is usually made rather than born. During his reign of terror, he felt that there is no higher power to trust. We don't excuse his actions, but we do understand his disappointment. Once he felt hopefulness from the affection both Thors had for each other, he chose to give his daughter a chance to live healthier than him and that allowed him to rest in peace. The sacrifices that would be made would then create an unexpected blessing because with Love needing a parent to raise her, Thor found another reason to live. And with that, I am already sure he will do his best in showing her how important it is look out for others that can't defend themselves. Although these three characters are what get the ball rolling, there were still others that kept things interesting. Tessa Thompson reminds us that Valkyrie is a hero with her own set of scars, but she doesn't entirely let that grief consume him. Being a leader hasn't been easy for her thus far, but having another adventure with Thor reminded her to prepare for change. And for her, change will involve making a stronger community out of New Asgard whenever danger makes a return. As an actor, Waititi is still a delight as Korg. Although he can be a brute force in action, it's ironic that he still has his kind heart ever since we first met him. Even when going through such chaos, it's surprising that he always kept his head up. It would've sucked for him to die too because it's very aware that he was close to Thor during the Blip. Now having a reincarnated body, I do wonder what adventures he'll have with his newfound rock partner Dwayne. I also didn't mind the Guardians of the Galaxy appearing in the first act as they didn't overstay their welcome either. It made sense for them to separate because not only does this excuse Vol. 3 to happen, but it would've been too easy of a battle if they were involved going against Gorr. Last but not least, the said God Butcher may have been the main threat, but that didn't mean he was the only threat our heroes had to deal with in this story. Russell Crowe definitely brought an incarnation of Zeus that was different from the past. We were so use to him being as noble as Thor would grow to be, which made it very surprising how cowardly he was. He's clearly not a role model if he's more concerned of scheduling the next orgy. This version of Zeus can simply represent how you should lower expectations when meeting your heroes, but it can also be depicted as an example of those who get carried away with the power they do or do not earn. He is still a dangerous figure to begin with because now he's focused on the gods being feared again and he feels that he isn't such after being taken down by Thor himself, jealous of the attention that superheroes around the universe have gotten. Now that he is sending his son Hercules to return the favor towards the fellow demigod, it is a given that shit will hit the fan big time when they meet. Whether or not Hercules and Thor can go from enemies to comrades, you already know we'll be dealing with a lot of baggage in the future.
CONS: Despite giving a fair amount of defense, it doesn't mean that I won't ignore the issues I caught on to when re watching it. To get it out of the way, I am baffled on how much of a bad shot it looked when Axl's head is floating while reaching out to Thor. Even seeing it re-edited on Disney+ made it worse. I also got confused with the color of Korg's rock skin. One point he's grey and another, he's blue. If this was due to the lighting around him, I wish that was clear. I do want to grateful for the effort being made, but I can't lie of my opinions. Going into the story, it is an intense opening when Gorr kills the god Rapu after claiming the Necrosword, but why didn't the latter call someone to levitate it and hide it? I know that wouldn't make the story happen, but the guy was way too cocky to think Gorr wasn't gonna touch it. That leads to me thinking why didn't Thor become cursed when he touches it as he fought Gorr during the climax? I don't want to lose Thor, but it's crazy that there were no repercussions when he did so. I even wonder when exactly did Korg decide to travel with Thor and the Guardians? We didn't see him board at the end of Endgame, so it makes me wonder whether or not if Thor invited him in between. The ice cream shop 'Infinity Conez' was a funny visual gag at first, but why exactly would someone promote ice cream inspired by the Titan that wiped out half of the universe? I know Valkyrie is trying to make an attraction out of New Asgard to make ends meet, but that was a stretch. If she wouldn't have done it for Hela, she shouldn't have done it for Thanos. Thor has a dope fight scene with the Guardians in the opening Indigarr, but why would he not have Stormbreaker on him when he used it to fly over there? Since it's the opening and we know he has this fight in the bag, that was a pointless way to have dramatic effect. I was happy to see Jaimie Alexander return as Sif, but why did it take so long for her and Thor to reunite? I understand she left Asgard before Ragnarok commenced, but it's like she was under the loop of it all. I mean if Thor never reached out during the Blip era, that's insane. It was smart to not reveal Hercules until the end, but where was he anyway? I'm sure based on how loyal he sounds, it's odd that he wasn't there by father's side when Thor visited. It then makes me wonder why is he the only god sent to go after him? If Thor is sure gods will hunt them down, it's insane no one else is determined to defend Zeus' honor. Also, does Gorr even know that he doesn't even need to be worthy to wield Stormbreaker? Considering that the Necrosword has more of a conscience than the axe ironically did, then it's confusing that the former didn't tell him that. And am I the only one wondering who was paying for Thor's phone? I want to narrow down if it was Jane or Tony Stark, but I don't think I'm gonna get an answer, which is pretty irritating. I don't want to sound weird when I ask this, but when the hell did Heimdall conceive a child and who with? The guy was committed to his duty as Asgard's gatekeeper before Loki posed as Odin, so I'm thrown off when he had the time. It was pretty cool to see Thor use Zeus' thunderbolt as a weapon, but what happened to it afterwards? Is it in display like Mjolnir was or was it destroyed? It's driving me crazy because it disappeared like the mother boxes in the theatric cut of Justice League. And lastly, why exactly were both Thors allowed to enter the realm of Eternity before Gorr grants his wish? I know this is the deus ex machina moment for the villain to change his mind, but it's not like he invited them to watch him make his wind. If this was because they happened to be near the gateway, that should've been clearIn conclusion, Thor: Love and Thunder is another entertaining entry in the MCU for hitting its mark on still feeling somewhat refreshing as the franchise progresses. If you’ve loved Thor from the very beginning, I’m sure you’ll find a soft spot for this as well.
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