Thor: Love and Thunder: Movie Review

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Taika Waititi, Tessa Thompson, Russell Crowe, Chris Pratt

Director: Taika Waititi

How do you meld the tragedy of a religious zealot whose suffering sees him turn against the gods he so passionately believed in and the return of an ex to a hero's life deemed so empty?

It's the question facing Taika Waititi's Thor: Love and Thunder, a movie about the loss of faith in many forms, love overcoming and a relatively goofy rom com.

The answer it seems is to just throw everything at the screen, include some screaming goats as offbeat comic relief, rely heavily on iconic Guns and Roses tracks and pack in some colourful visual flair with your own trademark humour.

And in parts, thanks to Waititi's somewhat crazed vision for the Marvel Cinematic Universe: but in others, it feels a little overstuffed with some elements feeling tonally undercooked.

In the fourth Thor-centric movie, Chris Hemsworth's himbo Thor is living a life without purpose and love. Rambling from one conflict to the next with the ragtag Guardians of the Galaxy team, Thor's lost in a galaxy that gives him nothing.

However, his time of retirement and navel-gazing is cut short when Christian Bale's frightening Gorr targets all the gods for retribution after his daughter dies in pursuit of thereafter. With Asgard, now a tourist town complete with Thor stageplay recreations and Infinity Conez novelty shops, under threat, Thor races to save the day. 

But his world is rocked by the return of not one, but two loves of his life - Dr Jane Foster (Portman, at times underused) and his former weaponry Mjolnir...

It's not that Thor: Love and Thunder is a film that doesn't deliver. 

It's just that there is a lot going on, and tonally, it doesn't all quite gel into something truly cohesive. The first half of the film is horrendously knockabout fare with Thor's mid-life crisis and other shenanigans involving gods, orgies and screaming goats sitting alongside an incredibly bleak cold open about Gorr's extreme reaction to his loss of faith.

It's not that that is a bad thing, as Waititi's flair and style makes the proceedings never anything less than enjoyable, but it's not until halfway through the tone shifts and tries to up the ante, and lay down some stakes which feel a little lighter.

Certainly, visually the film sparkles - and one sequence set in the shadow realm and reportedly helmed by The Mandalorian's Barry Idoine sparkles as it melds action in an Ingmar Bergman-drenched aesthetics with colours flashing as the clashes unfurl.

Though with Bale's nightmarish Gorr slithering and stealing children, while unleashing shadowy monsters on his victims, the darkness is never too far away from Waititi's tale of love and light. But in truth, while he makes for a fascinating villain and delivers a mesmerising performance, Gorr's acts of villainy are sidelined or happen largely off screen.

Equally, Portman's Jane Foster has a strong opening, before the film seems to sideline her a little - it's not to disspirit from the ethos of the Mighty Thor, and Portman adds elements she's been unable to previously, but there's a feeling that there's too much going on to crystallise some of the emotional beats required.

After hinting that he could be hanging up the hair braids for good, Hemsworth is clearly having fun in a film that's suffused with Waititi's warmth and wit - but worryingly, the end titles hint at more Thor to come.

While not everything lands within Thor: Love and Thunder, and a 2 hour run time in truth feels bloated in parts, there's a great deal to enjoy here - but there's equally as much going on to make you wonder what - if any - the masterplan is for Marvel Phase 4 and if Waititi's pushed Thor as far as it can go under his watch.