Movie Review: Thor: Love and Thunder

The latest offering from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Thor: Love and Thunder, also signifies the fourth stand-alone film for the character (the most for any character). While it proves wildly entertaining and engaging for most of its running time, the film finds itself caught a bit too much in the whimsical nature of its subject and ends up a little too light on the story side of the ledger. 

In Thor: Love and Thunder, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) embarks on an epic journey for inner peace. However, his retirement is halted when Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) arrives seeking to extinguish all of the gods from the universe. In an effort to defeat this new foe, Thor joins forces with King Valkryie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi), and his former flame Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who now possesses the magical hammer Mjolnir. 

Working from a script by himself and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (who previously served the MCU as consulting producer on the Hawkeye television series) Taika Waititi infuses the film with enough mirth and frivolity to engage even the most casual of comic book fans, but that same quality often leaves the film lacking in other more tangible areas that made other films in the MCU far more successful. Even Waititi’s previous entry in the series, Thor: Ragnarok (2017), felt a bit more focused and tied to the overall MCU as a whole than this latest film. 

Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth in “Thor: Love and Thunder.” Photo by Jasin Boland/Jasin Boland – © Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Similarly, the editing work provided by Maryann Brandon moves the film along at a remarkably crisp pace, showcasing the work of production designer Nigel Phelps and cinematographer Barry Baz Idoine. 

Fun and energetic, yet occasionally hollow, Thor: Love and Thunder again showcases Chris Hemsworth as one of the indispensable stars of the MCU. But that draw, as well as the welcome return of Natalie Portman to the fold, does not succeed in elevating the film to anything more than simply another entertaining entry in the series.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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