Let me preface this by saying that I don't really love any of the other Thor movies. Ragnarok was actually a massive misstep for me. The slapstick comedy made me eyeroll almost every time out, not at all fitting any progressive tone from the previous Thor or Avengers movies before it. After loving Jojo Rabbit, I thought that every Taika Waititi product that I didn't enjoy was some exception to his excellence, but I shortly discovered that that was the only film I did care to love from him. I started to give up hope, especially after hearing Love and Thunder only adds to the silliness that Ragnarok had.
I'm here to say that the comedy this time around wasn't as maddening for me. Some of it was legitimately funny or at least served a courteous chuckle; it never interfered with the action, the villain, or serious moments; and I think the majority of jokes that fell flat passed by so quickly that I wouldn't even realize it was an attempt at humor unless somebody said it was supposed to be funny (which is never good, but it's better if it goes without a hitch). The Zeus scene was admittedly worst than the Ragnarok levels of 'bad' and really brought the movie down during the time, but thankfully that was the only time that I really felt the brunt end of failed comedy. There were two other running gags during the film -- one involving certain animals which I laughed at the more they appeared, and the other involving weapons which really didn't work except the first time it happened. They even repeat a bit from Ragnarok that I thought worked more this time around simply because it took place on Earth instead of Asgard. Upon re-reading my own paragraph I feel like I may be giving this movie more credit in its humor than I feel it's owed, but I feel this is all relative when I say: "At least it's not as bad as expected or as previously established." I can't see how somebody who loved Ragnarok is only now going to be upset at the knockabout that this movie at times can be.
Love and Thunder introduces Jane as Mighty Thor, and although it was great to see Natalie Portman return, the dichotomy between her two selves with no in-between was very jarring. I guess in a two-hour runtime you have to accept these little nuances to be skipped time to time and she isn't the only character to undergo an immediate change like this, but if you're coming off the Phase One MCU character of Jane who you remember you would never believe she would evolve this persona. I guess that's what happens when your character lives on as you take a hiatus from the universe as an actress, though. Regardless, this story is very Jane-centric and I think it is something that Ragnarok was dearly missing. She helps complete Thor, or at least for a life that Thor pines for. There is a backstory montage showing a relationship between Thor and Jane (almost in an "never before seen footage" kind of way) that displayed more chemistry between them than either Thor or The Dark World bothered to give off. Like I said, very heartfelt.
This actually is a good transition to Gorr, because his origins are also derived from the love of another as well. This movie does that thing that the show House M. D. did (where a patient with a certain quirk delivered thematically for the doctors in the episode), so what was happening with Thor was also happening with Gorr regarding their attachment to the loved ones in their lives. It doesn't play like this for the whole movie, but it is still a present theme. Christian Bale is really good, but I'm not sure if he has enough moments to show this. He both frontends and bookends the film very strongly and shows up here and there with shadowy minions, and he is absolutely a dominant presence every time he is on screen, but I definitely could have had more of him. He is never served as cannon fodder for Waititi's comedy, so his scenes are always serious and impactful. His monologues are very captivating and will get a lot of clicks on YouTube, and the action set pieces with him are very diverse and engaging.
I'll restate that Thor never really was my favorite, and unfortunately it could be because he isn't Earthbound. Any time this character is off of our planet, losing that grounded aspect really takes away from it all for me. Never before had I imagined after seeing the first Iron Man film that we would get to a point where we'd have rainbow bridges and rock-bodied aliens, and that can be detracting for me. That said, the Earth scenes here once again grabbed me most (as well as the scenes with the colorless portrayal, you'll know when you get to it) and the off-world stuff did not (especially once again the Zeus scene). When Asgard was destroyed in Ragnarok I thought that was the best thing that could happen to this franchise if it meant more Earth scenes. There are some scenes away from Earth with nice grounded conversation, and these are the moments that almost reminded me of what Jojo Rabbit did so well. Valkyrie was also normalized a lot in this movie and I dug her every time she was on screen because of it.
Despite some of the cringe that was afoot, I had a good time with this sequel. Given that I do not relatively enjoy the Thor films as much as many of the other MCU films, I can easily put this above the other three myself. It was a visual delight, the music was well done, the actors all gave good performances, and characters had solid arcs to play out. Furthermore, I like that it was two hours and they didn't needlessly add in other characters which didn't fit this story, even if they were a part of previous Thor films. I won't say this movie completely fuses the humor to my liking for this character, but the movie itself is the best/most entertaining of Thor that I have seen so I suppose I am accepting of it.
I'm here to say that the comedy this time around wasn't as maddening for me. Some of it was legitimately funny or at least served a courteous chuckle; it never interfered with the action, the villain, or serious moments; and I think the majority of jokes that fell flat passed by so quickly that I wouldn't even realize it was an attempt at humor unless somebody said it was supposed to be funny (which is never good, but it's better if it goes without a hitch). The Zeus scene was admittedly worst than the Ragnarok levels of 'bad' and really brought the movie down during the time, but thankfully that was the only time that I really felt the brunt end of failed comedy. There were two other running gags during the film -- one involving certain animals which I laughed at the more they appeared, and the other involving weapons which really didn't work except the first time it happened. They even repeat a bit from Ragnarok that I thought worked more this time around simply because it took place on Earth instead of Asgard. Upon re-reading my own paragraph I feel like I may be giving this movie more credit in its humor than I feel it's owed, but I feel this is all relative when I say: "At least it's not as bad as expected or as previously established." I can't see how somebody who loved Ragnarok is only now going to be upset at the knockabout that this movie at times can be.
Love and Thunder introduces Jane as Mighty Thor, and although it was great to see Natalie Portman return, the dichotomy between her two selves with no in-between was very jarring. I guess in a two-hour runtime you have to accept these little nuances to be skipped time to time and she isn't the only character to undergo an immediate change like this, but if you're coming off the Phase One MCU character of Jane who you remember you would never believe she would evolve this persona. I guess that's what happens when your character lives on as you take a hiatus from the universe as an actress, though. Regardless, this story is very Jane-centric and I think it is something that Ragnarok was dearly missing. She helps complete Thor, or at least for a life that Thor pines for. There is a backstory montage showing a relationship between Thor and Jane (almost in an "never before seen footage" kind of way) that displayed more chemistry between them than either Thor or The Dark World bothered to give off. Like I said, very heartfelt.
This actually is a good transition to Gorr, because his origins are also derived from the love of another as well. This movie does that thing that the show House M. D. did (where a patient with a certain quirk delivered thematically for the doctors in the episode), so what was happening with Thor was also happening with Gorr regarding their attachment to the loved ones in their lives. It doesn't play like this for the whole movie, but it is still a present theme. Christian Bale is really good, but I'm not sure if he has enough moments to show this. He both frontends and bookends the film very strongly and shows up here and there with shadowy minions, and he is absolutely a dominant presence every time he is on screen, but I definitely could have had more of him. He is never served as cannon fodder for Waititi's comedy, so his scenes are always serious and impactful. His monologues are very captivating and will get a lot of clicks on YouTube, and the action set pieces with him are very diverse and engaging.
I'll restate that Thor never really was my favorite, and unfortunately it could be because he isn't Earthbound. Any time this character is off of our planet, losing that grounded aspect really takes away from it all for me. Never before had I imagined after seeing the first Iron Man film that we would get to a point where we'd have rainbow bridges and rock-bodied aliens, and that can be detracting for me. That said, the Earth scenes here once again grabbed me most (as well as the scenes with the colorless portrayal, you'll know when you get to it) and the off-world stuff did not (especially once again the Zeus scene). When Asgard was destroyed in Ragnarok I thought that was the best thing that could happen to this franchise if it meant more Earth scenes. There are some scenes away from Earth with nice grounded conversation, and these are the moments that almost reminded me of what Jojo Rabbit did so well. Valkyrie was also normalized a lot in this movie and I dug her every time she was on screen because of it.
Despite some of the cringe that was afoot, I had a good time with this sequel. Given that I do not relatively enjoy the Thor films as much as many of the other MCU films, I can easily put this above the other three myself. It was a visual delight, the music was well done, the actors all gave good performances, and characters had solid arcs to play out. Furthermore, I like that it was two hours and they didn't needlessly add in other characters which didn't fit this story, even if they were a part of previous Thor films. I won't say this movie completely fuses the humor to my liking for this character, but the movie itself is the best/most entertaining of Thor that I have seen so I suppose I am accepting of it.