pinemaples Review of Thor: Love and Thunder

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

Thor: Love and Thunder

[9/10 · 11 July 2022]

I'll start off by saying that Thor: Ragnarok is one of my favorite movies of the whole MCU. I expected this one to be basically more of that, and in some ways it is, but it hits different. For a while, it's just goofy, and not always in a good way. The jokes largely don't land as well, and it takes a while before it really starts to get going. But when it does, boy it REALLY goes. It's a lot more serious than I expected it to be, and the vast majority of the comedy ends after the first 1/3 or so, after which it's just one fantastic scene after another. There's one part about halfway through where we are treated to probably the most visually unique scene in the entire series, and it blew me away. From that scene on, the movie just didn't stop for me and I loved everything from then on out. Christian Bale absolutely dominates and really shows Chris Hemsworth up in his own movie, which is saying a lot because Hemsworth is as good as always. But we've seen him before about a dozen times, while Bale brings a whole new energy to it. Speaking of energy, there's Natalie Portman's Mighty Thor. I'm so glad she decided to come back, because she was fantastic and in no way did she phone anything in, in the least. She absolutely sold every line and action, and same goes for Tessa Thompson. I loved her in Ragnarok, and I love her here too.

My only complaints about the movie: 1. It takes a bit to really pick up.

2. Overall, it strangely feels about 20 minutes too short.

3. Probably a result of complaint #2, but I thought I could've used just a bit more time with Valkyrie and Jane's Mighty Thor.

I'd give the movie an overall 8.5, but since IMDb doesn't do half-stars, I'll round that up to 9.