Another Thor installment is just around the corner, and Chris Hemsworth is returning with an even better star cast. After Thor: Ragnarok, which is among the best movies in the MCU world of all time, Chris Hemsworth is back in action with Taika Watiti’s Thor: Love and Thunder.
CAST
In the fourth installment of Thor’s solo movies, Chris Hemsworth returns as Thor along with Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Christian Bale as Gorr, and Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie.
Directed by Taika Watiti, the film is produced by Kevin Feige, and Brad Winderbaum.
STORY
Thor: Love and Thunder pick up right after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Where Thor is recovering from Loki’s death, disbandment of the Avengers along with finding some purpose in life, Gorr, The God of Butcher is taking down Gods from all worlds. Thor, who was on a run with the Guardians of the Galaxy, gets to know about the destruction that Gorr is doing and ends his journey to take down the God of Butcher.
Gorr’s new target is Thor, as he is avenging the death of his daughter. Thor gets to know about his motives and travels back to Asgard where he is surprised to see a new Thor – Mighty Thor, played by Natalie Portman. The Mighty Thor is not only on the mission to protect people but is also dealing with her cancer diagnosis. Thor, Mighty Thor, and Valkyrie unite in order to fight and take down Gorr.
REVIEW
This movie is highly anticipated and the audience has some really high expectations after the third installment, Thor: Ragnarok, but sadly it doesn’t live up to those expectations. With a few characters returning back to the big screen after a long time and some really cool new additions, the film attracted a lot of buzzes. Because of so many characters, the main storyline is a collection of sub-plotlines of every character, which the movie does not do justice in such a short time.
As the movie is fast-paced, with so many things happening all at once, it becomes difficult to engage with the story. The moment the audience starts to invest in one story, it immediately changes to another. But this case is only valid till the first half, as the second half comes up the movie feels dragged.
It changes its pace from a very fast-paced movie to a very slow-paced movie immediately after the interval. It feels as if one is watching two different movies with a similar plotline.
The movie does explore a lot of emotional stuff from the very start, with Thor dealing with his problems and Jane Foster dealing with her diagnosis. After knowing his lady love’s diagnosis, Thor can be seen struggling again. This plotline does bring out the emotional aspect of the movie.
ACTING
As for the performance by the actors, Watiti brings out the funny side of Thor, like in his earlier installments, but this time it is a bit forced. Chris’ character does not quite offer anything new, other than his marvelous acting.
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster and The Mighty Thor comes out as a strong leader and breaks free from only playing the role of Thor’s girlfriend, which is something new in this installment.
But the only one who manages to steal the show is Christian Bale. With his immaculate acting, he becomes the limelight of the whole movie. Gorr’s character gives some of the scariest scenes in the movie. His character had so much potential to be explored but the ending does not do justice to his character and Bale’s acting skills.
King Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson, does not have a very prominent role in the movie. In Thor: Ragnarok, where she was in the limelight in the movie, here, she acts as a supporting character. Which is definitely a bummer!
CONCLUSION
Overall, Thor: Love and Thunder is a good movie but is nothing compared to the third installment, Thor: Ragnarok. Every character has a great storyline, but in a movie, these many storylines feel rushed and the audience is unable to engage with each character.
