r: Love and Thunder was a movie that I had been looking forward to. I was pretty hyped for it even before I saw the first trailer just because of Taika Waititi coming back. Thor: Ragnarok was one of my favorite movies the year it came out. It was also one of the few movies that I wanted to rewatch as soon as I finished first viewing. Love and Thunder didn’t end up striking me in the same way as the previous movie, but I still enjoyed it a lot.
Taika Waititi co-wrote Love and Thunder with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. This was my first-time seeing Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s name. The script that they wrote together was good, but I was surprised by the wild shifts into horror the movie had. The movie did the shifts well even if they were unexpected. I think they also adapted parts of Jason Aaron’s on Thor: God of Thunder really well. Taking certain parts and shaping them to work in the movie. Waititi makes the shifts in tone work mostly because of them happening whenever Gorr in on screen. Outside of the Gorr parts of the movie it has the tone of an action-adventure romantic comedy.
This might be my favorite version of Thor yet. Chris Hemsworth plays Thor with the same goofball charm he had in Ragnarok but brings an earnestness that was missing from the character in previous movies. Natalie Portman coming back as Dr. Jane Foster helps Thor be more vulnerable not just because he is still in love with her but because Mjolnir chose her. That adds the interesting thing of adding wrinkles to the relationship between Thor and Stormbreaker. She also gets to have fun as the Mighty Thor, which is a fun contrast from how straightlaced she is as Jane Foster. Christian Bale as Gorr is absolutely terrifying. The shifts of tone in the movie happen because Bale’s performance necessitates such a shift. In contrast of Bale’s performance, Russell Crowe’s performance as Zeus is hilarious. I was not prepared for his performance it is not what you would expect out of Crowe. Tessa Thompson gets to have fun as Valkyrie, who seemingly hates her new role as king of New Asgard and welcomes getting back into the stuff even though what causes it is less than ideal. Waititi is back as Korg and Jaimie Alexander also returns as Sif.
The effects in Love and Thunder are top notch. The practical effects that were on Gorr to show his change from the beginning into Gorr the God Butcher adds to the effect of Gorr being straight out of a horror movie. If this movie had just been dealing with Gorr it would have felt like it should be a horror movie. I really want to mention the giant goats because they are a constant source of comedy throughout the movie. Each time they’re on screen the scream like normal goats. The music from Michael Giacchino and Nami Melumad is great. They are able to make the score match the shifts in tone that the movie has.
Thor: Love and Thunder is fun action-adventure romantic comedy that has tonal shifts into horror. So far phase four of the MCU is going back to the early days where there wasn’t much of a plan. I think it’s refreshing even if makes the films and series feel disconnected from each other. The mid credit and post credit scenes add interesting things to the MCU, especially mid credit scene. If you can I think you should go see Love and Thunder in theaters. I give Thor: Love and Thunder 9.5 Necroswords out of 10.