Director: Taika Waititi
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman
Year: 2022
Thor: Love and Thunder might not be quite as bad as the historically bad Thor 1 & Thor 2, but it’s also nowhere near as astounding as Thor: Ragnarok. I would normally say “it’s in the middle, not a triumph, not a disaster”, that feels like what should come next, but I can’t even give #4 *that* much credit; it’s much worse than I was expecting. It’s near as bad as anything Marvel has to offer, from its early days to its greatest mistakes, and that’s simply not acceptable. Not with Waititi, not with Hemsworth, not with what went right the last time out; this time, everything went to shit.
Thor, back out in the realm being a hero again, is called upon to investigate the crimes of the “god killer”, a man who is somehow slaying the universe’s protectors. This man, Gorr, has a weapon that makes him almost invincible, but he will need to be stopped before he destroys all heroes, including the ones we know & love. Thor can’t take the Guardians with him, they’re too busy, but he does recruit Korg and Valkyrie, along with one other surprise guest; Jane. That’s right, Jane Foster, his ex-girlfriend, but she’s more than that now, she’s also the Mighty Thor, somehow, and is wielding a repaired Mjolnir. Doesn’t make a lot of sense, but here we go.
That’s just it; like, what the fuck? Waititi worked magic with Ragnarok, but he’s delved too greedily & too deep, apparently, and loosed something horrid. His own ego maybe, his wacky imagination, I don’t know, but nothing works and there’s a hundred ideas happening all at once, which is a very bad combination. Thor isn’t funny, the Guardians skip out almost immediately, Jane SUCKS, even Korg is just stupid, and all the wonder we were expecting is simply missing. It’s a very, very bad movie, Marvel or otherwise, and simply misses every mark it’s aiming for. It doesn’t even feel like a film, more like a dream, but one that we don’t recognize and could never fully understand. I love Waititi, I’ve loved him from his early days, he’s honestly a genius, but this movie sucks.
My rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆