The Stream: Thor was a bit corny at times

The Big Screen: Great action sequences and some good laughs

The Final Bill: Some really nice big action sequences and laughs that make the movie fly by the corniness

– S2S: Movie Review
Director: Taika Waititi
Writers: Taika Waititi (story by), Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, Stan Lee (based on the Marvel comics by)
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Rating: PG-13 (for violence)
Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes
Production Companies: Marvel Studios, Fox Studios Australia, Walt Disney Pictures
Platform: Released in theaters July 8, 2022
Notable Trailers: Nope, Honk for Jesus. Save your soul., White Bird, Beast, Black Adam, Strange World, Avatar: The Way of Water

We’ve been waiting for this, Streamers. Thor: Love and Thunder has finally been released in theaters. The MCU is back before us with more content that we’ve been clamoring for. This movie follows Thor as he enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Bestie Korg and ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster, to fight Gorr the God Butcher, who intends to make all of the gods extinct.

You know with these MCU movies we have to talk about the storyline and the bigger picture. First, a newbie could definitely just watch this movie and not be completely lost about what’s going on. As Korg narrates at key points in the movie, he’s able to bring us all up to speed. Secondly, I’m no comic book expert but to me this movie doesn’t move the universe along that much if at all, which is good. I feel everyone is too wrapped up in how it plays into the phases and multiverse and blah blah blah, which just causes people to not be immersed in and entertained by the product in front of them (*cough cough* alluding to what people did to the Dr. Strange movie but no one asked me, so I’ll move on). Lastly, this movie is full of heart. Thor, Jane, and Gorr will pull on your heartstrings throughout in unexpected ways. While some of their plot points weren’t fully fleshed out, I recognize that it’s hard to make these movies feel important after the emotional depth in Endgame. Nevertheless, Taika’s direction and the writing definitely tried their best to fill the movie with heart and humor. Let’s move on to the cast.

Christian Bale does his thing as Gorr. He’s so creepy in this. Bale has a way of slithering across the screen and being menacing even though he’s not necessarily physically imposing. Marvel could’ve taken this to the next level in dastardliness, but it seems like the MCU is building to an overarching Big Bad and don’t yet want to give us that Thanos-like figure. Who knows? We may have seen that Big Bad already, but the MCU hasn’t truly featured them yet. Anyway! Thor, on the other hand, while goofy and fun, campy, and still beastly, he does come off a bit too corny. And, it’s hard to say because some of the exact same moments are definitely going to be moments that people enjoy. The same goes for Korg as well. Taika does a great job voicing Korg, but at times it’s a bit much or unnecessary. The fact that he narrates a lot of the movie could be a turn off to viewers. Korg is great in small pebbles but the whole rock mound gets a bit annoying. Our friend, Jane Foster can be annoying too but her bash head Thor-ness is definitely fun to watch. Marvel definitely found a way to make Jane come into her own and not just as a Thor carbon copy, which I enjoyed. I wish I could say the same for Valkyrie. They didn’t really let my girl Tessa really shine in this movie. After Ragnarok, I think we wanted that boss chick featured again. Unfortunately, she was more of a bell and whistle than a co-star. Those are the people you come to see but there are a bunch of small characters that either melt your heart, annoy you a bit, make you laugh, or want to see more of. Srangely that mixture, actually gives a movie life. It’s just Marvel doing Marvel things making you want more.

Long story short, Thor: Love and Thunder while maybe not Ragnarok doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Marvel, Taika and Kevin Feige just continue a strong MCU/Thor Franchise. This movie will make you laugh, hold on to your seat, awe at the action, suck back thug tears and more. Thor gets a bit corny but not enough to make me say don’t see Bale’s creepy Gorr the God Butcher. Love and Thunder will make loud noise in the theaters so grab that big box of fresh popcorn and enjoy.