Thor Love and Thunder review: Chris Hemsworth dazzles, Christian Bale terrifies in this psychedelic Marvel adventure

Thor: Love and Thunder has seen the shortest and smallest promotional campaigns of any film in the MCU that starred an original Avenger (barring that ill-fated Black Widow movie, of course). It’s a strange move from Marvel Studios, which has always regarded as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor as its holy trinity of box office success. Many had taken this as a sign of the studio’s lack of faith in the film and wondered if it was bad. But the film isn’t bad at all. But it isn’t great either. Taika Waititi’s latest Thor adventure is a typical MCU film that entertains and even dazzles in part, but barely rising above being ‘just good’. Also read: Natalie Portman accidentally shares ‘big spoiler’ about Thor: Love and Thunder

Thor: Love and Thunder picks off from where we last saw Chris Hemsworth’s Thor – at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Since then, he has been engaged in adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy. But the stakes are raised as he learns of a new threat – Gorr the God Butcher. As the name suggests, he is a being hell-bent on eliminating all gods from the universe, which is not exactly good news for the God of Thunder. So he enlists the help of his trusted friend Korg (Taika himself), the current King of Asgard Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), and his ex-girlfriend Dr Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who now has Thor’s powers herself.

Thor: Ragnarok had infused new life into what was becoming a boring, all-too-powerful superhero by making him vulnerable and even fun. And Taika deserves all the credit for that. In Love and Thunder, Taika has another unique challenge. For the first time in his MCU stint, Thor is without his brother Loki. The brothers’ chemistry and Tom Hiddleston’s charm were the highlights of most Thor films. But Love and Thunder does well without having that to fall back on. The greatest victory of Love and Thunder is that you don’t miss Loki.

The good thing about the film is that it does not waste too much time in exposition and backstories. The background of everything – from why Gorr hates gods to how Jane is able to wield Mjolnir – is explained crisply yet completely. This not only keeps the runtime short but gives the characters more time to grow and interact. And the interactions and dialogue between two characters are the highlight of any Taika film. Like Ragnarok, the best scenes of Love and Thunder involve just two characters talking. And while the dialogue between Thor and Jane or Thor and Korg are fun indeed, the most sparkling chemistry belongs to Valkyrie and Jane. Any scene with these two is delightful and it’s a shame Natalie and Tessa have limited scenes together here.

Chris Hemsworth is, by now, effortless as Thor. He personifies the role in a way Robert Downey, Jr owned Iron Man. He is Thor, every version, every facet of him. But the scene-stealer is Christian Bale’s Gorr, MCU’s answer to Voldemort. Marvel really needs to stop making villains who are relatable and make sense. After Thanos, Killmonger, and Zemo, Gorr also makes it very difficult for the viewer to root for the hero. The writing helps, but Christian brings out the character’s pain and hatred wonderfully. He is truly terrifying, not in a Scarlet Witch way though. Natalie Portman makes a smooth return to the MCU. Her Mighty Thor is a brilliant cocktail of power, confusion, fear, and confidence, and it had to take an actor of her calibre to manage all those emotions, and not go overboard.

Where Love and Thunder fails is that it is a middling film. The stakes are never truly high. After the highs of Endgame and Multiverse of Madness, Love and Thunder looks tiny in comparison. Only the stature of its stars saves it. Another drawback with the film is its predictable plot. There needn’t be any twists but the lack of originality limits it to just being a good film, and not a great one. The action sequences and the soundtrack are redeemers though.

There were murmurs that this was Chris Hemsowrth’s final Marvel film. The actor himself hinted that. Judging by the film, that could be both likely or unlikely. If this is his indeed his last film, it is a tame end to a character that held so much promise. If it’s not, then Marvel really needs to address its Thor issue.

To me, Thor has been a character that has puzzled the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iron Man and Captain America got wonderful closures to their arcs, as did Black Widow. Hawkeye is heading towards the end of his road soon with his Disney+ series and it seems Hulk will get his closure too in the upcoming show She-Hulk. But there seems to be no end in sight for Thor. Movie after movie, the character suffers, loses people, and gets his heart broken. Just when he sees light at the end of the tunnel, it turns out that’s actually a freight train that runs over him brutally. Thor deserves better!