Thor: Light and Sappy
Thor Love and Thunder opts for a silly, rock n roll fueled fantastic space voyage in lieu of a classic introspective hero’s journey. While audiences will enjoy the action, the one-liners and Swiss cheese storyline will likely turn off many loyal fans.
In this follow-up, Thor is up against a god-killer who blames the gods for ignoring his prayers and letting his daughter die. This is the stuff that action movie traditionalists like me live for. A true villain filled with venom ruthlessly eliminating any obstacle and causing mass chaos all over the universe. Unfortunately, we are handed a simplified backstory “explaining” why the villain becomes villainous (yawn) which of course must lead to a satisfying moral, and ultimately disappointing, ending. Despite beginning with a more substantive religious question, the ending is a mangled pseudo-philosophical musing about…love?
Identity takes the lead theme as we find Thor meditating under a tree while a battle is raging nearby. That’s only the start of a slew of incongruous scenes that set up comic relief followed by wild battle montages. The central story about hatred of the supernatural collapses as does Thor’s eternal identity. He becomes a somewhat pitiful figure pining away over Jane and incapable of even choosing an appropriate costume. A more nuanced story around Thor’s spiritual identity as a god, not just a superhero, would have led to a deeper story better aligned with the villain’s atheistic motives. The result of this humanized lovesick tale is a connect-the-dots plot flitting from one outlandish environment to the next in an intergalactic cruise ship- which happens to be the vehicle of choice in this meandering quest.
Then there’s “Thorina” aka Jane Foster aka Female Thor. Jane’s valiant determination to beat cancer “alone” by figuring it out (not sure how you figure out cancer) instead of asking Thor for help is inexplicable. While in her lab performing cancer experiments on herself, she comes across a Norse mythology book detailing the healing powers of Thor’s hammer. Rather than asking Thor if there’s any catch 22 (which there must be) she travels to New Asgard (which is a theme park) and swipes the weapon, which transforms her into a Thor while sapping her strength. After she and Thor awkwardly meet during a battle, they realize they must join forces to defeat the villain since Thor can’t wield both of his own weapons at the same time for some reason.
Overrall, I enjoyed the movie mostly because I saw the 3D version in a comfortable reclining seat munching nachos, similar to my WW84 experience. The sarcastic tonality punctuated by glib punchlines was unnecessary. It didn’t help reveal anything significant about the characters or story and became quite tiresome after the first 45 minutes. While audiences definitely need some light entertainment, the constant barrage of jokes became mind-numbing. Russell Crowe as Zeus will please WWF fans. The VFX and action choreography were awe-inspiring and original. But the movie ultimately did struggle with its identity to be both a crowd-pleaser and a more meaningful investigation of belief seen from the perspective of the gods.
The movie ends on a philosophical notes with themes of sacrifice, love, and revenge creating the perfect set up for at least 2 more Thor movies. We can expect Chris Hemsworth to be playing Thor well into his 60s. Zeus, hilariously portrayed by Russell Crowe, is going to exact revenge on humans although Thor is the one who stole his thunderbolt to save the gods, not people. Thor is now left to raise a magical girl-god. Feisty and stubborn, the kid has Thor wrapped around her little finger (cue ahhhs). Getting a cute 5 year old to swear at Thor before she lasers him…well, really??? Little more than a cheap gag to justify a confusing character choice like picking a pubescent boy to belt out the national anthem at a school performance just to get a standing ovation from sympathetic parents who aren't sure how long to clap.