Thor: Love and Thunder is a 2022 superhero film directed by Taika Waititi, and co-written by Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. The film is based on Stan Lee’s Marvel Comics character Thor, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is a direct sequel to Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Filming took place entirely in Sydney, Australia. Waititi returns to the director’s chair after making his Marvel debut with 2017’s massive hit Thor: Ragnarok (our full review here). I will fully admit my allegiance as a Taika Waititi fanboy, but there is no denying the fact that he tapped into the greatness that is Chris Hemsworth as Thor by finally allowing the films to have the unique identity they have been missing.

Thor is on a journey unlike anything he's ever faced -- a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher, who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Korg and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, who -- to Thor's surprise -- inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher's vengeance and stop him before it's too late.

The cast includes Chris Hemsworth as Thor, alongside Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Taika Waititi, Chris Pratt, Jaimie Alexander, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, and Vin Diesel.

Thor: Love and Thunder made it’s debut in theaters on July 8th, as part of Phase Four of the MCU.

THE GOOD

I can’t even begin to explain how pumped I was to see Thor: Love and Thunder. To give you some perspective, once the first trailer released I knew right there and then, this was THE movie I needed to see in 2022. No matter what happened, I would be seeing it as soon as humanely possible. Like any red-blooded American, I love me some Chris Hemsworth and his Thor character. Like honestly, what’s not to love?! I mentioned briefly my admittedly unhealthy infatuation with the talented and always hilarious director/writer/actor Taika Waititi, and he was a big part of my excitement after what he did with Thor: Ragnarok, I mean he changed the game in my opinion and completely shifted the tone of the Thor franchise. So, with the anticipation building up to the point where I could barely breathe, and not to flex my VIP status or anything but I made my way to an early (and of course exclusive) showing for Thor: Love and Thunder, and I was so damn ready. Now we all know how dangerous it can be to have such high expectations for a film which was in the back of my mind, but as the previews concluded I grabbed a handful of popcorn and thought to myself, “It’s game time!!”. So, did Thor: Love and Thunder live up to my impossible expectations? Keep reading to find out!

Damnit Taika Waititi you sly sonuvabi**h, you’ve done it again! Move over John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, Hollywood has a new power couple! I’m talking about a collaborative work couple of course in Waititi and Chris Hemsworth. Let me just start by saying I was back and forth on whether I should do this review right away or not since I would be seeing the movie again soon, and I have been trying to gather my thoughts since seeing it. It is just such a difficult thing to have such high expectations, try and soak everything in as a fan, while also trying to remain critical. But, I decided I needed to give the people what they want so here we are! Also I am basically writing this review as I process my thoughts on the film, so bare with me just in case I come across as slightly scatterbrained.

So yeah to continue with my opening, I loved this movie! Thor: Love and Thunder doesn’t waste any time bringing back the infectiously entertaining feel of Thor: Ragnarok which is surely something fans will appreciate. I was locked in from start to finish, laughed out loud a ton, damn near stood up and danced with the epic soundtrack, and more than anything else I was just so damn excited to finally be seeing yet another Waititi Thor film. To be honest I just want everyone to see this movie ASAP so I can talk about all of my favorite parts without ruining anything. Just earlier I laughed out loud randomly while thinking about a scene from the movie and my wife looked at me like I had 6 heads. Just so many ridiculous scenes and great one-liners. What can I say, the struggle is real.

Considering Taika Waititi’s involvement in the director’s chair as well as co-writing the screenplay, we knew comedy would be a big focus. Thor: Ragnarok was a massive hit because of the comedic tone throughout and those expecting that to continue will not be disappointed. We do get a balance of serious and funny as far as the underlying themes of Thor: Love and Thunder, but I would say that comedy is still more prevalant even though it is a closer balance compared to Ragnarok. The film is driven by two primary storylines, the storyline involving Gorr the God Butcher which essentially involves everyone, and the storyline between Thor and ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster. Gorr is a fantastic bad guy and I loved the story arch for his character from start to finish, and in many ways he embodied the all-encompassing feeling of power similar to the late great Thanos (RIP).

Similar to Thanos, Gorr’s reasoning for his madness makes sense and is even relatable. This allows for a much more developed antagonist sure to get viewers invested. The Thor and Jane storyline is both serious and sad, but also very goofy and ridiculous. I mean Jane has always been sort of a soft spot for Thor, and they take full advantage of that with Thor: Love and Thunder. It’s the typical first love who got away scenario and you somehow come face to face with them and realize you haven’t even started getting over them. They even go as far as adding another layer of jealousy between Thor’s new and improved Stormbreaker hammer, and his other old flame the original Thor hammer. In many ways the screenplay is corny for this reason, but at the end of the day love is corny, right? I mean that’s why my wife watches the stupid Hallmark channel for hours on end as soon as Christmas is 60 days away or less.

Clearly we have to talk about the incredible cast involved with Thor: Love and Thunder, which is just loaded with talent from top to bottom. It of course starts with the man himself, Chris Hemsworth. It’s honestly hard to talk about this guy without gushing about him, but I will do my very best. He is without question the best casting decision for the MCU in terms of the overall success of his respective films alongside Chris Evans as Captain America. With only 47 acting credits to his resume, which somehow seems low, Hemsworth made his big-screen debut in Star Trek (2009). He would land the role of Thor soon after which would serve as what would ignite his amazing career. Soon after the debut of Thor in 2011, he would star in The Cabin in the Woods (2011), which is severely underrated, three movies in 2012 including The Avengers, Snow White and the Huntsmen, and Red Dawn, and would go on to become a staple in just about every Marvel film that could justify an appearance from the great Thor, as well as a few comedic roles including a supporting role in the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot.

It is extremely difficult to picture Hemsworth as anything other than Thor at this point, but he was great in a few intense military thrillers including 12 Strong and the Netflix original film Extraction. Bottom line, he has become one of my favorite actors and what Taika Waititi did with his character in Thor: Ragnarok was next level genius. I remember reading interviews with Waititi prior to Ragnarok releasing who kept saying how funny Hemsworth was and that his comedic talents were being wasted. Well, those days are gone. The new and improved Thor is pure delight on screen, and I loved his character in Thor: Love and Thunder. I could talk about the infamous naked scene but you’ve all seen the trailers, plus I don’t want to start sweating considering I just took a shower. I’m kidding of course, sort of.

Next I just need to talk about my longtime obsession with the gorgeous actress Natalie Portman. In a weird way I always related to Thor’s obsession with her, she is just that girl next door and the definition of wholesome. From her breakout role way back in 1994 as Mathilda in the incredible crime thriller Léon: The Professional, she has been a favorite of mine. If you haven’t seen that movie, you need to. It is currently streaming on Netflix and Hulu, so you have no excuse not to watch it. You can thank me later. That was just the start for an illustrious career as she played in Heat (1995), Zoolander (2001), Garden State (2004), The Black Swan (2010), and her debut as Jane Foster in the original Thor (2011). Born Natalie Hershlag on June 9th, 1981, she was the first actress born in the 80’s to win an Academy Award as she took home Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Black Swan. She was next-level good in that movie which to be honest was a bit too much of a psychological mindfu*k for my taste. As versatile as she is beautiful, Natalie Portman has always been a memorable actress and I was thrilled to find out that she would pay a prominent part in Thor: Love and Thunder. Not only is she just perfect in this role, she is a big reason why the film works so well because of her chemistry with Hemsworth. She is also just a great actress in general so the more dramatic scenes were no problem at all for her.

The other primary roles belong to Taika Waititi himself as Korg, Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher, and Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie. Korg, probably my favorite character in Thor: Ragnarok, was amazing once again and I just cannot get enough of Waititi’s New Zealand accent, it just cracks me up every time. He is Thor’s right hand man here and is along for the entire ride for Thor: Love and Thunder which made me so, so happy. I am still waiting on either a spin-off film or a Disney+ series featuring Korg, so they better get on it! Christian Bale taking on the role of Gorr was pure genius. I remember when the trailer released giving us our first look at Bale, and I was on Cloud 9. Like here is this upper-echelon acting talent taking on a big role in one of my most anticipated movies of the year. I was just beside myself, and he CRUSHED it. Bale was almost unrecognizable and honestly had some The Machinest vibes, and so much of his character relied on facial expressions and mannerisms, and he was without a doubt the man for the job. He was pure nightmare fuel, and his performance was just fantastic and a big reason why the overall story of the film held so much weight. Thompson picked right up where she left off in Thor: Ragnarok, and was great yet again. She has this sort of cocky attitude that she clearly adopted from Thor, and it just works for her.

As far as the rest of the cast, the supporting talent was amazing as well. I won’t give away the names of a few familiar faces that will have fans excited, but Russell Crowe was awesome as Zeus. Even though Zeus and Thor are both mighty Gods, the two couldn’t be more different. Thor looks like he could walk on to a starting NFL roster, while Zeus looks like he just took on Joey Chestnut in a buffet eating competition. Okay admittedly that is a little harsh as Crowe doesn’t look that bad, but he was great in this role and surprisingly funny. His back and forth banter with Hemsworth was a highlight of the film, and something I honestly did not expect. Hemsworth comes across as funny in a very effortless way, and somehow Crowe channeled that and did the same. Overall kudos to him making an impact on Thor: Love and Thunder to the point where he definitely left a lasting impression on me.

From a technical standpoint Thor: Love and Thunder leaves no stone unturned as expected. The action sequences are over-the-top and aplenty, and it is made clear from the start that the film will not be taking itself too seriously, not even for a second. The CGI is fantastic but is also pretty cheesy at times which is definitely by design. After the films opening sequence you will have a pretty good idea of what to expect going forward, and I personally thought the decisions they made worked in terms of the feel and the tone of the film. I mean, at one point Thor decides to ride on his Stormbreaker (his fancy new axe) like he is Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus 2. Just process that for a second and you’ll have a pretty good idea as far as what to expect with Thor: Love and Thunder. And don’t get me wrong, it was glorious. I loved the attention to detail and the cinematography, as well as it balanced tons of color and a colorless black and white theme that was very Sin City/300-esque towards the end of the film. The only thing we were missing was a Gerard Butler appearance. Lastly, I haven’t experienced goats that added as much to a film since Black Phillip from the 2016 horror film, The Witch. Even though they scream quite a lot, you can rest assured the goats in Thor: Love and Thunder, who were absolutely hilarious, are not disciples of Satan himself.

I have to talk about the soundtrack for this movie, because it is just amazing in every conceivable way. Now I am someone who can appreciate a wide range of music mainly because ultimately I ignore genre, if I like the sound of something, I will give it a chance. This dates back to my middle school days in the late 90’s where I could be jamming out to DMX Ruff Ryder’s Anthem right before I left the house for the bus stop, and the next thing you know I am all fired up because Backstreet Boys Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) is playing on the radio. I mean talk about the confusing days of your formidable years. Also, I had a teacher who would play Enya on test days because she said it would help us focus, and guess what, she was right! I would continue this trend through my college years and just crush hours of homework listening to the Enya greatest hits album. So as soon as Thor: Love and Thunder opened with Enya Only Time with Thor wearing the most ridiculous robe you’ve ever seen, I immediately thought to myself, “Let’s fu#king go!!”. I knew the soundtrack was going to be amazing, but what a start. From there we get a welcomed extra helping of Guns N’ Roses, as well as a little Mary J. Blige, and even some Ciara. Bottom line, this soundtrack is already on my listening queue.

The visuals, which are admittedly pretty damn ridiculous more often than not, are just so much fun. I can’t even begin to describe some of the earlier enemies that Thor makes quick work of, but they looked like something you might start seeing if you ate the wrong mushrooms while hiking. You get what I’m saying. It just speaks to the creativity of Waititi if you ask me, and also stays in line with the wonkiness of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, at least early on. I really liked the craziness and just tried to take it all in. I doubt you are going into this movie expecting dark and gritty, because if you are, you will be disappointed. Not to say it doesn’t have a gritty feel at times, particularly during the scenes with Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher. They did a great job making him seem super creepy and a worthy foe for Thor or any other God brave enough to get in his way.

In closing, Thor: Love and Thunder satisfied my insatiable appetite for all things Taika Waititi and Marvel. It was action-packed, hilarious, serious enough at times, and driven by an impactful backstory. The cast couldn’t have been better, and the technical elements of the film left very little to be desired. To be honest I am still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that I actually watched Thor: Love and Thunder, mainly because it feels like I have been excited for it for so long. Reuniting Thor and Jane Foster was just genius if you ask me, and allowed the film the chance to focus more on Thor as more than just this God/superhero. All of the pieces of the puzzle just seemed to fit together and left me as a big fan of Marvel and the Thor movies, more than satisfied.

THE BAD

Okay so now for the critical part I mentioned briefly earlier. Part of the reason why I was back and forth on doing this review right away was the simple fact that I went in expecting another Thor: Ragnarok, and that just isn’t necessarily what I got. Now I am not saying that as a bad thing, but not only was it a high bar, it was also Taika Waititi’s first opportunity to delve into the Thor character and he went all out. Although as a viewer I wanted more of everything that I loved about Ragnarok, he was determined to give us something with a bit more substance. For that reason in ways Thor: Love and Thunder feels like the little brother of Thor: Ragnarok in terms of the overall scale as well as what I considered to be non-stop humor, but the more I think about it the more I appreciate what they did. I am talking about this in the bad section to prepare you as the viewer in terms of the differences between the two films.

Thor: Love and Thunder almost feels like the origin story of the character in comparison, because in many ways it is. The film puts a great deal of focus on how Thor and Jane Foster came to be, and that requires some buildup. Plus the comedy is a bit more spread out in comparison to Ragnarok, which again I wouldn’t necessarily say is a bad thing, just something to consider. I also feel confident that taking the time to really reintroduce Thor to viewers, we are setup for some great follow-up film potential. Plus even though I was more than okay with it the film can be very goofy at times, which could rub some viewers the wrong way.

THE VERDICT

A cast stacked with talent including a great new villain in Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher and one of the hardest hitting soundtracks in recent memory, Thor: Love and Thunder proves yet again that Taika Waititi and Chris Hemsworth are a force to be reckoned with. This movie was a blast to watch, and just seeing Thor and Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster back together again was worth the price of admission in itself. Even with my lofty and seemingly unreachable expectations, I left the theater with a big smile on my face. And as I thought about the film last night and today while writing this review, I honestly can’t wait to see it again tomorrow and I am positive I will appreciate it even more. I talked about why viewers expected Thor: Raganarok 2.0 may find themselves slightly disappointed, but this is just a different film as far as the overall feel trajectory of the backstory. Thor: Love and Thunder still packs a hefty comedic punch but also has a great deal of substance, and may even cause you to push out a tear or two, so just be prepared for anything. The pacing is great and the just under 2-hour runtime will absolutely fly by, and you will be staring at the end credits before you know it.

Bottom line, Thor: Love and Thunder is a cinematic treat and something I recommend seeing sooner than later. Also be sure to stick around for the two post-credit scenes, you don’t want to miss them. As a fan I am giddy and cannot wait for what’s coming next.

UPDATE: I went to see the movie a second time, and I am pleased to say that I enjoyed it that much more. Do yourself a favor and ignore the pessimistic people who prefer to complain about literally everything, you will be better for it. #teamthorloveandthunder #teamtaikawaititi #gettothetheater