By: Kimberly Grant
Oh for the love of Thor. Our favorite and one of the few remaining original Avengers is back in theaters. This time, as a lovesick god who is wandering the universe aimlessly waiting for a war. Otherwise, he feels useless. Poor Thor.
Thor: Love & Thunder is available now in theaters across the universe.
Thunder Story
Written by Taika Waititi, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, (based on Marvel comics by Stan Lee and Jason Aaron), this latest installment can also be known as Thor 4. Our titular hero (played by Chris Hemsworth) is still traversing with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Unfortunately for the Guardians, Thor has overstayed his welcome and is being treated like that relative who should have gone home two weeks ago. You love them, but you’re ready to part ways.
Then a noble cause brings itself to New Asgard in the form of Gorr (Christian Bale), a newly formed ‘’god” who is set on destroying all gods in the universe. But he needs something from Thor to realize his main objective. Meanwhile, Jane (Natalie Portman) is back in the picture as a female Thor and King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) is trying to keep New Asgard together as its monarch. (Why they didn’t call her a queen is a mystery.)
Quirky Thunder
Since Waititi (who also plays Thor’s most loyal friend, Korg) took over the directing helm of the Thor franchise, I have found a reason to love these films. The first few were kind of meh. Then Waititi put his signature stamp on the franchise and I’ve loved Thor ever since. There is a colorful, gonzo feel to the films now.
Although Thor the character is a more lovable and relatable, Love & Thunder isn’t totally kid friendly. It seems like it’s made for the kiddies at first glance. But has a PG-13 rating for a reason. If you’re thinking of taking your kids, I would recommend taking the older kids. You will be explaining some of the words in the film.
Who’s Who in Thunder
In this Thor, our hero looks toward unconventional heroes to save the day and it is refreshing to see that women and non-traditional warriors can still defend themselves. Now, I can’t write more than that without ruining the movie. What I will write is that I want to see a movie where King Valkyrie and Jane are besties who rule New Asgard and kick butt. But these talented ladies aren’t the only interesting characters in Love & Thunder.
In true Waititi fashion, Love & Thunder does not disappoint with the cameos. Without giving a spoiler alert, audiences can anticipate seeing Melissa McCarthy, Matt Damon, Russell Crowe, Jaime Alexander, Ben Falcone, Elsa Pataky (Hemsworth’s wife), Luke Hemsworth (the brother), and Kat Dennings. Not to mention, we get some screen time with our Guardians: Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper).
In the acting category, Bale is almost unrecognizable as the villain in the film and quite scary even when he’s not trying to be. In fact, Bale is a little too good at being Gorr. Hemsworth as Thor, as loveable and dense as he is, is still a hero that you can root for; even when he’s destroying entire cities in order to save them from a warring army.
Loving the Thunder
The can’t-miss performances belong to the ladies, though. McCarthy’s cameo is intriguing and refreshing. I love seeing her playing an action hero. Thompson as King Valkyrie is more relatable than we’ve seen her in past films. She’s so down-to-earth and approachable as king, that she makes you want to move to New Asgard. Likewise, Portman’s Jane is a lot less annoying as compared to other films. Her overall badass-ness is an encouragement to women who may have felt helpless or defenseless at any given moment. In Love & Thunder, sisters are doing it for themselves.
As you can tell, Love & Thunder is worth the watch; just not with the smaller kids.
You can read more movie reviews and articles on entertainment from Kimberly Grant here.
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