LM23 Rating: You’ll love this thrilling, thunderous Thor follow-up
Love and Thunder is even more lovable and funny this time around
It’s been 5 years since the last Thor standalone film, Thor Ragnarok. But Thor has not been dormant during this time. Thor has been growing and expanding its power and reach and cleverness. Don’t let any of the fan fuss over how the MCU doesn’t take Thor seriously. Chris Hemsworth’s portrayal of Thor is the perfect blend of a muscular jock with a big heart.
The strongest differentiator of Thor amongst all of the other standalone films is its razor sharp comedy that never comes off as goofy or lame, but as actual comedy. Think to yourself, when was the last time you saw a movie that was categorized as a comedy and it was actually gut busting funny with zingers and set-ups that you never saw coming?
Mjolnir and Stormbreaker are treated like real partners to Thor
One of the best gags is the “love triangle” between Thor, Mjolnir (the hammer), and Stormbreaker (the axe). It was an interesting take in acknowledging the true partnership between Thor and his weapons. There’s also a key foil between key characters and their reliance on the weapons for their lifelines.
Dr. Jane Foster (or Mighty Thor), returns to New Asgard. The reason is devastating as Jane (Natalie Portman) believes the way to extend her life from Stage 4 cancer is to get strength and health from Mjolnir. Meanwhile, Thor leaves the Guardians of the Galaxy behind to return to New Asgard to save the city from the talons of new baddie, Gorr (Christian Bale).
As we saw in the opening sequence, a human Gorr loses his young daughter due to his sacrifice to the gods. Gorr finds out the hard way that there is no reward for fighting for the gods. Resentful at being used, Gorr takes the Necrosword and begins his quest to kill all of the gods. And on his checklist is the town of New Asgard.
Jane’s cancer is momentarily on pause by the power of Mjolnir
As Gorr unleashes his dark creatures on the town, king of Asgard, Valkyrie, and the townspeople do their best to fight off the creatures. Thor lands in the middle of the fighting, but notices that there seems to be a new fighter who is holding up his part of the deal. As Thor sees his beloved Mjolnir, he’s stunned when his hammer does not return to his hands, but to that to Jane. A newly buffed and powerful, Jane.
As the adults are trying to fight off the monsters, the kids who had been sound asleep are all one by one snatched and taken away in a cage to the Shadow Realm. Thor, Valkyrie, Korg, Jane, and the two magical goats gifted to Thor in an earlier battle make a detour to get help from Zeus and the other gods. They figure it’s the only way they can defeat Gorr.
Zeus is not the god they were looking for
A not so lean and mean Zeus (Russell Crow), and of even less good character, is not so quick to help. He and the rest of the gods are able to live in peace and enjoy their orgies, drinks, and grapes by staying out of the fighting. Knowing that it’s useless to get Zeus’ help, the gang instead steals Zeus’ powerful, golden thunderbolt, which is what they need to destroy Gorr.
One of the heavier parts of the film comes in this “rush bum”. Zeus pierces the thunderbolt through loyal and lovable Korg. As Korg falls to literal pieces, you can feel the pain from Thor as his good friend seems to be dying before his eyes. You really feel as if the rug has been ripped from under you as the death of Korg did not seem fair. However, all is okay as Korg’s face survives and Valkyrie improvises by using her long hair as string to tie his face securely to her.
The Shadow Realm steals their colors and Stormbreaker
The team makes it to the Shadow Realm in which they all lose their colors. The black and white coloring makes you feel as if you really are in a desolate, dark world where there is no life and hope. This is of course a trap in which Gorr is able to steal Stormbreaker and use its power to create an opening to the Eternity realm. But the bad news doesn’t stop there, Jane is weakened by the cancer and Valkyrie was stabbed by Gorr. There’s no one else to return to the Shadow Realm to save the kids except for Thor himself.
As Jane lies in the hospital bed, Thor tells her how he has always loved her and he will return. This is another bittersweet part in the film where the inevitable is nearing its end and we can feel the anxiety creeping into both Thor and Jane’s demeanors.
The unexpected heroes are the kids of Asgard and Dr. Jane Foster
Thor takes Zeus’ thunderbolt and finds the kids. As there is no one else to fight, he instead deputizes the kids as “limited time only” little Thors with the power of the thunderbolt. The kids all transform into warriors and they help Thor fight the monsters and Gorr. But Thor isn’t able to finish Gorr off on his own, as Gorr is about to sink the Necrosword into his chest, Jane appears one last time as Mighty Thor to help. Meanwhile, Heimdall’s son, Astrid (now known as Axl after a singer in his favorite band) listens to Thor and takes the kids back home to safety.
This is the best fight sequence for Natalie Portman’s Mighty Thor. She charges at Gorr correcting him that her name is Mighty Thor or Dr. Jane Foster and he can eat her hammer! But all of the fighting takes its toll on Jane. Gorr enters the Eternity Realm and Jane is no longer Thor and is dying. Thor doesn’t care to fight anymore and tells Gorr that rather than wishing the death to the gods, he should wish for his daughter to come back. But Gorr is also dying and he doesn’t want his daughter to be alone. Jane assures him that she will not be alone. Gorr complies and as Jane vanishes into the air in a gold dust, Gorr’s daughter appears just before Gorr himself dies.
The new partnership of Love and Thunder is born
Thor has lost Jane, but he gains another reason to live which is Gorr’s daughter. Now also known as Uncle Thor, Thor has devoted himself to raising Gorr’s daughter in New Asgard and they both fight the bad guys as Love and Thunder. This was such a sweet ending and a great reveal to the movie’s title. I had been wondering why Thor was called Love and Thunder and as we see, Gorr’s daughter is Love and Thor is Thunder. In the end credits, we see that Zeus survived and he has instructed his son Hecules to kill Thor. And in the final end credit, we see Jane enter Valhalla and she is greeted by Heimdall.
The movie runs two hours, but it never feels long. The pacing is so on point and there’s so many laughs, tears and thrills that you never feel like there is a moment for your mind to wander off. There are some holes to the film like I wish Korg had more screen time. He’s so sweet and likeable that you want to hear more of his logical and inadvertently funny monologues. There also should have been a bit more explanation of how Jane came to wield Mjolnir when she went to Asgard. But other than that, Thor: Love and Thunder is a great summer popcorn movie that you’ll feel like you spent your time and money well. And there are funny cameos from Matt Damon, Melissa McCarthy and Luke Hemsworth that you have to watch out for.
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