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- Aug 28, 2011
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Thor: Love and Thunder. 2022. Saw it opening night at the local Regal cinema. This is directed by Taika Waititi, so if you know his stuff, you know what to expect. I'll start by saying it isn't as good as Ragnarok, which was also directed by Taika. The cast is the same. Brief scenes with the Guardians of the Galaxy to start. There is a fair bit of flashback/story/narrator to get from there to now, with Taika narrating as Korg telling a story to kids. Christian Bale is the new arrival and he's the bad guy. He's pretty good. Tessa Thompson is back as Valkyrie, now leader of the Asgardians on earth (she lost weight and looks great). New Asgard has a stage show, with Matt Damon as Loki, Sam Neil as Odin and Luke Hemsworth as Thor. I won't reveal too much, but Bale is processed by an evil sword and becomes the "God Killer" and must be stopped. It's quite funny. Russell Crowe joins his abundant fellow Aussies as a funny, out of shape Zeus. It's a fun enjoyable movie. Doesn't take itself seriously. Spoilers now:
and"The "Love" is a little girl who was Bale's daughter. She is brought back and becomes "Love", and is adopted by Thor. Hence "Love and Thunder". She's played by Chris Hemsworth's daughter. "
"In the post credit teaser, we see that Zeus is pissed at Thor and seeks revenge on him and the humans that now worship superheroes instead of the old gods. He turns to Hercules to sort out Thor, and he's played by Brett Goldstein from Ted Lasso. Roy Kent is indeed, everywhere."
Marvel has made humor a staple of its superhero movies. Thor L&T crossed the line from funny to silly, bordering on stupid. And while Marvel has never sunk to the level of Jar Jar Binks. L&T comes close on number of occasions.
I love these movies. The size, scope, imagination and spectacle turns me into a 13 year old buying Fantastic Four #2 at the corner store. Thor certainly delivered on that count.
What made superhero movies great was handling them in an adult manor. The film Batman Returns took itself seriously and kept a twinkle in its eyes. It changed the genre. L&T is closer to Batman the campy TV series than Batman Returns. I liked it. But even I will draw the line at some point.