Thor: Love and Thunder

The God of Thunder returns in Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Love and Thunder” and audiences find that Thor (Chris Hemsworth), has been doing missions with the Guardians of the Galaxy while he works himself back into shape and looks to find a new purpose in life. Thor has been taking the spotlight in many of the missions and when multiple calls for help arise, Thor opts to go off on his own to address a particular call for help while the Guardians head on their way to help others. It is learned that a being named Gorr (Christian Bale) has been killing Gods and Thor is eager to put a stop to him before he can do more damage. His mission soon puts him on a collision course with Gorr and The Mighty Thor (Natalie Portman) who being his ex and wielding his former weapon causes more than a few funny and awkward moments. In a race to save captured children, rally the gods, and defeat Gorr, Thor, and Jane along with Korr (Taika Waititi) and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), embark on an epic adventure in a race against time. While audiences have come to expect Marvel films to be epic cinematic events, this film is less on the over-the-top action sequences in favor of establishing new circumstances and challenges for the characters going forward. While there are indeed action sequences and plenty of VFX, it does not have the action or intensity of several of the past films. What it does offer is a good mix of action and humor with enjoyable characters old and new and establishes scenarios for the MCU going forward. Bale is very good as Gorr and you understand his motivations clearly as while evil, he has a degree of sympathy towards his character which makes his creepy performance all the more compelling. The cast works very well with one another and there are two scenes in the credits which open up all kinds of possibilities for the future as we are told Thor will return before the credits even begin to roll. The film also has considerable music and I joked to myself that Guns and Roses are going to be getting a big check due to their music being used frequently during the film as well as that of other artists which helps make the film an enjoyable outing from start to finish which should delight fans as we wait to see for the next cinematic offering from Marvel. 4 stars out of 5

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/thor-love-and-thunder-spoiler-free-review "Thor: Love and Thunder boasts a bittersweet story about finding peace and love in suffering and pain, without forgetting the necessary thunderous action that reaches its best level in a long sequence surrounded by a breathtaking black-and-white color palette. Christian Bale stands out with a terrifying performance as one of MCU's best villains in recent years, while Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman share excellent chemistry. Visually distinct and with a unique soundtrack, the formulaic screenplay benefits immensely when focusing on the complex arcs of each character. Still, the continuous comedy bits - far from the hilarious creativity of the past - deny further exploration, removing emotional value from the third act. The action featuring generic CGI shadow monsters holds predictable issues, and an irrelevant plot deviation only serves as a teaser for future content. Overall, Taika Waititi succeeds yet again, but this time, he fails to reach the full potential of the premise." Rating: B+

After a rocky start, _Thor Love and Thunder_ is able to find its footing during delivering a fun and despondent Thor adventure filled with a tremendous amount of heart. It is no surprise that this film is far from perfect, and that is not more evident than the beginning of the film. The entire first act feels so disjointed and rushed. You get thrown plot point after plot point and get whipped from planet to planet which results in the viewer not being able to lock in on the story. I really enjoyed the scenes we got from Gorr and Jane during this act, but they felt a little underdeveloped and rushed. The comedy was a little thick during this section, some jokes completely missed, but it was nothing that was overbearing that it hurt the experience. Once the movie enters the second act and begins focusing on Jane the entire gets much better. It is here where you can really see the balance that Taika Waititi brought during Ragnarök with some moments rivaling the best from that film. The ending of this film has some really great action and cinematography, some may argue it's among the best in the MCU. As the movie credits rolled, I was very satisfied to the conclusion of this film and am ready for more Thor action in the future. The acting all around was excellent in this film, I found the dynamic between Jane and Thor worked much better than in previous films. They had real chemistry on screen, and you could feel the love the two previously shared unearth with each additional scene. There are some really great conversations that dive into their relationship that were done fantastically. Christian Bale was menacing as Gorr, his demeanor was sinister and completely unhinged as he delivered crazy laughs while delivering his villain manifesto. It gave me serious flashbacks to Heath Ledger’s Joker. I just wish we got to see more of him in the film, but the bit we did see was top tier villainy in the MCU. The music in this film blends with the scenes very well. When the Guns N' Roses guitar starts playing you know it is about to go down and I could not help but smile. While the beginning of this film was bad, I can admit, the ending was so great that it averaged out the movie and made it a very enjoyable experience. **Verdict:** _Good_ **Score:** _7/10_