ReelBob: ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ ★★½

By Bob Bloom

“Thor: Love and Thunder” is like a partygoer who had too much to drink. The guest is entertaining in a crazy way, but also fails to make much sense because of slurred words and alcohol-fueled concepts no one can fully understand.

This fourth Thor movie unevenly mixes bizarre situations, laughs and dark circumstances. It is a thematic pinball machine.

In his follow-up to “Thor: Ragnarok,” director Taika Waititi attempts again to balance action and humor, except it does not work as well this time.

“Thor: Love and Thunder” is scattershot, awkwardly jumping around without any apparent cohesion. It hurriedly careens around the cosmos without much thought or depth.

Despite its shortcomings, the movie is corny fun, mostly because of its cast.

Chris Hemsworth has added some welcome comic touches to his Thor. He no longer is a dour, arrogant god. Well, he still is arrogant, but Hemsworth has added a nice tongue-in-cheek, braggadocio aspect to his Asgardian superhero that makes him more accessible and embraceable.

This is most notable in Thor’s “love triangle” between his new weapon, the enchanted axe, Stormbreaker, and his old hammer, Mjölnir (more on that later).

The film opens with Thor, along with the Guardians of the Galaxy, saving worlds and alien races. Thor, though, wants more. He feels empty inside — and a bit lost. So, he and his rock friend, Korg (voiced again by Waititi), leave the Guardians to seek adventures of their own.

Meanwhile on a desolate planet, Gorr (Christian Bale), a simple and devout man, vows revenge on all gods, after the one he followed allowed his family to die. Gorr takes up the Necrosword, a weapon capable of killing gods, and transforms into Gorr, the God Butcher, who unleashes a deadly reign vengeance.

In the midst of all this, the story shifts to Earth where Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) has been diagnosed with stage IV cancer. Told nothing more can be done for her, Jane travels to New Asgard — now a tourist trap — to find an answer.

There, she is chosen by shards of Thor’s old hammer, Mjölnir, to wield her ex-boyfriend’s power. She calls herself the Mighty Thor, vowing to protect the world from evildoers. One catch, though — when she uses the hammer, it drains her energy making it difficult for her to fight the deadly cancer.

All these pieces soon unite as Thor, Jane, Korg, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), who is the mayor of New Asgard, and two giant goats (yes, goats) set off to seek help to battle Gorr, who had attacked the city and kidnapped its children.

One of the movie’s more humorous sequences occurs at Omnipotence City, a luxury resort-like metropolis in which gods from throughout the universe hang out. It is ruled by an egotistical Zeus, played as a clownlike despot by Russell Crowe, who speaks in a strange Mediterranean accent that makes him sound like a Greek date peddler.

“Thor: Love and Thunder” has too many distractions for its own good, including big-name star cameos and throwaway bits, instead of concentrating on its main story.

Plus, trying to rekindle the romance between Thor and Jane does not work — it feels forced and awkward.

The movie is most intense when Bale’s Gorr is on the screen. He is an alien bogeyman, taking delight in frightening his young Asgardian prisoners. Yet, you can sympathize with his character for feeling abandoned and betrayed by the gods in whom he put so much faith.

Gorr is the movie’s darkest character, yet “Thor” is more alive and urgent when Bale is on the screen.

“Thor: Love and Thunder’s” special effects are merely adequate. Most of the movie uses Volume, Disney’s new, very large LED screen that creates backdrops without having to build sets. It is, however, off-putting because it’s so obviously fake.

Still, despite its shortcomings, “Thor: Love and Thunder” is a fun romp, blending laughs and thrills. It just lacks that special magic that has elevated the best movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe into memorable events that arouse your imagination.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
2½ stars out of 4
(PG-13), intense science-fiction violence and action, language, partial nudity, suggestive material