Thor: Love and Thunder

After 28 films, it’s incredible that Marvel studios has anything new to say, never mind the ability to be fresh and entertaining.

Thor: Love and Thunder is a return to form for the MCU: delivering a great solo story that is emotional, exciting, and downright funny as hell.

Love And Thunder doesn’t always gracefully execute its balance of light and dark but when the film focuses on the unshakeable bond between Thor and Jane, the results can be mighty moving.

It’s barely half as funny, fierce, romantic and thrilling as 2017's incomparable Thor: Ragnarok, but director Taika Waititi and sweetly self-mocking star Chris Hemsworth get such goofball jollies sending up the usual Marvel bloat that resistance is futile.

Thor: Love and Thunder is, like most of the Marvel films since Iron Man died, only intermittently amusing, a bit wobbly in its storytelling, thin in its emotional impact and more geared toward spectacle than coherence.

Sadly, Love and Thunder proves that it’s possible to have too much of a good Thor.

Across Taika Waititi’s film, a war against the gods feels like an afterthought to a bad rom-com.

Omg Love the movie my favourite character is definitely and obviously love gorr's daughter

At its heart, and yes, there is a lot of heart here, THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER is a fun, action-filled Marvel movie that is one of the better ones to come in this tiresome post-ENDGAME phase. This is a movie where the hero's journey is is purposeful and resolute, not only for Thor Odinson but Jane Foster as well. To get on that road, though, takes a lot of patience. As fun as LOVE AND THUNDER is, the movie is also childish, idiotic, superficial, and features way too many Guns-n-Roses anthems. The first twenty or so minutes, where Thor goofs off with the equally-juvenile Guardians of the Galaxy, would tax even the strongest of Asgardian gods. Once the threat of Gorr, the god butcher, arrives on New Asgard's steps, the heroes' quest begins - and that is a most satisfactory story. Taika Waititi makes use of Chris Hemsworth's generous smile and biceps in a familiar and comfortable manner. Thor takes on the mantle of leader and proves he is quite sufficient in the role. Smashing and thrashing and joking (maybe a touch too much of the levity this time around, though) leads to a successful, and actually unsuspecting, ending where you are craving more. First and foremost, Thor is a hero. Hopefully future appearances of the Thunder God will focus more on this aspect and keep the over-the-top humor in reserve. Maybe for a rainy day.

I thought Thor: Ragnarok was crap and I thought this sequel was going to be worse but in the end it ended up being pretty decent. I don't understand why people label her as the worst of Thor.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Unlike Ragnarok, which was both fun and hilarious, this film didn't have a single funny moment. The only good part was a visually arresting scene in black-and-white with Christian Bale.