THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER (2022) ***

While the God of Thunder, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is having out-of-this-world adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy, back on Earth, his former flame, Jane (Natalie Portman) is fighting Stage 4 cancer.  With her prospects looking grim, she resorts to stealing Thor’s hammer, which not only keeps the cancer at bay, but turns her into a hammer-wielding goddess superheroine.  Meanwhile, Gorr, the God Butcher (Christian Bale) is going around the galaxy slaying gods left and right and seeks to make Thor his next victim.  

Returning Thor:  Ragnarok director Taika Waititi once again infuses the Thor brand with his style of irreverent humor.  While Love and Thunder doesn’t soar quite as high as the last entry, it’s a thoroughly entertaining outing, and is certainly more fun than the God of Thunder’s first two adventures.  Some of the running gags work better (the love triangle between Jane, Thor, and his old hammer) than others (the screaming goats).  I especially liked the goofy scenes of Thor fighting alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy in the early going.  (Would that make them the Asguardians of the Galaxy?)  This section of the film feels like a filmed version of a Marvel Team-Up comic.  

It feels a little choppy in places, mostly because the film keeps shifting gears from genre to genre.  (We get everything from space adventure to black and white horror movie to Terms of Endearment-style dramady.)  Although it lacks the confidence and freshness of Ragnarok, it hits some surprising emotional beats along the way, which really can’t be said about many of the MCU movies.  I wish the tone had been a little bit more consistent, but overall, it works more often than not.  

Returning stars Hemsworth and Portman once again display a lot of chemistry.  Hemsworth is particularly winning whenever he leans into the goofier aspects of the character.  (I loved the Jean-Claude Van Damme homage during the opening battle.)  The new cast members are inspired.  Bale gives it all he’s got as the tortured, brooding villain, and is given a better arc in one film than most Marvel heroes get in one “Phase”.  It was also fun seeing Russell Crowe turning up as Zeus and playing him as an obnoxious Greek stereotype.  (I almost expected him to say “Cheeseburger… cheeseburger… cheeseburger…” at one point.)

Marvel Cinematic Universe Scorecard: 

Spider-Man:  No Way Home:  ****

Avengers:  Age of Ultron:  ****

The Incredible Hulk:  ****

Iron Man:  ****

Thor:  Ragnarok:  ****

Avengers:  Endgame:  ****

Ant-Man and the Wasp:  ****

Spider-Man:  Homecoming:  ****

Iron Man 3:  ****

Captain America:  Civil War:  *** ½

Ant-Man:  *** ½

Guardians of the Galaxy:  *** ½

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2:  *** ½ 

Avengers:  Infinity War:  *** ½

Black Panther:  *** ½ 

The Avengers:  ***

Captain America:  The First Avenger:  ***

Captain America:  The Winter Soldier:  ***

Thor:  Love and Thunder:  ***

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness:  ***

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings:  ***

Captain Marvel:  ***

Spider-Man:  Far from Home:  ***

Thor:  ***

Thor:  The Dark World:  ***

Iron Man 2:  ***

Doctor Strange:  ** ½ 

Black Widow:  ** ½  

Eternals:  * ½