Thor: Love and Thunder | Review

Before I get started, I want to emphasize that while I have a lot to complain about, I still really liked Thor Love and Thunder. While it isn't the best movie or even the best Marvel movie, there was obviously still a lot of effort that went into it and I never want that effort to be downplayed.

Still, not every movie is perfect, so let's start by talking about some significant cons of the movie.

Valkryie's Arc

This is one that I personally had a problem with. When we first got a look at Valkryie for the first time since she was crowned King in Avengers: Endgame, it's obvious she's not having the best time. New Asgard seems less like a city and more like a theme park as King Valkryie has accepted multiple sponsorships and turned it into a tourist town as a way to support itself. Obviously, this is wearing her out as her authority as King isn't all that cemented either, as it takes Thor's intervention in an emergency meeting for everyone to quiet down.

Lastly, they address multiple times that Valkryie is still guilty over her last girlfriend because of her death along with most of the other Valkyries. In fact, it seems some of that fault lies with the gods, something Gorr addresses outright when he captures Valkryie, Thor, and Jane. However, soon after Valkryie is sidelined after being stabbed and the next to last time we see her is her telling Thor not to die and giving him Zeus's lightning bolt. The last time we see her is when she is teaching the children self-defense, which she at least seems to enjoy.

It's not too much of a big deal that her arc wasn't perfectly wrapped up since it's obvious that she'll still be here for the time being (thankfully), but the way her story in Love and Thunder seems super abrupt. After she was stabbed, it was brushed off so the story could focus on Jane as if it wasn't a big deal and Valkryie could just walk off a stab from such a powerful weapon, but that's a plot hole I'll address later.

Korg's fake-out death

While this wasn't a major issue, it was something I realized didn't need to be there. Korg being turned into a head didn't add anything to the story, as the action scene kept going, Zeus didn't die from Thor's retaliation, and Korg went back to normal afterward. It was a slight scare that added nothing to the story except a little shock factor that wore off after 5 seconds. Again, not that big of a deal but it was something I noticed.

Thor adopting (and Jane's death)

Let me start by saying that I have no problem with adopting. I think having Thor adopt Gorr's daughter despite Gorr's killing spree was a great message since she isn't the same person as her father. However, I think the movie was missing the point of Jane and Thor's breakup. When Korg shows why they began to drift apart and eventually break up, the movie shows that Thor was thinking about having children. But the point wasn't to just have a child, it was what he wanted with Jane. But instead of letting him be with Jane, they killed her off and gave him an adopted daughter.

The reason this happens isn't all that clear either. Instead of trying to stop Gorr now that he can make a wish at Eternity, Thor says he'd rather spend time with Jane since becoming Lady Thor allowed her cancer to take over. Seeing that, Gorr decides to revive his daughter instead and gets Thor to promise to protect her. Again, great message but why did Jane have to die in the same movie she was not only reintroduced but given the title of Lady Thor? It felt like a slap in the face since it kept hyping up Lady Thor so much only for her to die in the same movie. At least she went to Valhalla.

Too much exposition

There was a ton of exposition, almost all of it from Korg, that felt ridiculously unnecessary and long, Gorr gave exposition occasionally, but it was meaningful rather than forced. Most of the movie was long conversations and terrible jokes that just didn't land no matter what they tried. Now, what I'm not saying is to just have the movie be all action and no story. As I said, some of the exposition, like the breakup flashback and Gorr's background was entirely necessary. Others, like that bit where Korg speedruns Valkryie's trauma on the boat, felt rushed and forced, like much of the movie. That brings me to my final, and possibly most meaningful complaint.

We ended up right back where we started from (got an abrupt ending)

The first thing I noticed when the credits rolled was the fact that we'd gone full circle, and not in a good way. Jane was out of Thor's life again, this time permanently, Valkryie was right back in New Asgard as King again, presumably doing the same things as before, and Korg is still alive and is starting a family. Some things were added though, like Heimdall's son and Love, obviously setting up for the next generation of Marvel, and Sif was added back to the story (possibly as Queen?). However, my biggest complaint with this movie was that nothing felt like it was dramatically added to the story. The new villain, Hercules, is always depicted with super strength, so nothing drastic there. Axl has the same powers as his father Heimdall, just with less training, and Love's powers are obscure at best.

At the end of the day, this movie felt very rushed while still feeling too long every time a character decided to talk for ten minutes about a bunch of nothing. I feel like I should give this movie credit for making me yawn at times while still making me say, "Hey wait, slow down. I wasn't ready!" I could spend all day, complaining but at the end of the day, it was still entertaining and therefore did its job as a movie. As long as it didn't make me resentful or outright bored, then it's accomplished its job, flaws and all. So, for a general rating, 10/10. But if we're being more critical, a solid 7/10. There's always something that can be improved in even the most critically acclaimed movies, so as long we don't have something Thor: Dark Wolrd levels of low, I think we should be good.

7/10