Thor: Love and Thunder is a must-see Marvel homage to Jim Henson

[Karlston]

Review: This killer summer film lands somewhere between Fraggle Rock and Labyrinth.

Jane (Natalie Portman) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) are back at it in Thor: Love and Thunder.

Marvel Studios

 

Thirty minutes into the heartfelt silliness of Thor: Love and Thunder, a comparison dawned on me that clarified why I enjoyed this week's new film so much: In 14 years of Marvel Studios films, the company has never as successfully made an homage to Jim Henson as this.

 

At its most madcap, Love and Thunder giddily honors the likes of Fraggle Rock and The Muppet Show in terms of a rogue's gallery of goofballs and kiddos chewing up the film's gilded, Technicolor scenery. And at its darkest, it feels like a direct descendant of Labyrinth, as its villainy combines no-holding-back ruthlessness with some impressively staged shadow realms.

 

Most importantly, co-stars Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth nail the film's titular L-word in remarkable fashion. This action film knows that it's smothering a slab of rom-com peanut butter with ridiculous superhero-stakes chocolate, and the film's leads dance around this fact mostly in joking fashion while still threading the needle of building a believable, finale-clinching connection. (Comparing the results to Kermit and Miss Piggy would short-shrift their incredible work to some extent, yet the comparison also kind of makes sense, once you see the movie.)

Getting out of muscle-first stupor

An early sequence sees Thor fake like a savior—and the results deliver a solid comedic blow.

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In 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, writer/director Taika Waititi put his quirky stamp on the otherwise drab Avengers-offshoot series about all things Asgard. But that film's shift toward amped-up humor, amusing as it was, was also hamstrung by a few things: a touchy relationship between Thor and his brother Loki and an omnipresent Marvel Studios need to keep the Infinity Stones boulder tumbling forward.

 

Four years later, freed from those constraints, Waititi gets to pick and choose how to tell a new, post-Endgame story about Thor. And it's a rousing success, right up there with the filmmaker's legendary 2016 film Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

 

The film's silly montages are brief and effective at getting viewers up to speed with a laugh, like this sequence showing Thor advancing "from dad bod to sad bod."

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Hemsworth begins the film as an overbearing, pompous Thor. The Asgardian hero of legend has emerged from his Endgame hangover with an aimless sense of duty, fulfilled by joining the Guardians of the Galaxy and mindlessly shooting at their targets. It's not really working out, and a chance encounter sees the Guardians excusing themselves from Thor's muscle-first stupor—but not before reminding him that their interstellar conquests would be meaningless if their crew didn't care about each other.

 

Jane, you look different. Did you, uh, do something with your hair?

Marvel Studios

 

At this point, the camera cuts to Dr. Jane Foster (Portman), who has been mostly absent since 2013's Thor: The Dark World. Her life has taken a drastic turn, and while she's the kind to normally lean on science to solve her problems, she realizes in her latest crisis that she may require something more powerful than research-based studies—which leads her to New Asgard, a seaside town managed by a bored-by-bureaucracy Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson). Before long, Thor, Valkyrie, and Jane, as joined by Thor's pal Korg (voiced by Taika Waititi), find themselves squaring off against a new world-threatening foe.

Fritz Lang’s wildest 1920s dreams

Let's pause for a second and ignore the cookie-cutter plot line of superheroes gathering to face a villain, because, yes, most Marvel movies sound similar on paper. But Waititi is careful to put his filmmaking touch on each detail of the film to help moviegoers shake off potential Marvel hero fatigue.

 

The first instance comes from Korg as a whimsical narrator. Many of the film's most crucial details are stitched together by his insatiably dry take on everything from Thor and Jane's prior failed romance to his own so-hilarious-I-choked-on-laughter explanation of how his race of Kronans manage to procreate. (It involves lava and mood-setting music.)

 

The battling sequence inside this hall is an explosion of beautiful designs and flashy effects.

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The second comes from battle sequences that know as darned well as the rest of the audience who's going to win or lose each fight. As a result, Waititi and his team of fight choreographers, cinematographers, and CGI artists make bloody sure to emphasize screen-filling absurdity in these conflicts whenever possible. The film's very first fight, against a race of mutated bird-people, is surrounded by orange-purple skies, twinkling pink-green glass buildings, and smoke-spewing, Mad Max-like motorcycles, all basking in the lighting and explosions that Thor rains onto his foes. (This scene, like many others in Love and Thunder, could have been ripped from an Iron Maiden album cover.) A later fight toys with black-and-white framing, albeit with tasteful splotches of color, that could have come from Fritz Lang's wildest 1920s filmmaking dreams.

 

Christian Bale emerges as Gorr the God Butcher in one of the film's most dramatically framed sequences.

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The third comes from Christian Bale's portrayal of Gorr the God Butcher, who is diametrically opposed to the jokes and levity that otherwise fill out much of Love and Thunder's runtime. Gorr's hopeless dread lands in the film like a perfect drop of vinegar in an otherwise hearty recipe, and Bale steals every scene with occasional manic fits but he's mostly a morose presence for everyone else to contend with.

They don’t just give Oscars away for free

A new take on sparks flying.

Marvel Studios

 

Above all else, there's Hemsworth and Portman, both exuding charisma and likability (though Thor needs more time to get there in this film). Each juggles the same three roles: tongue-in-cheek stars of a teen rom-com; pumped-up superheroes who battle, shout, and quip as if they've just done a killer set of reps at the gym; and bonded-forever friends who need each other's devotion and care to survive otherwise impossible odds. Portman in particular flashes incredible acting chops at a few key moments, as if to wink at the camera and telepathically tell viewers, "I have won an Oscar, you know."

 

Even the weapons in this film figure as comedic elements.

Marvel Studios

 

The rest of the production makes sure those moments land in big ways, and the main reason is that the cast is wisely limited to a few key players. It's not a Waititi film without a few laugh-worthy cameos and supporting appearances (along with, er, a pair of maniacally screaming goats, for some reason). Yet in Love and Thunder, there are never too many superhero capes cluttering any scenes. Thompson finally gets ample screen time and breathing room to establish herself as both a likable foil and a badass in her own right. Waititi's turn as Korg drives a lot of comic relief, yet the other three protagonists each land their own hilarious punches.

 

But while I left the theater with a big smile on my face, that didn't merely come from slapstick. Without getting too far into spoiler territory, Love and Thunder's parallel plot lines revolve around terminal diseases that lead to difficult decisions. So how did I leave the theater thinking this film was a sensational, laugh-filled romp?

Why I love Love

The film's pre-release trailers and pictures don't really hint to how well Thor: Love and Thunder tells a touching story about how to survive trauma and grief. So instead, take a gander at shirtless Hemsworth.

Marvel Studios

 

That might be the real key to why I love Love and Thunder. Waititi and his crew tell a story about utter loss and heartbreak—but also about how to live in the face of powerlessness. Right now, as an American in the middle of 2022, I found myself easily able to connect to the film's themes, especially the ones about choosing love and hope over despair, because even a superhero can be driven to that brink if they're not careful.

 

But the film is careful to be subtle with these themes. It builds genuine connections among its limited, focused cast and even breathes life into its conflicted villain to connect us to a powerful message between the laughs and the bombast.

 

You wouldn't like Thor when he's smothered in lightning and determined to save the world.

Marvel Studios

 

Marvel Studios has been on a roll recently, not only with feature-length triumphs like Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness but also with the charming Ms. Marvel on Disney+. In Love and Thunder, we once again see the studio dumping a massive budget onto a filmmaker's singular perspective, and once again, I'm left applauding with a big smile, misty eyes, and exceeded expectations.

 

 

Thor: Love and Thunder is a must-see Marvel homage to Jim Henson