REVIEW: Thor: Love & Thunder

This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

If I ever have to listen to Sweet Child O’ Mine again, I’m gonna lose it.


Thor: Love & Thunder did not meet my expectations. I was hoping for something a little more like Ragnarok- a perfect blend of action, comedy, and emotional scenes, but Marvel gave me an Adam Sandler-level crappy comedy.

The first thing I wanted to point out was Taika Waititi’s direction and writing. Surely I wasn’t the only one who expected Waititi to be writing this on his own? Because that’s what I remember being said back in 2019 when it was officially announced. Also, wasn’t it promised that Valkyrie would have an established female partner in this film?

The writing in general was just absolutely awful. The jokes completely missed the mark and were cringe-causing at times, and it felt like the script was chocked together from a bunch of other scripts and made the pacing feel off. This was likely due to the addition of a second writer, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, because Waititi’s writing on its own is phenomenal (see: Jojo Rabbit).

The overall acting was… subpar. At least, Natalie Portman’s was. What happened to the phenomenal acting in Black Swan, or Annihilation? Her acting in this film had me constantly cringing, like she was overplaying her role. The terrible writing didn’t help whatsoever. I didn’t really mind Hemsworth’s and Thompson’s performances, but they didn’t blow me out of the water.

Christian Bale’s performance was spectacular though, and solely his performance helped me to carry on through the movie. He truly carried the film with his take on Gorr the God Butcher, and his storyline was the better written than the main character’s. For the cameos, I particularly enjoyed the two minutes of screen time that the Guardians of the Galaxy got. It was one of the few highlights of the film for me.

Jane’s death had no emotional reaction from me- which is not good, as I at least feel something when a character in a Marvel movie dies. Gorr, on the other hand, did make me feel something (which I attribute to Bale’s acting).

Now, onto every Marvel Cinematic Universe fan’s favorite subject- the visual effects. As I’m sure many of you know, Marvel Studios has been under fire recently for the treatment of their visual effects team. Based on the quality of Marvel’s recent projects- Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love & Thunder, and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law to name a few, it’s safe to say that Marvel is overwhelming their employees.

Though to the average viewer, these slight mishaps are unnoticeable, there were a few things that I noticed where the visual effects just didn’t look… polished enough. For example, the scene with Astrid’s floating head looked like shit. In my personal opinion, Marvel needs to stop pushing quantity over quality so that the visual effects can become fantastic again.

In conclusion, the addition of another writer, Portman’s poor acting, and weak visual effects, this film is one of the lowest ranking of my Marvel Cinematic Universe reviews. I only hope that Marvel Studios will wake up, smell the coffee, and realize what needs to change. 2 out of 5 stars.

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