So what'd we think of the latest MCU film; I'm kinda surprised there wasn't other chatter about this yet! After being at Disneyland all last week, I finally got a chance to see THOR: LOVE & THUNDER Sunday evening: later than I typically see a Marvel film (though being a Disneyland I was able to not be on social media too much at least). A lot to unpack, so I'll try to keep it in easy-to-gloss over bullet points
* I really like Taika Waititi and we are lucky to see him play in the sandbox of Marvel Studios. This time around he turns his focus back to Thor's relationship w/Jane, though he still has some very distinct fingerprints throughout. He's the first director that's made Thor really pop for me on the big screen w/RAGNAROK, and he continues that streak hear showcasing not only Chris Hemsworth's impeccable comic timing, but also his vulnerable side.
* welcome back to the MCU, Natalie Portman! She was vocal about not caring to return to the character after DARK WORLD, and she returns here adding some depth to Jane: no longer an intelligent 'damsel in distress' type, or even just a book-smart scientist, she's not a literally strong female superhero/warrior/pseudo-god! The film kind of glosses over the specifics of how exactly she becomes Mighty Thor (it explains enough, IMO), but she's awesome as an action hero: a role she doesn't often play. She has her funny & charming moments as well, and I'll be curious to see if she returns as Mighty Thor at any point
* Matt Damon as an actor playing Loki is as close as we get to Loki's triumphant return to the big screen, but I'll savor every damn minute of he and his Asgardian acting troop's screentime! I also appreciate how Waititi clearly thinks playing pretend and using our imaginations is important, as he's featured this type of theme in many of his films.
* I kinda would LOVE an entire movie/series of Russell Crowe's hilarious Greek accent while playing Zeus. He's clearly having a blast in this role, and likewise so am I watching him
* I did legit prep my wife for Jane's story arc based on the comics, and that sort of helped her.
Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.
(I didn't spoil things), but I think I helped
* Christian Bale is delightfully wicked and unhinged in this film, though for good reason: as a dad, I could relate to his reasoning, but I don't think the trailers have really hinted at his delightful portrayal of Gorr
* I also really dug Waititi's angle of "gods are narcissistic, selfish bores who don't care about their worshipers" played throughout - not only a nice contrast to Thor, generally, but (slightly) fleshes out Odin's character a bit. I'm still not sure where Thor, Odin, and Loki sit in the pantheon of gods in the MCU, but I dug Marvel digging into that side of their universe a bit and look forward to seeing how that develops in the future
* sidebar: WTF are other major religions doing in the MCU?! Like, Thor's existence alone seems like an existential crises for, say, Catholics, but this film confirms other beings are living on earth at New Asgard and all sorts of mayhem seems to happen there: surely talk of "Thor & some female Thor fought something rumored to be a 'god killer'" would maybe break a lot of religions in the MCU?
* I love that Love & Thunder are literal nicknames & I absolutely can't stop thinking about what that last scene implies for the future of Thor
* I personally liked RAGNAROK a bit more: it's more of a fun, good-time Thor movie than LOVE & THUNDER (for obvious reasons given story arcs). I'd say LOVE & THUNDER is easily my 2nd favorite Thor film by quite a lot, though.
* I wish Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie had more to do. She's such an awesome character that it bums me out that she wasn't featured more. Here's hoping she will be sometime sooner than later
* non-spoiler spoiler: Everyone welcome AFC Richmond's Roy Kent into the MCU! "Here's here, here's there, he's every fu$&in wear ROY KENT!
* "Thor will Return" was nice to see - that feels a bit of a TBD type of thing, but that credit makes me feel like Hemsworth (or Portman?!) will absolutely likely return!
Overall this was a fun movie: I'm enjoying Marvel delving into more one-off, personal stories currently rather than just throwing down building blocks for some big 'event' teamup. It feels clear Marvel Studios is setting up Secret Wars, and I look forward to seeing what Feigi announces for their future plans at SDCC in a week and a half. Remember, it was a huge Hall H-esque announcement that officially confirmed that MCU was headed towards Infinity Wars territory, so it feels very plausible we may get our first official news on the bigger plans Marvel Studios has in the works at Comic-Con. BUT, stuff like Shang Chi; Eternals, Love & Thunder; and to a less extent NO WAY HOME & MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS have been nice smaller, personal stories that don't necessarily feel like set-ups to future works. LOVE & THUNDER again shows that Hemsworth is a better actor than Hollywood seems to think he is, while Portman as Mighty Thor is a great treat for us to see!