Marvel Cinematic Universe entered phase four the last year and introduced the audience to the multiverse concept. But MCU ventured little with this ambitious approach, evident in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
After the events of Avengers: Endgame, little was known about the beloved Norse superhero Thor and his future endeavours. The latest Thor: Love and Thunder avoided treading on the new multiverse concept and decided to show Thor's journey after his battle against Thanos and his army to save the universe.
In Avengers: Endgame, Thor is seen to join the Guardians of the Galaxy with a mission to serve the whole universe. But his journey is interrupted when he gets a call from New Asgard, where the main antagonist Gorr attacked after killing many Gods across the universe, descending many worlds into chaos.
To save his new home and the universe again, Thor enlists help from his friends Korg, Valkyrie, and Dr Jane Foster, who now holds the power of Mjolnir while suffering from a terminal illness.
The movie showed Thor growing as a great superhero. He widened his goals and decided to save the whole universe rather than only focusing on Midgard, aka the Earth.
Though his journey as a Guardian was brief but was colourful and adventurous as director Taika Waititi intended to show it as a 1980s-inspired adventure film, differentiating it from Thor: Ragnarok, its previous installation.
Waititi enlisted a star-studded cast for this film, where some of them reprised their previous roles. Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman reprise their roles of Thor and Dr Jane Foster respectively, while Russell Crowe is a new addition to the cast, playing the Greek thunder God Zeus.
Among the latest, Christian Bale is one of the big names who played the role of Gorr the God Butcher.
As a versatile actor, Bale gave Gorr a Joker-esque villain vibe, proving he is best in portraying both superhero and villain roles alike.
In this film, he has his vendetta against Gods and a sinister plan to eradicate them. But it’s a shame that Waititi couldn’t use the actor's versatility properly, making Christian Bale vastly underutilised in this movie.
Another thing worth criticising is the excessive use of comedy. Director Waititi is known for using slapstick jokes and one-liners, as seen in his previous Thor film.
In this latest film, he used the same formula but felt like the jokes are too forced. The young audience might like them, but the over-usage of this type of comedy might feel monotonous to the older audience who grew up watching MCU movies since the 2010s.
Nevertheless, Thor: Love and Thunder is an entertaining movie if the shortcomings are overlooked and the eye-catching and flashy fight sequences are considered.
This movie has shown a sneak peek of multiple gods across the universe and even teased the battle between Greek and Norse gods in post-credits. For Marvel fans, this film is worth watching on this vacation; for others, it might be a bit disappointing.
