Title: Love and Thunder
Year: 2022
Director: Taika Waititi
Country: US
Language: English
I first heard of New Zealand Director Taika Waititi when Jo Jo Rabbit won People's Choice at Toronto International Film Festival in 2019. His brand of off-beat humor was controversial and subversive considering the subject matter at hand. We had great hope that his brand of film-making would change cinematic language, but instead it seems he's content on making Marvel films where the "highlight" is screaming goats.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) enlists the help of Valkyrie, Korg and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) to fight Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who intends to make the gods extinct.
Love and Thunder attempts to weave dramatic & comedic tones, but does so in an unbalanced awkward way that derails our interest in the story. In one scene Jane is struggling with cancer & a minute later we're expected to laugh at bumbling Thor. The villain of the film is a frightening force to reckon with, but our intimidation of him plummets as characters make cutesy one liners towards him.
Its structure is messy and, although at times Love and Thunder feels like a spectacle, the picture leaves audiences unsatisfied. Christian Bale was a huge remarkable standout as The God Butcher, but he was limited by the vast tonal and visual shifts. There are four credited editors to this film; one wonders if they actually spoke to each other during the process.
Love and Thunder is a fun, mindless popcorn munching picture that will leave your mind as soon as you leave the theatre, Forgettable. The "funny" goat screams may make you annoyed enough to never watch this film again.
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