Our crew has been eagerly awaiting Marvel's big three movies for this year (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) for what seems like ages.  Doctor Strange was a disappointing mess, but we had faith that Thor would be a nice rebound.  Were we right?  Let's discuss...

(We'll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible.)

Plot:

Thor is looking to retire and focus on finding the inner peace that continues to elude him.  His quest for tranquility is interrupted by the arrival of Gorr the God Butcher.  (You can probably guess what this guy does for a living.)  Thor's brief hiatus ends as he teams up with King Valkyrie, and the returning Dr. Jane Foster, to fight this threat, while also processing the sudden reappearance of the love of his life.  (Why is she here?)  Based on the Marvel comics, and written/directed by Taika Waititi, this movie promises to be an entertaining, and at times crazy, ride.

Observations:

• As we said before, all we wanted at the least was to enjoy this movie more than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Love and Thunder cleared that bar right out of the gate.  The visuals are colorful and gorgeous, there's a brief cameo from the Guardians of the Galaxy, an exciting action sequence, and immediate use of some Guns N' Roses.  A few minutes later, you've got Natalie Portman, and that's never a bad thing.  Oh, and there are some gigantic goats.  Can't forget the gigantic goats.

• The movie lays out the stakes and makes the threat posed by Gorr seem fairly believable right from the beginning.  However, this story is heavy on the comedy.  Waititi clearly loves going for a laugh, and he consistently hits the mark, although it drains the story of a little tension.  Chris Hemsworth is in a groove with his latest portrayal of the Nordic god.  He's got his comedic chops down pat and can also flash some anger with the best of them.  The actor has mentioned seeing the eventual end of his time in this role, but he thankfully doesn't seem to be in a rush for that to happen. 

• Christian Bale is terrific as Gorr, but he could have used a little more time to fully flesh out his character's story from start to finish.  Rushing it a touch at the beginning weakens it just a tad at the end.  Gorr is creepy and menacing, but his motives are understandable.  He just could have used a little more time to marinate.

• Our staff is blatantly pro-Natalie Portman, so it was fun to see her return to the MCU.  Perhaps this won't be her final adventure.

• Tessa Thompson is good as King Valkyrie, although we could have used a little more of her in the story as well.  Here's hoping she gets a larger share of the next tale.

• Writing and directing weren't enough for Taika Waititi, who also voices Korg.  Thor's rocky sidekick is always good for a laugh, and this excursion is no exception.

• The one casting misfire is Russell Crowe as a bloated Zeus.  You can see what the movie is trying to do when it contrasts Zeus and Thor, but Crowe (who sounds like Mario or Luigi) is so distracting, it's almost enough to take one out of the movie. 

Final Thoughts:

Thor: Love and Thunder is not some all-time classic film.  It's not as good as Thor: Ragnarok, and it probably lands somewhere in the middle/upper half of all of the MCU movies.  What you have here is a fun way to pass two hours sitting in some air conditioning, enjoying an entertaining and romantic story that you might forget two hours after leaving the theater.  Love and Thunder is borderline goofy at times, and there's a space (or even a need) for that in this genre. 

Don't think about it too seriously, enjoy the Guns N' Roses soundtrack, and have a good time.  We'll give it a B+.

Let the countdown begin for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.  See you in November!

Thor and friends are back to save the universe once again. (pic via imdb.com)