Sweet Child O' Mine

"Thor: Love and Thunder" doubles down on the silliness of its predecessor at the expense of nearly everything else, amounting to a fun, but rather shallow summer blockbuster

Lightning never strikes twice, a rule that seems to apply to the God of Thunder himself. After a solid debut with 2011's "Thor" and a remarkably bland follow-up with "Thor: The Dark World", Marvel Studios decided to shake things up and hire the eclectic Taika Waititi to direct the Norse god's third solo project. The result was a cacophony of colors, improvised jokes and absurdist charm that instantly turned it into a fan favorite. For a movie about death and destruction, "Thor: Ragnarok" managed to be the brightest and thoroughly enjoyable entry in the series. While the film wasn't perfect, its dynamic mixing of ingredients managed to revitalize the character and find critical and commercial success. So, Waititi was naturally asked to return, thus, "Thor: Love and Thunder" was born and while most of the band is back together, the movie doesn't quite recapture the magic that was found with "Ragnarok".

After the cold open, the movie kicks off with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) still in the company of the Guardians of the Galaxy, as he was at the end of "Avengers: Endgame". It's implied they've had a number of off-screen adventures in the meantime, which culminates with them going separate ways after they receive various distress signals about a being known as "The God Butcher" wreaking havoc across the universe. The being in question is Gorr (Christian Bale), a man hellbent on revenge and it appears Thor and his fellow Asgardians are his next target. Amongst the chaos, Thor finds himself reunited with his ex, Dr. Jane Foster (played by a returning Natalie Portman), who now possesses the powers of Thor as well. With the help of their friends Korg (voiced by Waititi) and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), the two Thors must find a way to stop Gorr before he accomplishes his goal of wiping out the gods in their entirety. The music was composed by Michael Giacchino, making this the fifth MCU film he's scored and the third MCU hero he's created themes for.

In a bittersweet twist, the film's rapid-fire humor is perhaps its greatest strength and weakness. Hemworth's comedic chops are as sharp as ever and his muscles are at their brawny best, but the constant quips often leave the film feeling rather uneven. On one side, there's Christian Bale delivering an all-star performance as a demented villain (despite being underutilized) and on the other, cutaway gags that would feel at home in an American sitcom. The movie's choppiness isn't helped by the fact it was reportedly cut down to just under two hours from an original four hour version. If that's true, it certainly feels like chunks are missing and there are moments (from the first half in particular) that don't seem to flow as smoothly as they could. However, the film is far from being bad. It has a ton of visual flair, there's imagination behind the action setpieces and it virtually fires on all cylinders by the time the climax rolls around. Hemsworth and Portman also display a level of chemistry that trumps everything from their previous outings. The result is a fun popcorn movie, but it could have been so much more. While "Ragnarok" was able to better balance its goofier and cheesier elements with solid storytelling, it appears Waititi and co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson's script for "Love and Thunder" was more focused on punchlines. It's cinematic junk food; it's agreeable and tastes pretty good, but it's ultimately just empty calories. B