Released in July 2022 on the big screen, “Thor: Love and Thunder” was clearly not unanimous among Marvel fans. Now that it’s coming to Disney+, is it worth the detour?
Released on July 13, 2022 on French screens, Thor: Love and Thunder was a real critical failure both from the point of view of the press and spectators with scores of 2.6 out of 5 for the press and 2.3 on 5 for spectators. Which makes it the lowest rated Marvel film to date. The Marvels also received a 2.3 out of 5 from spectators, but the number of ratings being much lower, it is Thor 4 which keeps this “record”.
This failure is all the more surprising since the previous Thor – directed by the same Taika Waititi – was a great success with a very decent rating of 3.8 out of 5 for spectators. After the success of Thor: Ragnarok, it seemed like Taika Waititi had found the perfect formula that could work for the upcoming Thor films.
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The comedy in Ragnarok worked so well that it helped give the serious moments more impact, but Love & Thunder never seemed to find the right balance, only providing incessant gags that added no weight to the story told, not really happy in the end. Thor’s arc through Infinity War and Endgame was incredibly emotional, but all of that emotion was lost in Love & Thunder.
Many felt that, despite good performances, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, aka Mighty Thor, and Christian Bale as Gorr the Butcher of the Gods, were completely swallowed up by the storyline and its comedic aspect while they should have had a lot more punch.
All of the core of the new Thor story was removed to make room for a steady stream of comedy, and ignoring key story points from the previous film. What should have been an important addition to the Thor series, and the MCU as a whole, therefore proved sterile and weightless. But can we still be surprised when Chris Hemsworth himself finds the film “too stupid”?
If you haven’t seen it, all you have to do is form your own opinion since Thor: Love and Thunder is now available on Disney+.