It’s unbelievable that Taika Waititi is one of the most in-demand figures in Hollywood right now. In just the last five years he went from a locally acclaimed New Zealand filmmaker to one of the most successful people in the American movie business. He’s got an Academy Award, is a producer on three highly acclaimed series: What We Do in the Shadows (based on his own 2014 film), Reservation Dogs, and Our Flag Means Death -on the latter of which he is also one of its stars. He’s made several appearances in TV and movies as of late, notably with Disney, and has become something of a celebrated public personality for his soft-spoken wit and forward-thinking ideals in terms of representation and originality. And all of it off of the back of Thor: Ragnarok.
However with all that attention, fatigue is a real danger, and in many ways Waititi has been overexposed -which has done some damage to his unique charms. His comic sensibilities have become more predictable, his persona more of a crutch than a tool. And nothing illustrates this more than Thor: Love and Thunder, his weakest movie to date and perhaps Marvel’s most embarrassing effort post-Endgame. Not all of it is down to Waititi of course, Marvel’s micromanaging machine surely bears a chunk of responsibility; but Waititi is the face of the project -something he has in common with few other Marvel directors- and as such the brunt of criticism is destined to fall to him.
Certainly he doesn’t go to much effort to hide his presence on the film, co-starring as rock monster Korg, who goes from funny side character in Ragnarok to overplayed annoying sidekick in Love and Thunder. The story is bookended by him narrating Thor’s life in a whimsical comedy tone, and from there nary a scene goes by without him making a deadpan remark or doofus observation that wears out its’ welcome extremely quickly. He doesn’t become a particular dead weight though, that the rest of the film is forced against its’ interests to shoulder. Rather, Korg is the one who essentially sets the tone of the piece, and it’s pretty much all downhill from there.
Every Marvel film has been to some degree a comedy -it’s been both a source of the franchise’s charm and one of its’ most over-reliant weaknesses. Marvel isn’t actually terribly good at comedy in general, the quippy sensibility Joss Whedon brought to the studio hasn’t aged well -but the movies at their best can obscure lazy humour or downplay it. Thor: Love and Thunder leans more into its’ comedy than any other Marvel film: jokes progress plot and character actions far more than conflict or relationships do. There was some criticism back when Ragnarok came out that it completely rewrote Thor’s character to accentuate comic relief, make him more goofy than he had been in his previous outings. I didn’t feel that was fair then (and Thor’s early characterization was pretty dull), but it certainly rings true now -the once operatically serious Nordic god is now just a self-important oblivious “himbo” -more of a sitcom character than a comic book hero. His whole personality is written around jokes, killing just about any believability in his investment in the central problem -to the point it brings to mind Johnny Depp in that last Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Chris Hemsworth is more charismatic though, this wouldn’t be such an issue if the movie was in any way funny.
So much of the humour that drives Love and Thunder either feels forced or too insincerely obvious. Waititi’s particular winking style that combines visual absurdity with ironic wit can work great when kept in check -as in his last three movies, which balanced the humour with real pathos. But blown up unrestrained to a grand context where it has no business being only makes it feel tedious -and discourages the audience from genuinely caring about anything. Even a serious beat regarding children being kidnapped is going to be followed up with a joke that saps away any tension. It’s just poor story mechanics, and on top of that, the comedy itself feels like Waititi’s B-material. Every gag involving Russell Crowe’s Zeus (who turns up in the movie just to further complicate Marvel’s world by introducing every mythical entity as real) is a bit half-assed. Early scenes involving the Guardians of the Galaxy are notably cheaper removed from the hands of James Gunn. And all over the place are dry comic attitudes and lazier running gags, such as one character’s obsession with generating a catchphrase and the repeated personification of Thor’s weapons -a bit that is thoroughly run into the ground. Speaking of bits the film is way too proud of, it also brings back the Asgardain actors from Ragnarok, once again played by a stunt cast of Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth, and Sam Neill (with Melissa McCarthy being added to the mix) -and that whole routine is way too long and vehemently unfunny.
Beneath all this dressing is a premise that is halfway interesting. The prologue does well to establish Gorr (Christian Bale), a godly servant whose young daughter dies following what seems to be a long, arduous war -and when his god proves uncaring and dismissive of the loss, Gorr kills him and makes it his mission to kill all other gods as well -soon turning his sights to New Asgard on Earth. Bale is actually one of few redeeming facets of the movie, channeling the silliness of Gorr into a more disturbed characterization -and the make-up on him is fantastic. His kidnapping the children of Asgard is likewise a strong plot point that adds to his menace -even if it is often thwarted by so much levity in the rest of the film. More significant than Bale though is the return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Thor’s neglected love interest from his first two movies. Suffering from a terminal cancer diagnosis, she is drawn to Thor’s old hammer, which essentially gives her his superpowers and she styles herself “Mighty Thor” for no particular reason. Her presence here almost feels like an apology for how she was written off in Ragnarok (not unlike Bo Peep in Toy Story 4), but it once more confirms that Marvel isn’t interested in characters who can’t be superheroes themselves. Her new identity is very abrupt and adds relatively little that Thor and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) don’t already provide -her plot purpose is again to be a love interest. And unfortunately, Portman and Hemsworth have less chemistry than they did nine years ago. It doesn’t help that the romance is written very poorly and the arc that Jane undergoes is so dismal is makes one wonder why they went to the effort to bring her back in the first place. The reason most likely is for fan service, the aforementioned apologia, and to further Marvel’s P.R. of appearing progressive and inclusive, while shying away from any meaningful strides.
On that note, despite Waititi and the casts’ insistence this movie is “very gay”, it’s less so than even the previous Thor film (in fact it’s guilty on more than one account of ‘queerbaiting’). There is one solid action scene on a barren moon where the colour has been depleted, but otherwise the action and visuals aren’t terribly outstanding -barring an occasional touch of that Ragnarok vibrancy. And over the course of the movie there are maybe five jokes that are really solid. That’s nowhere near enough to make Thor: Love and Thunder good or worth seeing though.
There’s a bit towards the end of Ragnarok I never liked that may have foreshadowed the problems and tonal dissonance of Love and Thunder. After the evacuation of Asgard, Korg begins a poetic speech about the value of cultural foundations, before Asgard is destroyed altogether and he makes an “aw shucks” kind of remark about it. A dramatic, emotional beat undercut by a dumb joke. There’s not much basis for considered drama in Love and Thunder -when its’ jammed in at the end for a truly baffling change to Thor’s status quo, it is very alienating. But the dumb joke is there, pervasive throughout, and it numbs everything -it’s been years since Marvel has made a movie that impotent.
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