“Thor: Love and Thunder” not thunderous enough

Thor has always been the top 3 superheroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is facing a midlife crisis what with losing practically all his loved ones including beloved brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who is very much alive in another timeline!) receives an SOS from his old friend Sif (Jaimie Alexander). He parts ways with the Guardians of the Galaxy and heads to help Sif.

She warns Thor about Gorr (Christian Bale), a being possessing the god-killing weapon, the Necrosword, seeking the extinction of all gods as revenge for ignoring the death of his family and that his next target is New Asgard.

Meanwhile Dr Jane Foster (Natalie Portman who reprises her role as Thor’s ex-girlfriend) arrives at New Asgard in a hope of finding a cure for her cancer. Thor’s old hammer Mjolnir reforges and bonds itself to Foster after sensing her worthiness – granting her the power of Thor.

How does Thor react, will he prevent Gorr, who dies and who lives is what the film is about. You also have the old gang of Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Korg (Taika Waititi) reuniting with the God of Thunder in his travels.

The film is not without its trademark inter planetary and inter universal travel. Director Taika Waititi relies heavily on Chris Hemsworth’s charisma to take the film forward. It would be wrong to hold it against Waititi after the duo’s Ragnarök’s success.

The film is not without its moments. In scenes where Thor is surprised by seeing his Mjolnir with Jane, when he seeks help from Zeus (Russell Crowe)the king of Olympiansor even in between when he is jealous of Mjolnir favouring Jane, one can see Waititi’s caliber.

What Thor and Thor: The Dark World could not establish, Waititi did it with Ragnarök and Love and Thunder and that is to make likeable and witty. Waititi tries his best to combine his trademark wit with that of Marvel’s humour but comes up short by a mile.

Chris Hemsworth does not miss a step as Thor, Natalie Portman gets her due in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and she is in her element in the emotional scenes. Christian Bale – words fall short to describe his commitment and performance (don’t forget, he was part of the most successful Batman Trilogy a few years back). Russell Crowe’s overexcited performance as Zeus goes over the top in the minute screen time he has. There is not much for the Guardians to do in the movie but for blink and you miss it appearance at the beginning.

This may not be a thunderstorm but do watch it for Chris and the bunch of Oscar winners in the cast.