“Thor: Love and Thunder” is a review-proof film. Fans will see it anyway because it is a Marvel project. I am happy to say that, despite a slow beginning and uneven middle, the movie ultimately succeeds in creating a moving and satisfying conclusion in this latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The prologue shows a man, Gorr (Christian Bale—an inspired choice for a villain) and his young daughter Love (India Rose Hemsworth), who draws what look like petroglyphs on stones, in a drought-ridden landscape. They are dying and Gorr appeals to an amulet of what looks like a Sun God for help. Love nevertheless dies.

Lying next to her grave, Gorr sights an oasis on the horizon. Entering the lush vegetation, he drinks the water and finds food. He begins to eat but is reprimanded by the God of his amulet. When Gorr thanks him for his beneficence but wishes that he would helped them earlier, the god dismisses him as of no importance.

While they have been conversing, the Necrosword, which can slay gods, appears. After Gorr curses the gods and is attacked, the Necrosword finds it way into his hand. He slays his first god.

After the traditional Marvel animation, the picture cuts to a battle scene on a planet. The Guardians of the Galaxy are having a hard time against their foes. Meanwhile, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) sits on a hill and appears to be nonplussed by their travails. He makes allegedly humorous remarks.

When the king of the planet appears and begs for Thor’s intervention, the god reacts by decimating not only the enemy, but also their temple (oops!). The king gives him 2 large goats, which are not appreciated by the Guardians on their ship.

Receiving various distress calls, one comes in from Sif (Jaimie Alexander). She says that the God-Butcher (aka Gorr) has been slaying gods left and right. She is injured.

Accompanied by the stone-like Korg (Taika Waititi) and the 2 goats, Thor abandons the Guardians and uses Stormbreaker to go to Sif. He takes her to New Asgard for medical care.

In a related story on Earth, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) has Stage 4 cancer. Her chemotherapy is not working. She feels called by the now-fragmented Mjolnir and she travels to New Asgard.
Gorr attacks New Asgard. Thor is shocked to see Jane in his outfit, wielding a re-cemented Mjolnir, which can break apart now and re-form. They fight off Gorr, but not before he kidnaps the children of New Asgard and takes them in a cage to the Shadow Realm.

Thor suggests to King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Jane that they travel to Omnipotent City to ask Zeus (Russell Crowe) for help. But once there, Zeus does not consider Gorr a threat and attacks them, rendering Korg a pile of stones. Thor appears to kill Zeus with his own Thunderbolt, which the team acquires as they attempt to confront Gorr in the Shadow Realm.

After the intriguing and violent prologue, the scene with the Guardians sets the tone for the uneven humor of the film. In a way, I am not surprised by this considering the director is Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows, JoJo Rabbit), who co-wrote the screenplay with Jennifer Kaytan Robinson. His unique sense of humor often ends up being hit-or-miss.

With the Guardians scene, it fails badly. Thor’s attitude is more annoying than funny. The Guardians are left to play straight men, which I found disappointing since their appearance is completely wasted. Later we have scenes where Stormbreaker is jealous of Mjolnir. Thor attempts to placate his inanimate companion are too drawn out.

On the other hand, there are some hits in the humor category. While we are in New Asgard, portrayed as a tourist trap with cruise ships in its harbor, we see a play involving the old Asgard. In uncredited performances, Sam Neill plays Odin, Matt Damon is Loki, Luke Hemsworth is Thor, and Melissa McCarthy is Hela. Their cameo appearances and fervid overacting make this scene a winner.

The film also has difficulties in tone as it shifts from violence to humor and back. There is a real risk making frightened children in a cage not seem exploitative. The very moving conclusion of the picture seems out of touch with what preceded it.

Of course the action scenes are superbly done. The set for Omnipotent City is stunning as are the visualization of the various gods and creature effects (although sometimes this just seems like one of the many variations of the “Star Wars” cantina scene). I was less impressed by the costumes which often seemed like something from a community theater.

The journey into and the battle in the Shadow Realm are beautifully filmed in black-and-white. This must seem like a shock to modern-day audiences unused to how gorgeous B&W cinematography & photography can be.

The screenplay also suffers from the fact that this is, I read, the 29th MCU movie. I am not sure if this counts the Disney Plus series which are adding to the MCU canon. There is little attempt to give backstory from previous films or even to indicate who minor characters like Sif are. I admit that these kinds of expository scenes can be poorly made, but some assistance for the new viewer would be appreciated.

Natalie Portman and Christian Bale give the kinds of nuanced, superb performances that you would expect from Oscar-winning actors. I often comment that soon every known actor will be part of the MCU (poor Betty White didn’t make it) and the addition of Bale is indeed inspired.

I did not care for the strange accent Russell Crowe used for Zeus. Hemsworth has his moments, but also his missteps as an actor. I wish that Tessa Thompson’s character had more scenes.

The film is rated PG-13 and rightly so. Very young children may have nightmares from the kidnapped-children scenes. While the movie has flaws, the final third of the picture is brilliant and moving.

Three and a half out of five stars

Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Love and Thunder” finds the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a search for self-discovery. But Thor’s retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

Starring Chris Hemsworth; Christian Bale; Tessa Thompson; Jaimie Alexander; Taika Waititi; Russell Crowe; Natalie Portman
Written by Taika Waititi, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Directed by Taika Waititi