THOR 4: LOVE AND THUNDER directed by Taika Waititi (11/5/21) 9 9

[Bosco685]

The Hollywood Reporter reviewer

 

[Jesse-Lee]

I just saw it today - I liked it. I thought the story was decent, Natlie Portman was great, Bale was great (although I agree I would have liked to see more of him). Definitely some goofiness, but I laughed throughout. I actually enjoyed it more than Multiverse of Madness.

[paperheart]

'Higher than Eternals!' QED

[gadzukes]

Just went with my wife.

Thor was my favorite Marvel character as a teen growing up in the 70s.  That Thor was not in this movie.

I did enjoy the Jane Foster story arc and the Gorr the God butcher story arc, but..... ugh, was there even a -script for this movie?  Or was it just a bunch of improv comedy moments.

1/5 of this movie was extremely good.  4/5s of this movie was really bad.

If Taika keeps directing Thor I want him to pull back on the crazy stuff from an 11 down to a 5 or 6.  That might be the right balance.

And.... I'm ready for Korg to just be a pile of rubble somewhere and not part of the next movie.

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by gadzukes

[MattTheDuck]

Went this evening.  There are the seeds of a good movie in there, focused on Gorr and Thor.  The rest of it was just really badly written - I think I laughed twice, something I don't expect to do much of during my Thor movies, but which Taika obviously wanted.  The show was well attended but the audience was mostly silent.  Unlike others, I think the Thor movies are some of Natalie Portman's worst work.  I don't know if it's the writing or her acting (I lean toward the latter based on equally bad work in Star Wars) but Marvel has writers who can deal with female characters - both Natasha and Agent Hill are well written, as are most of the Wakanda female characters.  The relationship between Jane and Mjornir was idiotic.  The tone of this movie was just completely wrong and there were so many things drummed up out of whole cloth just to move the plot forward, like "anyone can be Thor" or the ridiculous "catch phrase" discussions which I found a pale echo of Deadpool.

As a huge fan of the Greek/Norse Gods mash-up in the early Journey into Mystery comics, I was very disappointed in the Zeus portrayal.  They almost redeemed it with the mid-credits scene so we'll see what they do with it in Thor: Thunder in the Netherworld.  The music choices were terrible - I like Guns 'n Roses as much as anyone but Jesus.  Get off Axl's nuts, Taika.

What I suspect is that Taika made a pretty successful Thor: Ragnarok, and rather than close oversight over the -script for this movie, Marvel just trusted him.  Feige or somebody with responsibility needs to apply a firmer hand to keep things on track.

Bale was - by far - the best thing about the movie.  Much more could have been done with his character but all the silliness got in the way of telling his story.  My fear is that this will do "good enough" box office that Marvel won't see its flaws.

[WeR138]

On 7/8/2022 at 10:23 PM, MattTheDuck said:

Went this evening.  There are the seeds of a good movie in there, focused on Gorr and Thor.  The rest of it was just really badly written - I think I laughed twice, something I don't expect to do much of during my Thor movies, but which Taika obviously wanted.  The show was well attended but the audience was mostly silent.  Unlike others, I think the Thor movies are some of Natalie Portman's worst work.  I don't know if it's the writing or her acting (I lean toward the latter based on equally bad work in Star Wars) but Marvel has writers who can deal with female characters - both Natasha and Agent Hill are well written, as are most of the Wakanda female characters.  The relationship between Jane and Mjornir was idiotic.  The tone of this movie was just completely wrong and there were so many things drummed up out of whole cloth just to move the plot forward, like "anyone can be Thor" or the ridiculous "catch phrase" discussions which I found a pale echo of Deadpool.

As a huge fan of the Greek/Norse Gods mash-up in the early Journey into Mystery comics, I was very disappointed in the Zeus portrayal.  They almost redeemed it with the mid-credits scene so we'll see what they do with it in Thor: Thunder in the Netherworld.  The music choices were terrible - I like Guns 'n Roses as much as anyone but Jesus.  Get off Axl's nuts, Taika.

What I suspect is that Taika made a pretty successful Thor: Ragnarok, and rather than close oversight over the --script for this movie, Marvel just trusted him.  Feige or somebody with responsibility needs to apply a firmer hand to keep things on track.

Bale was - by far - the best thing about the movie.  Much more could have been done with his character but all the silliness got in the way of telling his story.  My fear is that this will do "good enough" box office that Marvel won't see its flaws.

I toyed with the idea of writing something up for this movie, but you pretty much hit on everything I was going to say. Except that I liked Natalie Portman in this a little more than you did. 

I really liked Ragnarok, and I can honestly say I would give this movie a 5.5.

 

[Bosco685]

Another low word of mouth score which is not typical for a Disney or Marvel Studios film. Majority of the time opening week audiences give them A-, A and at times A+.

[Bosco685]

How Thor (2011) rated below Dark World is crazy.

[drotto]

On 7/8/2022 at 11:55 PM, Bosco685 said:

Good you enjoyed it.

But the perceived negativity is most probably steady frustration with the Phase IV rollout, movies and TV shows. All the Disney+ shows are extended movies spread over 6-8 episodes on average, and the movies are trying too hard to expand beyond the traditional mold. Though I enjoyed Hawkeye and most of Loki. And I am someone that truly enjoys Thor (2011), Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1.

So it comes down to that, and not negativity for the sake of being pre-disappointed. Hang in there, though. There has to be a light at the end of the tunnel going into Phase V.

The light at the end of tunnel is the X-Men, and maybe FF.

[Straw-Man]

On 7/8/2022 at 3:57 PM, paperheart said:

+1, I'll jump in blindly; $150MM US opening, $330-350MM total, $800MM WW

this sounds about right.

[D84]

On 7/9/2022 at 6:13 AM, drotto said:

The light at the end of tunnel is the X-Men, and maybe FF.

With their current track record, I'm assuming they'll  that up too.

[paperheart]

so C- in the real world

[MattTheDuck]

On 7/9/2022 at 3:51 AM, Bosco685 said:

How Thor (2011) rated below Dark World is crazy.

There's a healthy debate around here about whether Dark World or Love and Thunder is the worst Thor movie and a bit of a groundswell to give DW another watch.  I think Thor is #1 in our house.

Edited July 9, 2022 by MattTheDuck
ess

[paperheart]

On 7/8/2022 at 1:57 PM, paperheart said:

+1, I'll jump in blindly; $150MM US opening, $330-350MM total, $800MM WW

shave 10% off US # and at least that off WW total

 

Luiz Fernando

Eyeing a 135M-145M 3-day opening weekend

 

 

[Mystafo]

On 7/9/2022 at 10:26 AM, MattTheDuck said:

There's a healthy debate around here about whether Dark World or Love and Thunder is the worst Thor movie and a bit of a groundwell to give DW another watch.  I think Thor is #1 in our house.

I've said this a lot over the years, but I love the first Thor movie...had a great atmosphere and the score was amazing.  If the Destroyer fight would have been longer and more involved it would have been stellar, I think.

Edited July 9, 2022 by Mystafo

[drotto]

Are we ready to say phase 4 is off the rails?  How long will the goodwill last??  I think there will always be people seeing these films, but there will be diminishing returns. At some point they will not be able to justify $200+ million budgets, even if they maintain $500 to $600 box office.

[MattTheDuck]

On 7/9/2022 at 9:13 AM, Mystafo said:

I've said this a lot over the years, but I love the first Thor movie...had a great atmosphere and the score was amazing.  If the Destroyer fight would have been longer and more involved it would have been stellar, I think.

This is one of my main complaints about Iron Man 2 - the "big fight" at the end is about 30 seconds long.  In the comics, these go on and on and on.

[Artboy99]

Absolutely hated this movie! 

[D84]

On 7/9/2022 at 11:24 AM, drotto said:

Are we ready to say phase 4 is off the rails?  How long will the goodwill last??  I think there will always be people seeing these films, but there will be diminishing returns. At some point they will not be able to justify $200+ million budgets, even if they maintain $500 to $600 box office.

I said it was off the rails last year.

[Straw-Man]

mediocre.