Well the Thor saga has taken another strange turn I never saw in the Marvel comics, but that’s o.k. We get to see our full money’s worth of Hemsworth, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster (Thor’s former girlfriend), some cameos (all too short and not funny enough) of the Guardians of the Galaxy, another cameo, this time by Matt Damon as an Asgaardian actor, and another primo performance by an almost unrecognizable Christian Bale (he must have been in makeup for a full day before shooting) as the bad guy— Gorr the Godkiller. The movie tries to be both silly and serious, both comedy and drama, and the drama does better than the comedy, but not by much. The critics give the movie a 67% rating, and I agree. This is not a classic though it has some good moments. The movie is two hours and five minutes, and it has plenty of rockem sockem scenes, and a few romantic scenes. There is no bad language really (the word ‘shitty’ shows up in passing), and there was also no real laughter or reaction in the theater either. The director Taika Waititi voices several characters including Korg (who looks like a charcoal brickette version of the Thing of Fantastic Four fame) and an old Kronan god.
There is more emphasis on some aspect of Norse mythology, including goats, but they have also thrown in Greek and Roman gods, and in particular Zeus plays an important role. If I were to point to a theological theme, it is that the gods are not reliable friends or helpers of mere mortals. This certainly characterizes the Greek and Roman deities rather correctly, as well as various of the Norse gods, especially Loki. In short, this movie is a mythology mishmash. It continues a general trend ever since Stan Lee passed away, namely these movies for the most part have not been as good as the earlier ones. It is less entertaining that Top Gun: Maverick, less funny than Young Gru, and it’s debatable whether it’s worth your summer bucks. This is not the actors fault, as they are good. But the story or plot, such as it is, is pretty convoluted and not compelling. This is the writers’ and director’s fault. C’est la vie.
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