Don't close sequel door on 'Thor'; it's simply that we expected a bit more

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Don't close sequel door on 'Thor'; it's simply that we expected a bit more

With "Thor: Love and Thunder" marching over the horizon and into movie theaters on Friday, the latest from director, co-writer, narrator and voice of sidekick "Korg" Taika Waititi brings expectations far beyond the imagination of mortal men.

After all, the guy is legitimately creative -- as proven when he helmed "Thor: Ragnarok," perhaps the funniest Marvel sequel of all time -- among his other huge influences on such big- and small-screen projects as "What We Do in the Shadows," "Jojo Rabbit," "Flight of the Conchords," "Reservation Dogs" and a few more in the streaming realm.

Even in the hands of this Oscar, BAFTA and Grammy winner, though, the new "Thor" becomes a real mixed bag of shuffling genres and just maybe a bit too much Waititi wackiness where a little more sensibility probably should reside.

Of course, "Love and Thunder" never really gets dull, either, starting with the superb Christian Bale going all Shakespearean on us as a desperate father-turned "butcher of the gods," quickly followed by a fat and sassy Thor (the body-shifting Chris Hemsworth), introduced as still working with the whole "Guardians of the Galaxy" gang to defeat apparent bad guys, with the ones here going down on some distant "Mad Max"-like planet.

Wait, a real load remains to be absorbed, including the returning Tessa Thompson's "King Valkyrie" becoming mayor in a New Asgard community that plays more like Bizarro World, not to mention Natalie Portman's Jane Foster, now not only fighting cancer but actually beside her big lug of a boyfriend as well. Then, perhaps seriously getting back to fat and sassy, Russell Crowe debuts as Zeus in a wild "Golden Temple" routine that has him defiantly refusing Thor's godly pleas for help.

The best dark moments in Waititi's quick-moving adventure collection finally arrive later, during an eerie black-and-white sequence that brings Hemsworth's "Space Viking" into a kind of barren, yet mind-bending Twilight Zone. If only all of it landed so neatly.

Rated "PG-13": sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, some suggestive material and partial nudity; 1:59; $ $ $ out of $5

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ($ $ $ $ and 1/2)

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Sharper ($ $ $) "Not bad, but shoulda been, uh, even sharper."

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READ MORE FROM JOHN HERE AT TIFF 47
Spielberg memoir brings home top 'People's' prize
CIFF vets find Gravitas and indie choices in live return
Halfway home but 10-day film feast still has tasty menu
Tribute Awards and weekend stars go live again
Cleveland meets Toronto, each with 47th fests on tap
North America's largest film showcase begins Sept. 8

2022's Top 10 movies (in alphabetical order):

All My Puny Sorrows (mini review above); Avatar: The Way of Water; The Banshees of Inisherin; Cha Cha Real Smooth; Emily the Criminal; Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues (mini review above); She Said; TÁR; Triangle of Sadness

2021 Top 10 movies (in alphabetical order): Belfast, Coda, Cyrano, A Hero, Jockey, Licorice Pizza, The Lost Daughter, The Rescue, The Tragedy of Macbeth, West Side Story

No Top 10 films in 2020 (Covid pandemic)

See John's Top 10 films of 2019

See John's Top 10 films of 2018

See John's Top 10 films of 2017

See John's Top 10 films of 2016

See John's Top 10 films of 2015

See John's Top 10 films of 2014

See John's Top 10 films of 2013

See John's Top 10 films of 2012

See John's Top 10 films of 2011