The mighty Thor is back! Thor: Love and Thunder is the first film about the Norse god after the “Infinity War” movies and we get to catch up with the God of Thunder as he not only transforms his body from “Fat Thor” to the “Warrior God Thor” we know from the Avenger movies. If you remember, he went off with the Guardians of the Galaxy at the end of Endgame. But for the first time in nearly 10 years, we also have Dr. Jane Foster back. It’s been interesting to see all the Marvel movies and Disney + series in Phase 4 after Endgame, how these heroes have adapted to a world 5 years later, and seeing their stories being set up for the next great villain. I’ve always been a big fan of Thor. His origin movie in 2011 is one of my favorites, leading to the first Avengers movie and while Thor: Dark World was not exactly a good movie, they hit it out of the park with Thor: Ragnarok. I wish I could say Love and Thunder is as good as Ragnarok, but sadly that isn’t true! That’s not to say you shouldn’t see it if you are a Marvel Fan, but it’s another example of how we’ve already seen the best of the Marvel movies and everything else is merely, “okay” except for Spider-Man: No Way Home. There’s a lot of great comedy in this movie, but unfortunately, it overshadows the story.

We find Thor going on many adventures with the Guardians until he is called into action to save New Asgard from a mysterious villain known only as the “God Butcher.” This villain shows up, intent on destroying everything. His story is explained at the beginning of the movie, but basically, you have a villain that wants to destroy all gods, played by Christian Bale. He’s good in the movie, but he’s generally good in any one of his movies. However, he alone can’t save the story. While Thor is defending New Asgard, he meets his old flame, Jane Foster, who has become a Thor herself by using the power of Thor’s hammer! Her reasons will be explained in the movie, so I won’t spoil it.  You have two Thors coming together to fight this new villain. It’s great to see Natalie Portman back playing a “Lady Thor.” She and Chris Hemsworth have great chemistry together, which was evident from the first Thor movie, and they kick butt in this one. As much as I enjoyed both of them and as much as I enjoyed the comedy, the story is kind of “blah” because we’ve seen the story before where a powerful villain wants to destroy other powerful beings. After 30 or so Marvel movies and series, it feels like familiar territory. This movie almost feels like an origin story for Natalie Portman’s Lady Thor than a continuation of Thor’s story.  Yes, Thor is the main character, but this movie is mostly about her coming back into his life and fighting alongside him. It’s great to have the old band back together, but I wonder where she has been all along leading up to the Infinity War movies. She seems like a central character, just as important as Pepper Potts or Black widow. What makes this movie work is the comedy and the action in it. Unfortunately, that’s all you really have.

The thing about Thoe: Ragnarok is it was a perfect balance of everything that you would want in a movie. It had comedy, it had action, and there were some great emotional connections between Thor and Loki. That movie truly propels these characters leading into the Infinity War movies. I don’t know where they’re going with Love and Thunder except to reintroduce Jane Foster. It’s obvious that there will be another big villain at the end of Phase 4 and of course, this movie teases storylines with gods like Zeus and Hercules, but the story isn’t very clear except as a way to bring back Jane Foster in what almost feels like some kind of “superhero rom-com.” It’s funny and entertaining, but where’s the serious story that’s leading to a bigger story as we saw with all The Marvel movies leading up to the Infinity Wars. Chris Hemsworth is great in this movie, but sadly, he was always better being able to play off of Tom Hiddleston’s, Loki. Not having Loki around anymore doesn’t make Thor that interesting, his character is better with Loki or the rest of the Avengers. Love and Thunder feels more like a generic action-comedy film instead of an emotional superhero movie that’s leading to something bigger. I laughed, but I didn’t feel as connected to these characters as I did in the first two Thor movies. The story seems very basic with characters getting back together like it’s some kind of high school reunion,  but in the end doesn’t have the same emotional weight has past Marvel movies. It could have been better, but it appears that Taika Waititi just wanted to make an action-comedy movie simply to entertain us and not having to care about the characters like we once did in past films. Maybe we’ll appreciate this film more when the bigger story of Phase 4 is complete.

Overall, it’s an entertaining film, but doesn’t match the greatness of past Thor films. It’s great to have these characters back, but I personally had a better connection to them in the earlier Marvel movies. This film feels like they’re rebooting a franchise and bringing back the original cast just for nostalgia. Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman are great, but their chemistry can’t save this film! It’s not one of the better Marvel Movies and feels way too familiar without giving us anything new about the characters except to reunite them. But, this is Marvel Phase 4 and sometimes you make a movie just to catch up with old characters before they play their role in a bigger story. That’s all Love and Thunder really is. Maybe there’s more to this story than what we’re seeing in the film, but time will tell. You may laugh and you may enjoy the action, but it’s not enough to remember the movie… I mean, how many of you go back and watch Iron Man 3. That’s the best comparison I can make. This is the “Iron Man 3” of the Thor movies. You watch it for your favorite characters, but don’t care much for the story. There are two very interesting credits scenes that are obviously building to something bigger, and it will be interesting to see what happens to these characters in the larger picture of Phase 4, but Love and Thunder is mostly forgettable as a film. One thing that does help save it…a great Guns n’ Roses soundtrack!