On Wednesday, I took the bus into central London to see a preview of THOR: LOVE AND THUD at the cinema. There was a red carpet deal across the street at a fancy theater, but a cardboard Chris Hemsworth was made available for selfies, and fans lined up to grab a plastic hammer. When I sat in the auditorium waiting for the film to start, someone behind me tried to record an audible message for his followers, so I heard about 50 times that he had summarized every plot of the movies online. He said that he was in the building. A pre recorded greeting confirmed that writer/director Korg Taika Waititi and Natalie Portman were at the other theater to thank the crowd. One fan wanted to know if the movie was gay. The crowd cheered when she said that she was gay. They all waved big plastic hammers, but I think this may be a false memory.
There are 29 movies in the franchise and the fans are having a good time. I am not in a position to make a smart critique or even one at the level of Martin Scorcese's, as I have only watched less than a quarter of these. Over the years it has become harder to just get into the franchise. This home was hammered by love and thunder. That isn't a critique at all. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown so dense and self-referential that it is hard to watch one of these films without feeling like you are missing out. If you don't know the characters you lose a lot. Love and Thunder has been marketed as an action movie, but it is better suited for hangouts.
Waititi directed the first two movies in the series, including the most recent one, THOR: CHRONIC. The new villain in Love andThunder is a silver man with a smile like the moon from Majora's mask and a voice like Bale's real English accent. He wants revenge on the gods because one of them let his daughter die. To stop him, each arm of the sun-drenched mountain range has to be taken away from the group of people who are trying to save him. Jane Foster has been diagnosed with cancer. Her old hammer makes her well again, and she also gets to wear a couple of goals matching costume. The two of them get together after the attack on New Asgard. RussellCrowe plays Zeus in the Omnipotent City and he spouts an amusingly hammy Greek accent.
There is a late style characterized by "hyper-self-awareness" and a "self-referential preoccupation with a heroic past" according to Writing in Art Review. Without a single focus on one plot towards which everything is relentlessly building, the franchise is instead fixated on minor variations on itself and its own rhythms.
The trouble with Love andThunder is captured in this summary. The relationship between Foster andThor blossomed in the first two movies of the series. Waititi gives many recaps to get you up to speed, usually through the mouth of lovable rock man Korg. These aren't enough to make you care about the couple's fight with love and cancer.
The response would be to point out that the films are meant to be enjoyed in conversation with one another and that they are not stand alone stories. If you aren't watching the film to see your favorite characters, there's a noticeable aimlessness to Love andThunder. The dramatic stakes are just lower in a post-Endgame world, a problem compounded by Waititi and his actors. The films were made with the same mischievous satire that inspired What We Do in the Shadows. We're just here to have a good time, that's all.
That is fine. The prospect of other blockbusters not featuring Tom Cruise or other characters is a well-trodden topic. The movies don't have to accommodate everyone, and it's amusing that they have grown so prohibitive to outsiders. How will they get older? Is it possible that audiences in 30 years will find them watchable? Is it possible that they will log onto Disney+ Max and watch over 50 hours of movies to get references in one film? We are not near the end. Hercules, the subject of another film, is summoned by Zeus after the credits have finished. A lot of lore and a comic about him as well.
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