Thor: Love and Thunder - Spoiler Review! 

When I saw the pen through paper wormhole explanation I immediately thought,”Dan’s not going to like this.” And lo and behold I was correct

Korg's two dads was a recon though. He talks about his mom and her boyfriend in Thor Ragnarok

I was baffled by the fact we didn’t actually see Gorr butchering any God’s, it was referenced a lot which is nice but it would have been awesome to actually see it And so can Thor just bestow his power to other people from now on? That could have been mighty handy in previous films.

So Thor adopting Love is kind of an mirror to Odin adopting Loki.

Dan, with regards to Eternity, Gorr is given a vision when he first gets the Necrosword, that shows him that he’ll need the axe in order to get there. So whilst a bit flimsy, it’s simply that Thanos & Thor didn’t know Stormbreaker was the way to get there. Thor is aware of Eternity, as evidenced by his reaction when Zeus says that’s where Gorr is heading, however unaware Stormbreaker is the key, as evidenced by his confusion when Jane throws it away.

Somebody should have stood over Taika's shoulder and said "No, no joke here, it will completely ruin the emotional moment." and "Don't cut this part, we need more Christian Bale."

In regards to the greater MCU story I feel like we missed a beat, or an epilogue to be precise. For the first 10 years of the MCU the focal point of the MCU story was The Avengers. Yes we had one-off movies and yes we explored the cosmic side of the MCU but we kept coming back to that main focal story. And I don't know where we are at with that story. Tony died and Cap retired but is there still an Avengers team? For me I think that is why the MCU is feeling a bit rudderless. If Endgame was the final chapter of, let's call it Book 1, then there should have been a clear introduction to Book 2; The Avengers have disbanded and the world needs new heroes. At the moment it just feel like Disney needs content for its streaming platform so we are putting out all these shows with new heroes with no context to the greater story.

In comics, there is an artifact called the Heart of the Universe. It is considered the most powerful artifact in Marvel, with 2nd usually going to the Infinity Gauntlet. There is a run where Thanos obtained it and restored his universe. . There is no in-movie explanation for why Thanos or no one else went to the Altar of Eternity at the Center of the Universe. Easiest answer is it didn't exist until L&T. Easiest in-movie explanation is no one knew what the key was. Gorr only knows because once he touches All-Black the Necrosword, it starts whispering in his ear, and very quick flashes show Eternity, the BiFrost, and the Gate of Eternity itself.

Marvel needs to mix in some movies with smaller stakes, even in the streaming shows going up to Ms. Marvel has Earth ending stakes for the heroes, multiverse ending stakes several times.

The Eternity plot point for Endgame--me and my friend were discussing this too, but then I realized they may have given themselves a "get-out-of-jail" free card for anything like this that comes up because doesn't Strange basically say that there's only one outcome where they win, and it was that one? So the argument would be "sure this existed, but it would have failed ultimately" or something along those lines.

The only moment that made me sit up was seeing Roy Kent in the first end credit scene. He's here. He's there. He's every fucking where

I really liked the thematic role of Love. Adopting the child of his enemy seemed like Thor's opportunity to finally truly surpass Odin.

So Dan, as a fellow Trekkie, I thought you’d pick up on the fact that Gore’s plan is shockingly similar to Sybok’s plan in Star Trek V. Think about it: the villain takes hostages, hero is lured into a trap, villain takes hero’s item capable of interstellar travel and unlocking barrier at center of galaxy/universe where being that gives villain heart’s desire resides… pretty similar, huh? 😀

Of all the “First Explicitly Gay Moments in a Disney/Pixar/Marvel/Star Wars Movie”, Korg x Dwayne is certainly the most recent.

Dan, I had similar thoughts - came out a little bit warmer on it than you, but my first reaction when I walked out the theater was that this felt like a first draft script that could’ve been great if it was combed through a few more times. Use the guardians more to remind Thor he doesn’t have a family, use the Jane element to remind him what he could have had, and then I think maybe you earn the daughter more at the end.

For me the filming on the volume was very noticeable because most of the shots in the movie are all just medium shots from the stomach up and there's not a lot of camera movements when characters are talking. It's just a flat shot of one character then switch to another flat shot of the other character so it never really pulled me into the movie and ultimately added to the staleness. It really did feel like basic student film levels of filmmaking.

While I liked the film as a whole and thoroughly enjoyed watching it, I do think it would have been a bit more interesting of they'd moved Jane's intro scenes to after her first appearance as Mighty Thor, incorporating it in an extended flashback or revealing it over time, maybe revealing she was ill by dropping Mjolnir by the sink. IDK, the way it was written was very upfront whereas discovering it along with Thor might have been a bit more engaging.

I think that the movie is too short and that's one of its main problems. A few things I disagree with on: I think that Gorr didn't have a sudden change of heart at the end and that's a big misinterpretation people are having. The necrosword would not let him realize that he could use his wish to bring his daughter back to life so until it was broken and Thor brought it up, he didn't even think it was an option. This is less of a big deal but I thought the wormhole thing was funny but the joke wasn't the wormhole it's that she called interstellar easy to understand. Jane is genuinely dead. Even in the comics until recently Valhalla is almost never touched. Once characters are there they stay there. I personally think that by establishing that heimdall and Jane are there (and presumably 616 loki and the warriors 3), they're setting up an exit for Thor where he gets to have his happy ending in Valhalla. Lastly, while I totally agree that the quality has been off recently, I think that people forget that it took until Guardians for the phrase "infinity stone" to even be used. I think people are forgetting what setting the groundwork was like in the MCU because they're used to everything building so obviously to Endgame when it's pretty clear that what they're doing now is essentially a new phase one that, yes, carries a bunch over, but is also setting up cosmic and multiversal threats, building towards Kang as the next Thanos level threat, and building towards young avengers and dark avengers/thunderbolts in the meantime. Overall, i totally agree with most of your thoughts on the movie and I would rank it about middle of the road mcu personally, but I just have a few things I don't 100% agree on. Keep up the great work, Dan! I've been a fan since the screen junkies days and you're genuinely the only reviewer who I ever feel I can trust 100% with a recommendation.

I wish they'd dedicated this movie entirely to the Jane storyline. (There could be a villain just for this movie to overcome so it would still feel like a somewhat complete story.) By making one movie essentially about Jane, it could've really be moving - exploring her own desperation, the allure of the hammer, the failed relationship between her and Thor. And they could've teased Gorr throughout this hypothetical movie to set him up as the big bad for the next movie. Maybe give him a couple scenes, or have gods randomly showing up dead. And then if you want to kill off Jane in the next movie in the battle with Gorr, after so much time spent with her character, it would truly be sad/memorable.

In the comics, "The Mighty Thor" and "The God Butcher", are two different stories. Two great stories, could have converted to two great movies.

I think the handwave explanation for them not seeking out Eternity to fix the Snap comes down to Thor probably thinking it was a myth until this movie. Just my guess.

The first half felt out of sorts, for me. The second half won it over for me. I loved the second half. I agree with some others here. A little more Gore early on would have helped. Everything after the Zeus battle was great

I definitely noticed the editing problems of the movie. I found out there was so many deleted scenes. Even the scene of her getting the powers of Thor.

Love the reviews

I would watch the hell out of the 4 hour cut

The eternity thing for the snap. I guess you could say Stormbreaker didn’t exist yet? I kno Mjölnir serves the same purpose but it still had Odens previous incantation from Thor 1 where you have to be “worthy” to wield its power.

WIth this movie I couldn't tell if Taika wasn't putting his all or maybe he was stretched too thin; but I do think some of what makes this movie unsatisfactory is how lackadasical it feels? So much of the humor feels super random, a lot of the themes and plots feel poorly fleshed out and underdeveloped, the pacing and editing is really messy... I think Marvel in general is going way too fast for their own good and this movie sticks out as the biggest example of such. What with stories of the edits, the cuts, that some huge plot points were created on the fly, how badly the VFX teams had to be crunched in order to get the work done on time...it's leading me and several other fans of the MCU into some major burnout.

Agree with the possible reasons for the MCU slump... want to add one more, audience expectations were higher after the Ragnorok through Endgame, at least for me. So kinda a hangover effect when presented with these new movies that would've been just fine a few years ago.

Honestly Dan, as a woman and prospect Dr, I loved that scene with Natalie Portman. Because unfortunately it is a very common reality in our lives how no matter how we're a mighty god, we're still called very patronising names. So yes, I often do go like her, "not Lady Thor, it's Dr. Jane Foster". Also, for me it makes perfect sense that it came from Gorr, not a douche like Zeus, because people don't even realise how they only see us as 'girls' no matter what we've accomplished and what a 'nice guy' he might be.

I blame the editors the most. The number of scenes the cast have discussed that weren't cut makes me think they were really worried about run time.

Just to let you know Dan I look forward to your videos every week

100% spot-on with everything - I thought you articulated the first act issues (it being very rushed) particularly well. Skipping over Jane's "origin story" as it were felt like a cheat.

I never understood how Stormbreaker which was recently made somehow had access to Eternity and if they had this knowledge why did they not use it pre endgame?

i was thinking that gorr was going to use his wish to save jane before he saved his daughter and honesty i thought it would’ve been more emotional if he did

Waititi and Hemsworths kids appreciate ur love of their shadow monster designs

Gotta agree, it’s starting to feel like Marvel is starting to burn out a bit and they need to get going in some unified direction rather than the scattershot it’s felt lately

Korg’s species being completely male has been in the comics for years now, it was sprung on the general audience yes, but anyone who read planet or world war hulk knew this already

I was so sure Thor and Jane would stay friends in this one because I thought we all agreed that they had very little chemistry... Also shouldn't Heimdall's son have been motherless to allow Thor to adopt him? After opening his heart?

I saw it Thursday night and something was bugging me up until now. I enjoyed it alright, but it was more meh to me. A lot fell flat for me and the tone was all over the place. Tackling an emotionally complex topic like cancer is rough in any film, but in this context, especially so. It felt like more attention should have been paid to Jane’s situation rather than make it a big joke. They would touch on it, but quickly pull away. The thing I realized that bugged me is this is the first MCU film where I felt knowing even the basics of the source material helped with the digestion of the film. I think had I not known of the basics of Jane’s story, I would have been more confused.

Thor accepting Love as his own child mirrors Odin’s decision to take Loki.

Usually agree with Dan. But I loved this movie. Lots of the MCU since endgame has taken itself too seriously, and this was so fun to just have a funny movie to enjoy.

Also talking about inconsistencies across the 4 Thor movies, I think we need to talk about Mjolnir. In the first movie, Odin establishes it as the object that grants the power of Thor to a person who is worthy. Fair enough. Remains the same through to Age of Ultron iirc. Then in Ragnarok, Odin says that Thor already had this power and Mjolnir helps him direct this power, which makes it come across as the hammer itself doesn't have the power. Then in Endgame, the Mjolnir logic reverts to what was established in Phases 1 and 2 (Cap has the power of Thor). And now in Phase 4, Mjolnir and Stormbreaker are kind of sentient?

Dude, so we’ll said. Your points are so right

I agree, the tone of this movie was very confusing. At times, it seemed like the humour was centred towards younger children - but then there was a scene which dragged on for way too long where they kept talking about orgies? Then there was also the horror scenes which felt wildly out of place. Case in point the scene where Thor and Jane rekindle their relationship, then all of a sudden they are in the shadow realm and 2 minutes later Gorr is on the screen? There were also some things that confused me in this movie, I’m not sure if I just missed something and someone can help me understand? 1. In a world where Tony Stark has, you know…existed, how is there no cure or at least a more effective treatment for Cancer? 2. Zeus said that Gorr doesn’t have the key to eternity, so why not just tell Thor that the key was stormbreaker and Thor was walking into a trap? Zeus obviously knew? 3. How was the ‘key’ to Eternity depicted as being stormbreaker, considering Eternity is as old as Gods themselves and stormbreaker was created in Infinity War…? I understand it was the bifrost and not stormbreaker that was the key, but why was the image that we saw in the shadow realm of stormbreaker specifically? Thanks guys!!

I thought Thor's cape + boombox armor were just personal fashion choices of the character. Didn't realize they were the uniform of a "being" called "The Thor". Same for his name.

Very thoughtful analysis. Thank you. You touched on a lot of points I was not quite liking, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Thunderbolt changed places during the Zeus scene at least once. It was gone then its mounted on it's display thing between shots.

@DanMurrell We've had this conversation before, but I realized if one has turned off the annotations in the YT home settings, then the right hand corner link to past show never appears. Thanks.

I was kinda confused about Jane actually using Mjonir, we see a seal glow when Thor asks it to always protect her, so does that mean he gives her permission to use it and she wasn't actually worthy like Steve Rogers? At the end Thor gives god power to the kids to all be mini Thors with super strength and thunder (which btw when/how did he know he could do that?) So we know he can give Thor god power to anyone anytime for however long with (apparently) no downsides. So to me it takes away how cool it was for Jane to be her own Thor and lessenes how cool she is by her needing "permission" to be a hero. That and Zeus' bolt just being able to teleport anywhere in the galaxy. I feel they could have set that up very easily with Zeus teleporting when they went to OmnipotenCity. Make it another joke where he goofs on Thor and his friends, why not, there's so many jokes already, what's one more?

@DanMurrell the answer to the question of why no one tried reaching Eternity, is that no one could quite figure out the key to unlocking Eternity. Before Stormbreaker, no weapon could harness the power of the bifrost. You needed to summon a gatekeeper like Himdall to get you the right place. It was a Zeus line “he doesn’t have have the key” Stormbreaker is the key to unlocking eternity. So if anything it makes Zeus seem more reasonable.

No comment, you nailed it

I'm 64 years old. I read the very first thor comic book! I hated this movie! No action that means anything! But that's what you get when you put a foreigner, who never read a comic book in his life! When I read the comic's, I was transferred to another world! It was a world of adventure and action! Some comedy, but all the comedy in this movie. Killed it for me!

My friend & I saw it a few nights ago. We both gave it 7.5 out of 10. I bumped mine up to 8 simply because of the many times I laughed throughout. Marvel seems to be going through a very familiar arc with villains. They're relatable as something bad has happened to them & they're just dealing with it in the wrong way. So they're creating a lot of villains that you empathise with to some degree.

This film was so disappointing and yes - I did like Ragnarok.

The concept of Eternity pretty much breaks all canon in the MCU lol.

Korg & Dwayne was such a solid & hilarious scene

The Thor and the kid storyline mirrors Loki being adopted by Odin in battle. Its like poetry, it rhymes.

Reviews like this one are exactly why I really enjoy your channel. I had a blast with this movie! That being said, it was choppy and a bit discombobulated with its theme. The way you present your opinions in a measured and calm manner is refreshing and fun. I can't wait to see how this measures up in the Charts.

There is a graphic that illustrates that the MCU has more hours of content post Endgame than all 3 previous phases combined. A look at that is all you need to understand the problem with the current MCU.

Good review Dan, I enjoyed it for what it was. But man I wish we would get that four hour cut of this film. I think Gorr knowing he needed Stormbreaker was something that had to do with Jeff Goldblum and Peter Dinklage. All and all I had a fun time with this. I would have made some changes to the story for sure. By no means is this a perfect Marvel film.

I think End Game was just a good stopping point for me with the MCU

I think one of the missteps that this movie, and Doctor Strange 2, had was that they were both wildly absurd films. They were absurd at the sacrifice of story. And maybe where Dan leans more towards the positive side on this one is because it was absurd with lighthearted entertainment, whereas Doctor Strange was very bleakly absurd. Unless you're determined to hate it, it's harder to be negative towards things that make you laugh as opposed to cool Easter eggs in a film that doesn't make you smile.

They did not concern themselves with pesky details like "story" or "character development", it was a medium to cram as many jokes down your throat in as short a space of time - everything else was secondary.

To be very brief: I pretty much agree with everything you said. Great analysis of the film and the current state of the MCU.

I agree, Dan. Watched this movie yesterday, and while I didn't dislike it, I wasn't exactly charmed by it either. And I adore Chris Hemsworth as Thor. The film was very eh for me and felt so rushed. Thor suddenly agreeing to adopt Gorr's daughter was just so out of the blue. Jane as Thor was good, but we needed more setup for her, I agree. She saying "I am Mighty Thor" didn't feel earned. I was like, okay, she is Mighty Thor in the comics, but here, in the MCU, why is she suddenly calling herself that, and why would people who have never read a comic connect to that? That felt kinda random. Also, if Thor can give his powers to kids, why didn't he do so earlier? You know, when he was in battle so many times. He could have easily given his powers to his teammates and they would defeat anyone. So, why didn't he? So, I am left feeling unsatisfied. And I think I will now take a break from the MCU. I am not really feeling it at the moment with them.

I thought the film was fun and cute! I especially loved Jane, who lost her battle with cancer, was welcomed into Valhalla 👏

They wanted Wanda EVIL and Jane as THOR as soon as possible and that’s why it all feels so rushed and unsatisfactory

I agree storytelling was pretty sporadic. Weird how Jane, person with cancer and never fought before mjolnir, magically becomes an insane fighter as good if not better than Thor? On top of that just takes his name? Would totally be believable if it was Valkyrie who got mjolnir but the outcome just doesn’t make sense for Jane being an ultimate fighter simply for getting a weapon. This setup for movies now seems to be the norm, doesn’t make sense

Having had a day to process it, my conclusion is that the most similar comic book film I've seen compared to love and thunder is... Shazam.

I really didn't like the movie. But, when I got up at the end everybody was applauding. I was like, "What?!" And then I turned around and saw that it was almost all families and their kids.

Just saw it last night. Similarly to the lays chips editing inconsistencies. At the end when Thor is telling the kid to eat her pancakes, there’s a different amount/positioning of the berries on the plate in every single shot.

Thor: love and Thunder. 9/10 This movie I have been looking forward to Taika waititi next round with Thor .. I was afraid it was too safe… Watiti and her co-writer Jane Foster Thor and the gorr mixed the good butcher together with the premises that endgame laid the foundation for this film to develop. Yes it is more like ragnarok than the Winter soldier .. it's perfect for me. I Love that Thor makes a Harry Potter or a spaceball reference at the end. is it maybe to tell watitis next movie is a Starwars .. it's awesome .. yes it is not led Zeppelin but Guns N Roses… no problem. Metal forever. the colors in the movie are like on the grandmasters spaceship. this holds 100% as a nice allusion to as the endgame ends with Thor traveling with starlord etc .. Yes .. how is the play played .. perfect

I watched the movie on Friday and I found it pretty good. The contrast between the dark scenes being quite creepy with Gorr and then the lighter scenes be bright worked for me with the theme of the movie. The only thing I found clunky was the weird shakepearean dialogue at some points with Thor. It just doesn’t fit the rest of his vernacular. I know he started as that Shakespeare esque vibe in Thor but it’s no longer him. Him adopting Love brought in the full circle with Odin adopting Loki but clearly Thor is gonna be the dad to Love that Odin never was to Loki

I liked this movie more than you did (same with Dr. Strange) while still recognizing its problems. The second half was definitely better than the first. I thought it was (somewhat?) better than Ragnarok with respect to letting the big emotional beats hit without immediately following them with a joke (like the scene at Eternity vs Korg after the destruction of Asgard). I didn't see the ending coming and I really liked it - I thought it fit despite nothing really setting it up. Surprise endings can be good too! I take issue with critics (not necessarily Dan) complaining on one hand that there are no standalone MCU movies and they're always just setting up the next one, but when there is one that is more standalone then the complaint is they don't know what they're doing/where they're going. Not sure how to "fix" that...

I'm addicted to watching thor reviews atm lol.. yet to see a good 1 (outside of the media friendly channels)

I think what happened in this film was that Ragnarok was such a smash hit that they gave Takika Waititi as much creative freedom that he wanted. Which was obviously a bad idea. I also think that the box office that Love & Thunder has accumulated so far is based on the success of Ragnarok as well because people think there coming to see, more or less, Ragnarok 2. Sadly, Love and Thunder is an hour and a half super hero version of Dumb and Dumber.

Just My Opinion (Of Course), but the overall comedy aspect of this movie kept it from being an Epic classic movie…man the elements where all in place for this to be one of the greatest superhero movies of all time yet the director chose to make a mini parody movie 😂

I find one of the main problems with the mcu lately is that they tease a new genre but never commit all the way, leaving it tonally confused and mostly mediocre

I thought this movie is entirely consistent with Taika's filmography. He takes extremely dramatic circumstances and romps through them with uncynical, cheeky irony. Thor 4 is not flawless; however, I think It's unfair to add the MCU's baggage to the movie. The MCU has earned criticism for being rudderless and oversaturating with content. But that expectations realignment should have begun post Infinity War. I really want to see the missing half of the 4hr movie. Marvel should release it for Disney+ much like WB did the Snyder cut. Taika's Thor movies are a vibe that you can either enjoy immersing in or not.

100% agree with you!

I actually liked it a LOT more upon rewatch. Going in knowing what to expect helped a lot. You definitely have to be a fan of Taika’s brand of humor though.

I love and thunder this movie. But I can see your points. Many of the movies feel fractured, both this thor movie and the dr. Strange one feels a little roughly put together. I did like both of them but I can see the problems with the movies as a whole. I don’t care what anyone says about Eternals though, that movie is awesome, I agree that it could be a cool tv series and probably even better but I love it as it is.

I always like watching your reviews and appreciate your perspective. I happened to enjoy this Thor but I agreed with the points you mentioned. It did feel a bit rushed, I didn’t even realize the time when I was watching it. Part of me, in regards of the fan base, thinks that a lot of the discourse was unwarranted. Some of what I seen was bad VFX (from ppl who obviously don’t do vfx). A pic was going around from a scene of L&T and it made upset as it was a grainy, bad pic and was used as fodder. Of course that will look bad to anyone (it’s almost like no one remembers watching bootlegged, cam movies). Ppl are excited for the FF4 movie and I argue if anything is gonna have choppy VFX it’s that because Mr Fantastic powers are bad for live action. No amount of CGI will make stretchy appendages looks good and I confirmed that with Krasinski’s part. The other issue I’m having with the fans is something I heard elsewhere. I think, while still tryna to keep the marvel beats and formula, these latest string of movies all have some sort of creative freedom in their own right and it’s not sitting well with audiences. But it baffles me because it’s the same audience that lamented about marvel movies looking the same. So which is it? Do ppl want the movies to be different or look the same? I like the creative freedom, as little as it is, that the directors have. Sure, L&T could’ve been more structured and laid out differently but I appreciate Taika’s weird humor. I love Sam Raimi’s horror element in Dr. Strange 2. Some just don’t and that okay but that doesn’t make it a bad movie. Least not to me. The last thing I have a real issue with is the end credit scene, another point you made. I have no idea where this all leads. Phase 1-3 all had morsels to let you know what’s the result (phase 1 led to avengers, phase 2 led to infinity stones, phase 3 led to thanos). Where’s phase 4 heading?? The end credit scenes, imo, were made to show that. To tease the bigger picture and all of them, from Shang Chi to L&T all fall flat. Its one of introducing or teasing a character to come despite having a full enough roster with Moon Knight, Ms Marvel, new Hawkeye etc. like cool, Hercules (which I hope they correctly say his name and say it wrong) is coming but like why? Sorry this was so long, I just wanted to share my opinion as I’m a big fan of yours and, though there might differences, I prefer that we do have them than just always like the same thing.

The screaming goats were hilarious. Every time

I agree with most of this except the goats. I laughed every damn time. I went back and saw it a 2nd time today just to see the goats again hahaha. It's so silly but I guess that's my kind of humour. XD

Dan, I completly agree with you. Thor is my favorite MCU character and I enjoyed this movie, but it wasn't amazing. Toneally it was all over the place, a little too much of the typical MCU, "Oh, it's been 5 mins without a joke?...better throw one in there." but then suddenly, BAM, Gor being dark and spooky. Christen was great as Gor, but I feel like at times he was in a totally different Thor movie (a more interesting one haha). Also, I'm disappointed with how with each Thor/MCU movie with Thor, they seem to remove a few IQ points from him. Why does he need to be so dumb all the time? I get that in the comics he's basically like the 'muscle' but that doesn't mean he needs to be an idiot. I'm getting kind of burnt out by the MCU, they are just starting to be carbon copies, not bad but not interestinly different.

Great review. I'm not planning on seeing this in the theatre. My opinion on the MCU and a lot of films in general, is that they (Directors/Producers) feel the audience needs a buffet rather than a very enjoyable 3 or 4 course meal.

Imagine if the film was a detective film, similar to Cold Case) where we follow Thor going around and finding gods dead, while also flashbacks show what happened, then at the end we get Gorr's backstory. I mean Thor is literally thousands of years old, surely he's picked up a few things when it comes to identifying how one might have been butchered

I’ve seen IW and Endgame numerous times each and I’m 99% sure Eternity isn’t mentioned. It’s definitely just a plot hole due to lazy writing, the bigger this universe gets the more of these seem to appear (but this is a pretty major one).

This was the first Marvel movie I have solidly disliked. There were some fun moments, but overall the humor and jokes and silly nature really took me out of it and I couldn't take anything seriously. Thor felt like a total dummy and I was never interested in the relationship with Jane. I found their relationship a total bore. I liked Gorr, though, I wish we had more time with him.

From what you're describing it sounds like the opposite problem of the Disney Plus TV Shows. Those feel like TV shows that should've been movies, while this sounds like a movie that should've been a 4 hour TV Show.

To me, the ending of Valhalla felt like a way to give Chris Hemsworth a future exit - it could be his "Peggy" ending like Chris Evans. I wouldn't be surprised if this is his next arc in whatever film he's in next. That's been my problem with these recent films. They're all set up movies, or at least they all feel that way. They feel like they're just moments to get you ready for the next movie (which is just another moment). You did a really good job putting it into words, Dan, with how you described L&T felt like 3 different movies combined into 1 - we had to set up Jane Foster's death, we had to set up Zeus, and we had to set up Thor's daughter. The fact that this is yet another Marvel movie set up leads me to believe that very little of the issues of the film were Taika's fault - sounds like he was given a check list the same way Sam Raimi and Chloe Zhao were. I was going to end there, but I stated thinking about this Phase 4 specifically. I know Covid is an issue, so I want to give them some pass. But It's so frustrating how these phase 4 films feel like "get the characters from here to there" movies, as a way to start another set up. Obviously, we'll never get another End Game, but I think back to how the phase 1 and 2 films were there own films WITH tie ins. I think a good example of this is even Captain Marvel - not the strongest Marvel film in the slightest, but it felt like its own movie while also setting up Captain Marvel for End Game. All these phase 4 movies feel like they just are wasting these characters time so they can move them to where they need to be in the next one. And it feels as though there's no big plan (which I could be wrong about), when like every phase had an Avengers Film to feel like a small climatic build. What does Phase 4 have? Hopefully the new Black Panther can help. I think we need these films to be a little more challenging, too, and hopefully BP can do that. I think if that movie ends up feeling similar to the other phase 4 movies, then the MCU potentially could be in big trouble. As always, thanks for your reviews, Dan.

I’m in the minority, I loved this movie. I liked the lightness, I thought Natalie Portman did an amazing job, enjoyed every scene, got emotional when I needed to, laughed a lot! I LOVeD when the movie turned to black and white, all of the actors looked so stunning. And I was starting to get cynical at the end part with the kids, but boy was I cheesing during that whole scene, it was done so well. I bought it. Overall, great movie for me.

There was definitely some jokes that I thought were too corny and eye roll inducing, but I enjoyed the humour for the most part. Yes, I think it could have been toned down somewhat and let serious moments be serious. But that’s a problem in a lot of Marvel movies. Even No Way Home had that issue. But I think why I liked the film as much as I did was the overarching theme of choosing love.

This movie should’ve been a tv show

I was mainly irritated with Korg mentioning he had 2 dads, just because he had mentioned that he had a MOM and stepdad in Ragnorok. Am i the only one who noticed this continuity error??

I have pretty much the same thoughts on it as you Dan, but at the same time I loved watching it. Isn’t enjoyment of the experience the point?

I agree so much with Dan. The setup of Mighty Thor and Gorr was so rushed, there seemed to be so much more there to get us where the movie wanted. Rather than creating Disney+ shows noone asked for these arcs would have made for great material.

The kids getting powers scene, may be cheesy, silly or whatever, but it's honest. It's not played as a joke and that's why it works and most of the other staff in the first half doesn't . Everything that happens is undermined or ridiculed by cringy jokes. Like Peter making fun of Doc Ock's name. Or Strange making fun of the Illuminati. If you aren't taking yourselves "seriously" (as serious as superheroes movies can be, I love them don't get me wrong) why should we?

I 100% agree with Dan’s assessment on the buildup of Jane becoming Thor. I also felt that the comedy/levity in this movie was too often I wish they would’ve taking more serious beats throughout the film especially when it came to Gorr the god butcher. The only emotional be a really felt the world entire film was at the very end and I felt a tiny bit in the very beginning and then I switch right to comedy with that first God which wasn’t even that funny