Love and Thunder reviews agree it’s not Ragnarok

Thor: Love and Thunder reviews agree it’s not Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok was one of those extremely rare three sequels, much more beloved than the previous two installments. It is generally considered a perfect combination of directorial vision and franchise demand satisfaction. It also managed to achieve a successful tonal shift that redefined the main character. Following him was never going to be easy. And judging by the reviews so far of director Taika Waititi’s sequel, Thor: Love and Thunder shows the struggle. But even if it’s not Ragnarok, most of the critics in our unscientific sample still manage to find some joy.

Echoing the most critical sentiments, Alonso Duralde of The Wrap wrote that “If this latest was intended to mix it all up by giving equal weight to the masks of comedy and tragedy, it’s an effort that falls short.” However, he doesn’t write it all off, allowing: “Waititi and the Marvel team are too shrewd as showmen not to maintain a dynamic pace and massive scope.”

IGN’s Tom Jorgensen falls more on the positive side, singling out Chris Hemsworth for praise as “as enthusiastic an Asgardian as ever”. But he also found some disappointment with the story, calling it “less deft — and much safer than you might expect — in moving the larger MCU story forward.” David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter echoed this sentiment, adding that Hemsworth “continues to deliver a great muscular himbo, but the stakes never gain much urgency in a film that’s too busy being funny and young to tell an engaging story.”

The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw, who called Ragnarok his favorite MCU film, is also a fan of Hemsworth, “at his most relaxed, most visibly having fun, most at ease in his own skin and in front of his own green screen.” As for the larger film, however, “no matter how skillfully Waititi plays it, Marvel’s comedy mode has become something of a reflex, a set mode that can almost be activated in the ‘settings’ menu of Marvel’s software.” “

Josh Spiegel of Slashfilm wrote, “There’s a fine line between sincerity and speed, and Thor: Love and Thunder has a very hard time crossing that line.” He praised Christian Bale’s dark turn as the villainous Gor, but then added, “by making a good part of this new Thor movie pretty dark, Waititi and [cowriter Jennifer Kaytin] Ultimately, Robinson stumbles when it comes to bringing back – or trying to bring back – the light-hearted comedy that made Ragnarok stand out.”

Forbes’ Scott Mendelson is more negative than many. While he calls it “as colorful and visually inventive as you’d hope,” he also calls it “an unnecessary sequel that only exists because its predecessor was unusually well-received even by those who weren’t all-in fans of the MCU … Bale, [Tessa] Thompson and “Guns and Roses” [sic] tunes aside, this fourth Thor is a real chore.

Our own review is due out later today, and all we’ll say for now is that it falls somewhere on that spectrum.

What do you think of the reviews so far? Let us know in the comments.

Recommended Reading: Jason Aaron’s Thor: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1

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