Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Thor : Love And Thunder 

This film sucks! Okay now before you think I went in with a negative mindset I didn’t I really had the bar set really high for this film actually.  As the thing is I really loved Thor 3 I thought it brought a refreshing and deep look at Thor that really made him appeal more to audiences that may of not liked him as much. As what Thor 3 achieved greatly was it’s perfect balance of tone and comedy now with having him channel comedy though I was afraid that they would make him out To be a joke and With Endgame it worked as he was suffering from PTSD. So when we see Thor here he shouldn’t be as jokey sure he can have comedy elements like Thor 3 but not to much and that’s exactly what Thor : Love and Thunder does it goes right into the comedy and not in a good way as it leans face first into it and it even feels like Thor has become a parody of himself as the jokes are coming a mile a minute and their not even good jokes it is constant and gets exhausting fast. Now people give the first Thor film a lot of crap but that’s not a bad film as it at least respects Thor as a character and keeps who he is in the comics accurate and gave us a entertaining introduction to the character cut to this film which just goes balls to the walls in jokes to a even embarrassing extent. Thor : Love And Thunder shouldn’t of been made in my opinion it should of ended after the third film as his arc had come full circle and I felt it was a satisfying conclusion for him but no they have to drive this character into the ground which is a shame as Thor is one of the most tragic and complex characters that just gets a horrible 4th outing that makes Thor the Dark world look like a great movie and you know how hard that is to do. 

Firstly, Let me talk about the few positives I had with this film. Now the casting of the villain to be executed by Christian Bale was an incredible choice. He’s one of the finest actors working today and no doubt an actor that will go down as one of the greatest of all time but he isn’t used that much in the film though. That being said Christian Bale does commit 100% to this role and gives it his all with such fantastic emotional strength and amazing energy that can be felt through the screen. Bale always delivers with his roles regardless of how big or small his role was and it was a treat to see him here I only wish we got more screen time with him though. For what he’s given he does to a great job and he plays quite the tragic character with a lot of complexity to him too I do wish we got more as we could of seen him more fleshed out as a character. Besides that Bale did a fantastic job at brining another solid performance to the screen and in terms of performance Chris Hemsworth gives a good outing with a horrible script. Now I will forever Stand by that his best performances as Thor was in infinity war and The third film as he had such a tragic intensity to his arc that really gave him a lot to do in terms of emotional depth and he got to explore a lot of Thor’s layers as a character in a fantastic way now In Love And Thunder it’s not a bad performance by any means but his character arc here is pretty empty as his arc already came full circle with Endgame so what is their to explore in terms of his character in my opinion their isn’t and that’s why seeing him here felt empty as Thor has nothing more emotionally to come to terms with and so it makes for a very hallowed out look of him. Now Hemsworth still gives an entertaining performance even if the writing is terrible and the structure of his character sucks here he does his best with what he’s given. So my positives really are just the two performances of the film that really are the reason to watch is for Christian Bale’s terrific and intimidating performance added by Chris Hemsworth’s fun and always enjoyable performance as Thor. 

Secondly, Oh the tone and comedic directions this film takes is terrible! Now when used in Third outing of this character it worked well as they never used to much comedy that it overpowered the serious elements of who he was as a character their was a even balance. Now in this film it just takes a nose dive into the comedy and really dose not work as mentioned earlier Thor was a fully realized character by Endgame and he had a satisfying full arc and here it looks like who he was back in Thor one. It reverts back to who he was before he matured and totally destroys the arc they built over the course of these films and drives his character with B level jokes that aren’t funny and truly bad writing. As the tone is all over the place it tries to be heartfelt and serious at certain parts and then it shows Thor riding his hammer like the wicked witch so the direction this film goes in is very much all over the place which results in a messy result of a story. Now I’m all for directors having a vision of the character and inserting their style to the character Taika Waititi did a great job at inserting his original style to the third film in a very engaging way without making fun of who the character is but here it feels like he isn’t even being accurate to the comics or even being respectful to the arc that’s been made over the last 10 years. As here he demolished that great arc and just makes him out to be a joke. It’s embarrassing and even angered me to an extent because I know he can direct a good film he’s shown that but he I think was so caught up with making it stylish and funny he lost the heart of what made Thor so fun. So overall the tone and direction is what makes this film so unbearable to watch. 

Lastly, Thor : Love And Thunder is truly a terrible film and I hate saying it as I love Marvel films I really do. That being said if they spent more time working on a script that actually served as a respectful look of Thor after the events of Endgame in a mature way that the third film did it would of worked better. Instead it felt like a five year old directed the film and totally disrespected the character as it has action and comedy but what it’s missing is heart and a good story. Thor : Love And Thunder should be retitled Thor : Lazy and Unbearable I don’t recommend people watch this film. 

This film centres around Thor after the events of Avengers Endgame and what he’s been up to since. 

Rated PG - 13 : Intense Sci-Fi Violence|Action|Language|Partial Nudity|Some Suggestive Material

Christian Bale : Bale delivers a great performance in a terrible film! Now as mentioned above already Bale committed fully for this film and you can tell from the amazing performance that’s presented onscreen. He plays this man who’s tired of God’s having a say of who’s valued and who’s not and so you can understand his motives and why he’s angry he has a justified reason. Now he makes his voice heard by slaughtering the other gods to try to get his point across now I don’t believe he should murder them to make his voice heard that being said Bale channels that anger and passion so greatly. You can see the desperation in his eyes when he is longing for just water and a hot meal and is denied such things and laughed at when asking for it from his god. Now Bale shifts his outlook on how God’s are after this interaction and you can see the sheer sadness and heartache wash over his face when he was denied basic things a human should receive without question. As well the sheer embarrassment he grapples with for trying to just survive he couldn’t bare anymore so he snapped. And the sheer raw emotion that Bale brings  is  intense and so engaging to see unfold. As you can hear from the sadness in his heart and eyes that he didn’t want to do this but after he starts murdering people to get his point across he does it for a reason even though the reasoning is dark and violent he is doing it to try to show that God’s can bleed too. This is one of the best villains that have been in the Marvel films by far the only issue is we don’t get a lot of scenes with him if he was given more scenes I feel it would of made his character arc stronger and also who doesn’t love more Christian Bale. For the scenes he does have he has this tragic sense of speaking in his heart but also won’t hesitate to get his hands dirty if it’s to prove a point and that is brought to life through a fantastic layered and emotionally gripping performance that I would of loved to have seen more from. Bale gives amazing waves of emotion through this mediocre film and it’s a truly fun performance you can’t look away from. 

Taika Waititi : What the hell happened?! Now this director is a damn good filmmaker he has proven that with JoJo Rabbit and What We Do In The Shadows to name a few. He has a very fun and quirky style that is soaked in heart which is why I enjoy his films. So when he did Thor 3 I was so happy and he knocked it it out of the park in my opinion Thor is a top 3 Marvel film it packs in character depth, Action, Humour and amazing emotion. So when I heard he was coming back for the next film I was of course excited because he did the last Thor film which was outstanding so it has to be good right? Well the result of what he did with this film is terrible I don’t know if it’s because I set the bar so high for this film or because I thought he had the confidence to make another good Thor film. The direction he took the character is disastrous and I’m not being dramatic when I say that I mean that whole heartily. Because Thor had built up an arc since 2011 from this Self centred person that was brought down a peg and told to smarten up and over the course of the films he has done just that and had a hell of a journey emotionally that was built up beautifully i would say. What Taika did to Thor here is insulting to the hard work of crafting his journey from years ago and just watering him down to this one trick pony that tells jokes a mile a minute and really became a parody of himself. It’s embarrassing to watch and heartbreaking also as a true fan of the marvel universe and comics this is not who Thor is and now I’m all for having some humour but for it to be the soul driving force of your film that’s not good. You need depth you need emotion that’s why people love Marvel in the first place because of how relatable and Human they are when you strip away the powers and here that is not felt and it’s a visually pretty film for sure but it’s not a good Thor film in the slightest. The fact he also said that Valkyrie would have a female partner adding it would be a central part of the film and then instead just fails to further her arc whatsoever and just sidelines her the whole film. I feel Taika had good intentions with this film but he became to focused on his own style he forgot to actually tell a good story which this film fails at and now Taika your a great director you really are but you could of done so much better.