Thor: Love and Thunder — Waititi and Hemsworth's bromance winds down with a whimper

Let me tell you a story about the Viking and the director. Thor was no ordinary hero. He had muscles aplenty, he couldn't quite carry a film on his own, but in a team, Chris Hemsworth added a godly oomph to the action.

Then along came the quirky director from New Zealand. With his hilarious vampire mockumentary and wild coming-of-age adventure, Hollywood soon learned the name Taika Waititi. And lo, Waititi was invited into the world of Marvel, and with Thor: Ragnarok, he and the Viking added a riotous irreverent spirit to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

WATCH| The official trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder:

But that was 2017: before the Russo brothers wrapped a decade of superhero storytelling with Avengers: Endgame; before Waititi went from fresh to familiar by branching out with the Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit and multiple television series. 

The first trailers for Thor: Love and Thunder promised a return to the hair-metal mayhem of Ragnarok, the music of Guns N' Roses providing the sonic backbeat to more Hemsworth and Waititi magic. But Thor: Love and Thunder is more like Guns N' Roses today — familiar tunes but Axl can't hit the high notes the way he used to. 

Set after the cosmos-quaking events of Avengers: Infinity War, Thor: Love and Thunder is a strangely self-contained affair that finds Thor still searching for a sense of purpose. In what is essentially an extended Guardians of the Galaxy cameo we see Thor as a member of the team, but his heart doesn't seem to be in it. 

Luckily for him (and us), the new film borrows heavily from the comics where an ailing Jane Foster fought off cancer by turning to Asgardian magic. While Foster tries to avoid asking the Thunder God for help, a new problem arrives in the form of Gorr. Christian Bale plays the zealot with a vendetta determined to destroy all gods.

When Gorr the God Butcher arrives on Earth to capture the children of New Asgard, Thor rushes to the rescue only to find his former ex-girlfriend wielding the mighty Mjölnir. The awkwardness of their reunion is effective. Thanks to a recap by Thor's rocky bro Korg, we've learned what drew them apart, but could Foster be the answer Thor was looking for? 

Maybe he just misses Mjölnir. The script co-written by Jennifer Kaylin Robinson and Waititi sees Thor speaking to the hammer like a jilted lover. This gets to the heart of the problem. Who is this space Viking? Is he still stuck in adolescence, or is he capable of evolving? 

Both Ragnarok and Endgame argued for the latter. They allowed Hemsworth to drop the smile, acknowledging the psychic toll the character was carrying. But Waititi needs the mighty man-child for laughs. The result is a film that moves backwards, Thor mooning over his ex, while Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman make the most of the little screen time they've been given. 

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While it's tempting to compare Love and Thunder to Ragnarok, it's worth pointing out the 2017 film had screenwriters Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle and Christopher L. Yost wrestling the story into shape. As director, Waititi cut through the self-serious bravado, encouraging his actors to be loose and vulnerable. 

Presumably encouraged by the success of Ragnarok, Marvel let the director go full Waititi for Love and Thunder, but the result is a story that feels familiar and flabby at the same time. Reports that Jeff Goldblum, Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey filmed scenes that were cut from the final product suggest a film that was shaped partially in the editing room. 

While it's great to see Portman return to flesh out Jane, now she's battling the stoic cancer patient tropes instead. (Also, where's Kat Dennings as Darcy? Those three minutes of screen time were not enough.) Soon the Thors and friends are off to what is essentially the United Nations of the gods (called Omnipotence City) to warn them of Gorr.