[All the images in this post are from marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com, used here on Fair Use basis.]
No one said everything filmed or otherwise created for the big screen has to be a serious art. Taika Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson have both taken the Thor film series to ever more anarchistic realms with Love and Thunder – a colorful non stop cartoonish action fest with no lack of flamboyant, even flashy 3D glitz. Like expensive effulgent fireworks with that sparkle and dazzle that last only for a brief period of time. It’s somehow consistent with the attention span of the age of social media on the Internet: not only there are deflections from the main theme; the cgi rich battle scenes aren’t meant to be memorable with anything other than parts of some of the Guns n’ Roses biggest hits finding themselves in a context of entirely different time and space, and so many times the dialogues in Love and Thunder set the tone to that of listening to text-to-speech rendition of comments, posts and tweets on social networks, the most glaring example of all that perhaps being the “good luck, bro” line in the Omnipotence City of gods – I’d imagine the humor and lexicon just had to be consistent with Guardians of the Galaxy.
There are new pagan gods in Love and Thunder, and they don’t get a very favourable treatment. In fact, the film’s main theme is all about how bad, stuck-up and vain they can be and what they would deserve for that. A new antagonist named Gorr is introduced, played by Christian Bale. Bale’s Gorr as “the God Butcher” is reminiscent of James Wan’s artistic taste in The Conjuring and its spin-offs. This, I would say, had been an unfamiliar territory for Bale, who’s only real horror film I think was American Psycho. He is unrecognizable in Love and Thunder. I suppose the mentioning of “tonal inconsistencies” in some reviews of this new Thor film has something to do with Bale’s character too, which performance-wise is closer to actor’s roles in Vice and The Machinist – dark, slightly morbid appearance and spirit. Bale pulls it off with ease and elegance – I think whatever the writers and director wanted from Gorr, they got it. As for the character itself, it is indeed peculiar to watch “the God Butcher” himself being like one of the gods, yet the message in the end might prove to be different from what people might expect; the godpower isn’t limited to imaginary entities and select people therefore we perhaps should never give it away.
Gorr isn’t the only thing in Love and Thunder that may remind you of some horror films. Thor acquires two goats Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder in this new film. (The animals aren’t named though; they are just two alien goats there.) What makes them memorable really are their screams. It seems that whenever they make a noise, it can be heard half a star system away – put that in your pipe and smoke it, Xenomorph. Yet where the producers have really nailed it is the kind of sound: as a horror fan I was in stitches realizing I’m hearing the original Wrong Turn Three Finger’s screams filling the interplanetary space on screen. The combination of cgi animals, the sound, its timing and my own associations was an indeed exquisite cinema experience, where the tonal inconsistency was perhaps the funniest part of it all.
Of course, screaming goats aren’t the only things that could crack one up in Love and Thunder. There is sometimes a complicated relationship among Thor, Mjolnir and Stormbreaker. Apparently, Mjolnir, now used by Natalie Portman’s Dr. Jane Foster, is a kind of an old flame to Thor, who misses having it, but can’t let Stormbreaker be aware of that because... jealousy.
The most memorable scene for me was one in Omnipotence City. That is where a confrontation between Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and Russell Crowe’s Zeus takes place. It isn’t an altercation per se (because we need to keep it family friendly, I guess), rather a show off and reasserting about who’s the boss there. Part of the funny is Zeus’s attempt to come up with excuses not to get involved in fighting Gorr. Watching the Gladiator star, and a life long rugby fan going on about orgy while avoiding a necessary fight can’t really be perceived any other way than that of being given a spectator seat at Russell Crowe’s tongue-in-cheek show. Fun times in Sydney, where Love and Thunder was filmed last year. Through all the cgi glitz Taika Waititi’s comedian, entertainer as well as envelope pushing talent shines through, revealing more knowledge and explorations regarding human soul than one would normally expect from a blockbuster based on a Marvel comic book.
Peer Ynt
Tips are always appreciated. To tip in BTC, Doge, Tron and other crypto please use this link. Thank you.