Thor: Love and Thunder, far from Valhalla (critic)

Taika Waititi’s latest Thor is trying to be funny and tragic at the same time, but is far too casual to convince.

First broadcast in clear, this Sunday on TF1, of Thor: Love and Thunderfourth solo opus of the superhero from Marvel, and second directed by Taika Waititiafter the very funny Ragnarok (2017). Released in July 2022, he should have been the success of the studio summer, but was not welcomed as much as expected … Well, he still amassed $ 760 million on the planet, enough for thatA fifth opus either under study …

To wait until 9:10 p.m., here is the criticism of First.

Do you know Jason Aaron? It is not a name arose from nowhere, because this screenwriter of comics is known for having given Thor two famous runs: the transformation of Jane Foster, suffering from terminal cancer, in the goddess of thunder thanks to the Mjölnir hammer; And the pursuit by Thor de Gorr, the butcher of the gods, an alien seeking to exterminate all the deities of the Galaxy by revenge. Thor: Love and Thunder Try to associate these two stories imagined by Aaron in a single film. Two apocalyptic stories, full of noise and fury, which Jason -also known for his indie and ultra bourrine series Scalped Located in the crimes of an Indian reserve these days- nourishes his sometimes a little bulge passion for titanic fights and grandiloquent quotes (not surprising that the screenwriter also worked on Conan the Barbarian). But although credited in the credits as a “Creative Consultant”, it will be difficult to find the style of Aaron in Love and Thundershowing that it is first of all a film of Marvel Cinematic Universe and then (and above all) a film Taika Waititi. As Thor: Ragnarok has made a triumph, here it is back to the controllers of a new Thor. And as for certain suites signed by his predecessors (Ultron’s ere,, The guards of the Galaxy Vol. 2), lightning does not fall back in the same place at all. It is not an Aaron way, but that of Waititi.

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The association of the two has something to surprise: if it were necessary to find a continuity it would be with the series of short films (very, very funny) Thor team Where Taika Waititi imagined the life of roommate of the god of thunder in false documents, somewhere between The Office And Vampires in complete privacy. But while these courts seemed to exist in parallel with the MCU as parodic bonus, like SKS of the SNL, the arrival of Waititi with Ragnarok Transforms parody into official matters -Consquence, parody now becomes indistinguishable from the rest, and above all inconsistent. We cannot say that Love and Thunder does not look like its director -the problem being, how to be interested in a film that deals with his characters in such an casual way? As in Thor teamthe hero is a big balourd who spends his time taking things in the first degree and winning the camera. Why not, but there is more important: that the film cannot weigh the good gravity of the tragic story of Jane Foster and that of Gorr. Even if in the shoes of the latter Christian Bale seems to really have fun like a little crazy (let’s say: a little more than Christopher Eccleston in The world of darkness). It is hardly surprising, since Jojo Rabbit showed Waititi’s inconsistency to treat the cold fusion of crucial emotions, laughter and tears, but it’s a shame: as long as the author of Vampires in complete privacyit was better not to give him to treat two of the storylines the most powerful in the history of comicbook Thor.

But maybe you rightly tell yourself, the problem with Love and Thunder would not be a problem of fan of comics ? No, because what is wrong with the film is a big problem of cinema writing: that of the film is heavy like lead. The valves are rare, very supported and very often fall flat (we save Stormbreaker, the ax of Thor, which has seizures of jealousy towards his ex-marten), the SFX and the fighting scenes are at the minimum level, the hymns Hard Rock are tackled, and the film seems endless despite its modest duration (1h59!) … Would the MCU have reached such an industrial stage that it would no longer even generate fun, even less art? We will then end up very much by quoting this Instagram post of Taika Waititi, promoting her Love and Thunder :: “If you don’t watch this movie it means you hate fun and art and independent cinema”. Maybe it’s the best joke of Love and Thunder. Too bad she is not in the film.

Christian Bale did not like to shoot at Marvel, on a green background