Thor: Love And Thunder Review Roundup

Marvel's next big movie opens this weekend, and the reviews are not great.

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Reviews for Marvel’s next big movie, Thor: Love and Thunder, have begun to appear online ahead of the film’s release this Friday, July 8. Critics are weighing in, and the overall sentiment is mixed.

You can see a sampling of review excerpts and scores below, including GameSpot’s own Thor: Love and Thunder review and others from across the internet.

Love and Thunder was directed by Oscar-winner Taika Waititi, who previously helmed the beloved 2017 movie Thor: Ragnarok. It stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor once again, with a cast that also includes Natalie Portman as Jane, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, and Christian Bale as the villain, Gorr the God Butcher. Russell Crowe plays Zeus, while Waititi portrays the fan-favorite Korg. The main cast of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy also appear in Love and Thunder.

The story picks up after the events of Avengers: Endgame, with Thor having an existential crisis and seeking inner peace before getting pulled back into the fight against Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher. Bale revealed in an interview that a scene involving his character and self-mutilation was deemed “too extreme” for a family-friendly movie, so they were cut.

Love and Thunder releases July 8 in theaters exclusively. It will presumably come to Disney Plus at some point later, but a release date hasn’t been announced yet for Disney’s streaming service.

Thor: Love and Thunder

Directed by: Taika Waititi
Written by: Taika Waititi, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Christian Bale, Russell Crowe
Release Date: July 8
Runtime: 1 hour 59 minutes
Rating: PG-13

GameSpot — 6/10

“….Love and Thunder feel[s] less like a movie and more like a scrapbook of random ideas, cut up in between some neat looking music videos. Some of those ideas are great–Jane, the humor, the visuals–while others are lackluster and meaningless. It just never really comes together into a cohesive thing, which ultimately makes the whole experience ring hollow at best and confusing at worst. But, hey, at least it’s not The Dark World.” — Mason Downey [Full review]

IGN — 7/10

“It’s essentially the MCU’s first romantic comedy, and plays with those tropes in delightful ways. But while Thor and Jane’s relationship is handled well, Love and Thunder is less deft–and a lot safer than you’d expect–in pushing the greater MCU story forward. Christian Bale’s Gorr feels underutilized and Tessa Thompson’s King Valkyrie takes a frustrating back seat, especially as the movie goes on. Taika Waititi’s signature humor and visual style persist from Ragnarok, and are essential to buoying the movie through its cookie-cutter plot. With Hemsworth as enthusiastic an Asgardian as ever, Thor’s future with both love and thunder are bright.” — Tom Jorgensen [Full review]

The Hollywood Reporter – No Score

“Sure, fans will be delighted to see Chris Pratt and the Guardians of the Galaxy crew turn up in an early battle, plus there are some mildly moving interludes between Hemsworth and Portman as Jane’s health becomes more compromised with each swing of the hammer. And one of the obligatory end-credits sequences will tantalize followers of Ted Lasso. But right down to a sentimental ending that seems designed around ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine,” the movie feels weightless, flippant, instantly forgettable, sparking neither love nor thunder.” — David Rooney [Full review]

Forbes – No Score

“Thor: Love and Thunder is an unnecessary sequel, existing only because its predecessor was unusually well-received even by those who weren’t all-in MCU fans. Its story, about seemingly virtuous people of privilege confronting the grim truth of their seemingly benevolent ancestors and questioning how a society founded on sin can survive, became a favorite theme among Trump-era blockbusters (see also:Frozen II and Trolls: World Tour). This installment flirts with the notion of ‘trickle-down worship’ being no more effective than ‘trickle-down politics,’ but it’s mostly about Thor rekindling with Jane, Natalie Portman cosplaying as Thor for a few sequences and hopefully cashing in on some of the Ragnarok goodwill. Like too many of the most recent MCU projects, it only exists because Disney can’t afford to stop this train. Bale, Thompson and ‘Guns and Roses’ tunes aside, this fourth Thor is a real chore.” — Scott Mendelson [Full review]

Seattle Times — 1/4

“Thor 4 is a bad farce of itself. It has no stakes, and no deaths are permanent. It doesn’t even pretend for a moment that anyone–even if they get a lightning bolt through the heart, or everything but their face gets destroyed, or even if they literally die–is actually going to exit this franchise. That would mean no spinoff series. That would mean less content. And the worst part of it all is that unlike Batman and Robin and Superman IV, Love and Thunder will not be the end. When the words ‘THOR WILL RETURN’ flash across the scene at the end of this installment, it feels like an ancient curse. You’re left to sit and contemplate how long before we stop pouring our cash on the altar of the corporate studio gods.” — Scott Greenstone [Full review]

CNN — No Score

“Yet despite genuinely striking visual flourishes and Hemsworth’s gameness in portraying Thor as a swaggering oaf–including a naked bit already overexposed in the marketing that should still elicit big laughs–too often the gags in Love and Thunder fall flat. There’s also something almost lazy about the way kids get incorporated into the plot.” — Brian Lowry [Full review]

USA Today — No Score

“There is more than enough magic, music and muscle to go around–everybody’s so ripped, Love and Thunder often seems like a Frank Frazetta painting come to life. Waititi is equally adept at crafting the MCU’s answer to Flash Gordon with Ragnarok or delivering defining, dazzling work such as Jojo Rabbit. And here he gives us a surprisingly personal superhero jam with extraordinary depth, infusing the delightfully fizzy narrative with queer characters, religious themes and a compelling conversation about the differences between mythic gods and all-powerful good guys.” — Brian Truitt [Full review]