Movie Review: Thor: Love & Thunder (2022)

 

Title:  Thor: Love & Thunder
Release Date: July 8, 2022
Director:Taika Waititi
Production Company: Marvel Studios
Summary/Review:

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) becomes the first Marvel superhero to have four solo features, with Waititi returning to direct after joining the series with the excellent Thor: Ragnorak.  Like its predecessor, Love & Thunder revels in good humor and a general all-around weirdness. While not as good as Ragnarok, it still proves just the kind of fun adventure with a lot of heart at its center that I need right now.

Thor has suffered several traumas and the loss of several loved ones (as depicted in previous Thor and Avengers’ movies) and has embraced an emotional distancing to cope. He only allows himself to be called on to help people who need him to fight for them. The threat in this movie comes from Gorr (Christian Bale), a man who was betrayed by his god and has taken up a sword called the Necromancer to become the God Butcher.  When Gorr adbucts all the children of New Asgard, it’s up to Thor and his surviving loved ones to save them.

Thor teams him up with s Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Waititi), and his former girlfriend Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), as well as a pair of screaming goats. And in a twist, Thor’s powerful hammer Mjolnir, once destroyed, has called to Jane and made her The Mighty Thor.  It’s all a bit complicated but fun in a a weird way.  Together they have some mighty adventures.  The fights are good, the jokes are better, but the camaraderie is the heart of this movie.

Rating: ***1/2

 

MASTER LIST OF MCU REVIEWS

• Iron Man – *
• The Incredible Hulk – **
• Iron Man 2 – **
• Thor – **
• Captain America: The First Avenger – ***
• Marvel’s The Avengers – ***
• Iron Man 3 – **
• Thor: The Dark World – **1/2
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier – **1/2
• Guardians of the Galaxy – ***
• Avengers: Age of Ultron – ***1/2
• Ant-Man – ***1/2
• Captain America: Civil War – ***
• Doctor Strange – **1/2
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – ***1/2
• Spider-Man: Homecoming – ****
• Thor: Ragnarok – ****
• Black Panther – ****1/2
• Avengers: Infinity War – ***1/2
• Ant-Man and the Wasp – ***1/2
• Captain Marvel – ****
• Avengers: Endgame – ****
• Spider-Man: Far From Home – ***1/2
• Black Widow – ***
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – ***1/2
• The Eternals – ***
• Spider-Man: No Way Home – ****
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – ***

 

• Jessica Jones season 1
• Luke Cage season 1
• The Defenders
• Jessica Jones season 2
• Luke Cage season 2
• Jessica Jones season 3
• WandaVision
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
• Loki
• What If…
• Hawkeye

Movie Review: A Moonless Night (2014)

Title: Una noche sin luna
Release Date: 19 September 2014
Director: Germán Tejeira
Production Company:  Raindogs Cine | El Calefón Cine
Summary/Review:

Structured in three segments, A Moonless Night tells the stories of three different middle-aged men who travel to a small town in Uruguay on New Year’s Eve.  Cesar attends a party at his ex-wife’s house and attempts to connect with his 5-year-old daughter.  Magician Antonio is stranded when his car breaks down and attempts to make a connection with Laura, the toll operator on a lonely stretch of road.  Miquel is furloughed from prison to perform at community center party in the town.  It’s a short movie that manages to pack a lot of emotion in its three short vignettes.

The vibe of this movie feels a lot like the similarly structured Mystery Train. All three stories share common elements such as power outages and the countdown to midnight.  The voice of Tom Waits even makes an appearance when his song “Lullaby” plays over the denouement, a surprise in a movie where everything else in the Spanish language.  Ultimately this is a slow-moving, melancholy movie that captures the tragicomedy of everyday life.

Rating: ****