Why All the Hate on Thor Love And Thunder is Wrong. I Am So Angry.
It was as good, if not better than Ragnarok and people need to stop being edgelords. (No Spoilers. Promise. It is so good though)
I just got home from watching Thor Love and Thunder and I have feels…lots of them, both from the movie and from the literally months of hate and negativity that I saw during the run-up to and after the release.
I am at the point where I am thinking that two things are happening right now.
1. Hating on Marvel has become the new trendy thing to do, and the people who do it remind me of those catty ass mean girls back in high school that would mock or bully anyone that did, wore, or said anything that they had deemed to be “So last year/week/day” whatever.
2. People on blogs or “entertainment sites” have a coordinated campaign to bash Marvel for clicks. Why do I say this? Because a whole lot of the hate has very similar, let’s call them talking points, and it’s getting very obvious.
To start: if you saw the movie and went “Eeh, not for me.” This isn’t directed at you so don’t take it personally.
Okay, caveat listing over. Now strap in because we’re going for a caffeine, anger, and sugar-filled ride to Shut the Haters Up Land, with a side quest to Skewer all the Internet Edgelords Town.
Now, to the movie and some of the “critiques” (yes, I am putting this in quotes because most of them barely qualify as criticisms.) I have seen repeated comments about the “candy-coated”, “saturated hues”, and “overly bright palette” used. Either these people did not see the movie or they are smoking crack.
First off, the opening scenes take place in a barren desert where Gorr and his daughter are dying from thirst and hunger. Not really candy-coated is that? Hmm? Then, one of the climatic battles takes place in the Shadow Realm and is done entirely in black and white. I mean sure, if you’re eating dark chocolate with white icing I guess that’s candy-coated? (rolls eyes)
Is the City of the Gods colorful? Yes. It’s the city of the fricking gods, what the hell do you expect people? Pitch black and angst? That’s DC, not Marvel. Keep up.
Next: “There was no real emotional impact, Taika makes everything a joke, I am totally over it.” Right, okay mate. If you make it through the opening 10 minutes without getting choked up, that’s a you problem, not a writing problem. If you can’t understand the emotional toll of Jane’s arc on not only her but Thor, you’re not paying attention. If Christian Bale’s performance doesn’t give you chills, then get your reaction to fear checked out. If you’re not cheering when Thor recruits his “army” in the final battle I don’t know what to tell you.
Moving on from that: “Taika made it gay.” (clenches fists and wants to throw things) In the movie, there are a total of maybe 5 references to anything LGBTQ-related, and none of them last longer than maybe 30 seconds tops. That’s it, that’s all. No, there is not even a hinted love triangle between Thor, Valkyrie, and Jane. Valkyrie states clearly she views Jane as her sister and friend early on in the movie, there is not even any subtext about it. No text, none. Nada.
I will even tell you what the “big” moments are as they do not spoil anything for the plot. Valkryie kisses a girl’s hand, Korg’s species reproduces by two males sitting in a pool of lava and then a little rock baby is made, Korg references Valkryie’s past girlfriends as part of some backstory and there’s the little convo we saw in the trailer between Thor and Valkryie. That’s literally it. So yeah, that somehow made the movie oh so gay.
Some of the other critiques I saw were that Gorr wasn’t scary enough, see above comment about Christian Bale’s performance. He damn near stole every scene he was in, so yeah, they can get shot straight through Bifrost into a black hole for even thinking that.
(Takes a deep breath…in…out…in…out) Okay. Let’s talk about the movie itself, shall we? Right. It was amazing!
As previously mentioned, there are plenty of emotional undertones, overtones, and in-your-face tones. There are themes of being willing to take risks in love (you’ll see when they do the part that shows what happened with Jane and Thor), finding yourself, battling through immense odds to do both what is right and what feels like who you truly are.
A treatise on the concept of gods and who and what they are, taking ownership and responsibility for others, and moving on from past hurts and pain to have hope and build something new.
And there’s one massive thing that I didn’t see ever mentioned in any critique, the pivotal role that children play in this. The children of Asgard/New Asgard are not just a handy device to get the heroes to the villains, they provide so much more and help the characters grow in immense ways.
They also give us some truly heartstring-tugging links to Asgardians we lost in Ragnarok. Along with all of that they provide an excellent foil when the adults get a bit too caught up in their own hubris. They’re actually a rather important focal point of the movie and I didn’t see any discussion about them.
I have seen a few posts here about the movie, one which got so far into the weeds with regards to gender and sexuality as to tie knots around, through, and over itself and the other felt like it was someone who had just tired of the genre and wasn’t able to let go and let the story happen.
Are there hilariously funny parts? Yes, of course, it’s Taika. Are there parts that will give you a gut punch? Yes, of course, it’s Taika, and if you doubt his ability to give gut punches, go watch JoJo Rabbit. This movie does what a movie is supposed to do, transport you elsewhere, suck you in and make you have feelings. It does that. All of it.
And on a side note, about the VFX, personally I think a lot of people who complain about VFX are literally freezing frames and dissecting them. Nothing felt cheap or not done well in this movie.
To sum up, ignore the edgelords who are click-baiting you with hate and go watch the movie. Leave your expectations at the door and just let the story unfold. Please.
Oh and one last thing, when you get to the end and they reveal where the word “love” comes from in relation to the title and why it is called that, you will get emotional because it’s both an amazing homage to what happened in the movie and a massive symbol that Thor has found hope and a purpose for living.
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