For many people, Thor: Ragnarok is considered to be one of the greatest MCU films ever! The Taika Waititi-directed film expertly achieved what the first two Thor movies failed to do, which was to endear the God of Thunder and make him humorous. For the fourth film, Thor: Love and Thunder, Chris Hemsworth is back with both old allies and new antagonists.
Thor: Love and Thunder and Thor: Ragnarok are linked because Taika Waititi did really well in the former, using a lot of "unconventional" techniques. Again, Taika tries to blend his signature wit with Marvel's humor motif in this episode's screenplay (co-written with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson), but fails in the end. Although there are many laughs, they are insufficient and forced. The emotional aspect is where Thor: Love and Thunder excels, particularly when it comes to Jane's cancer diagnosis and how it impacts her emotionally while tearing down her body with each hammer blow.
Thor and Jane's love story takes some time to simmer through before it truly starts off. The melancholic Thor remarks about how long it has been since they last saw each other: "8 years, 7 months and 6 days." In the end, you're more interested in the success of these two characters as individuals than as a pair.
There are several A-list celebrity appearances in Thor: Love and Thunder, including an incredible one for Ted Lasso fans at the mid-credits. And Russell Crowe's lively portrayal of Zeus, complete with an outrageous accent that is over the top, times Waititi, who takes the cake and eats it too! All the belly laughter occur when Thor and his friends meet Zeus.
