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Created Aug 06, 2022 05:02PM PST • Edited Aug 11, 2022 12:19AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Perfect 5.0

   Taika Waititi & Chris Hemsworth have done it again, fused comedy with superhunkiness to create another perfect Marvel movie. Thor: Love and Thunder is all that, as was its immediate predecessor – Ragnarok.

   Waititi is a genius writer-director, Hemsworth an old school moviestar for a new age, insanely handsome and deftly self-deprecating. Love and Thunder marks a continuation of their golden age. But it’s not just Waititi’s filmic brilliance and his leading man’s charisma that makes Thor 4’s cup runneth over.

   • Best female superhero ever: The Mighty Thor, Natalie Portman’s superhero turn, is the best female superhero ever, notwithstanding my previous praise for Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel.
   • Powerful and understandable supervillain: The role that must be great for an avenger movie to be great is great in Love and Thunder. Gorr the God Butcher is brilliantly conceived and chillingly played by Christian Bale, who’s never been better and deserves another Oscar for this role.
   • Guardians of Great Movies: Marvel often mixes casts, characters and storylines, generally to great effect, as it is here. Chris Pratt playing off Chris Hemsworth is a two Chris treat.

   Where does Thor 4 rank in the Thor series? At the top alongside Ragnarok. Please Messrs. Waititi & Hemsworth, can we have some more?

4. Acting

   Great 4.0

   Superstar Superheros and Supervillians

   Chris Hemsworth is funnier and more bitching than ever, well at least since Ragnarok. The man who embodies Thunder from Down Under loves to have fun at his own expense, er, at Thor’s expense. The result is tremendously charming and often LOL funny.

   Christian Bale delivers a chilling and moving performance as a bereft father out for vengeance. Bale isn’t always great, but when he is, as in The Fighter and here, he’s as great an actor as there is today.

   Natalie Portman lets her moviestar charisma, a perfectly drawn Marvel character and a bitching costume/physique work for her. The result is Mighty Thor, the greatest female superhero yet.

   Supporters

   • Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie is curiously wan in a role that should have more bravura.
   • Jaimie Alexander fades into the scenery, yet again. Pity, because she’s got a great look.
   • Taika Waititi voices Korg to humorous effect, again.
   • Russell Crowe is fabulous as Zeus, the über god. He’s beefier than ever, but man, Crowe can act!

   Guardians of the Galaxy

   Chris Pratt brightens up the screen every time he appears. Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, and Sean Gunn also appear in form or voice.

   Others

   • Matt Damon, Sam Neill, and Luke Hemsworth reprise their roles as comic doppelgängers, this time joined by Melissa McCarthy.
   • Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgård are always welcome for cameos.

5. Male Stars Great 4.0

6. Female Stars Great 4.0

7. Female Costars Great 4.0

8. Male Costars Great 4.0

10. Film

    Perfect 5.0

11. Direction Perfect 5.0

12. Play Perfect 5.0

13. Music Really Great 4.5

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 2.0

    Much action, no gore, in typical Marvel fashion.

    Comic violence aside, one key character being a lesbian has caused a stir among some critics. So what, gay people are a fact of life and this one’s sexuality isn’t flaunted. On a related subject, a non-humanoid character is revealed to have two dads. However, his species is also revealed to be mono-sexual, so presumably he could just as easily have two moms. Wait, why isn’t the “dad presumption” being protested?

17. Sex Innocent 1.5

18. Violence Brutal 2.9

19. Rudeness Polite 1.5

21. Reality

    Fantasy 4.4

22. Circumstantial Supernatural 3.1

23. Biological Fantasy 5.0

24. Physical Fantasy 5.0