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MOVIE REVIEW

Thor: Love and Thunder

also known as “Thor 4,” Thor: Amor e Trovão,” “Thor: Amor y Trueno,” “Thor: Amor y truenoThor: Love and Thunder,” “Thor: Amour et tonnerre,” “Thor: Aşk ve Gök Gürültüsü,” “Thor: Iubire și Tunete,” See more »
MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA) for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, some suggestive material and partial nudity.

Reviewed by: Alexander Malsan
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults Young-Adults
Genre: Sci-Fi Superhero Action Adventure Fantasy Sequel
Length: 2 hr. 5 min.
Year of Release: 2022
USA Release: July 8, 2022 (wide release)
DVD: September 27, 2022
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Relevant Issues
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Norse mythology

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Male objectification

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Hinduism

MYSTICISM—Can mysticism lead to God? Answer

What is Monism and Pantheistic Monism? Who believes in Monism? Is it biblical? Answer

An open letter to disciples of Hinduism

Where did CANCER come from? Answer

ORIGIN OF BAD THINGS—A loving Creator made our world, so why are their so many bad things int it? Answer

Why does God allow innocent people to suffer? Answer

What about the issue of suffering? Doesn’t this prove that there is no God and that we are on our own? Answer

Does God feel our pain? Answer

What kind of world would you create? Answer

Featuring Chris HemsworthThor
Natalie PortmanJane Foster / The Mighty Thor
Christian BaleGorr the God Butcher
Tessa ThompsonKing Valkyrie
Taika WaititiKorg / Old Kronan God (voice)
Russell CroweZeus
Jaimie AlexanderSif
Chris PrattPeter Quill / Star-Lord
Dave Bautista (David Bautista) … Drax
Karen GillanNebula
Pom KlementieffMantis
Sean GunnKraglin / On-Set Rocket
Vin DieselGroot (voice)
Bradley CooperRocket (voice)
Elsa PatakyWolf Woman
See all »
Director Taika Waititi
Producer Marvel Studios
Fox Studios Australia [Australia]
See all »
Distributor < !-- InstanceEndEditable -->

Ever since defeating Thanos and reversing the Snap that occurred five years ago, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has had some battles with enemies with his new band of companions, The Guardians of the Galaxy. However, in general, he has had the luxury of taking it pretty easy. As such, Thor has had some difficulty, though, figuring out what exactly his role in the universe is now.

We’re going to sidestep away from Thor for a moment though and visit Dr. Jane Foster Natalie Portman), you know, Thor’s former love interest from the first movie. We come upon Jane at a cancer treatment receiving chemotherapy for her stage four cancer. Jane is not ready to give up fighting though. An idea begins to form while reading through her Norse mythology books… Mjölnir! (Thor’s former weapon—the hammer). Mjölnir will be able to give her the powers of Thor and keep her young and healthy, and she knows just where to find it.

Fast forward a few days. New Asgard is under attack from a group of strange shadow creatures when suddenly Thor appears to save the citizens, but he’s not alone. Out of nowhere, Jane appears in a Thor-like outfit, Mjölnir in hand, calling herself, “Mighty Thor.” It’s an awkward reunion at first, but Thor learns to adapt. Amidst the chaos though a mysterious figure named Gorr the God-Butcher (Christian Bale), kidnaps the children of New Asgard.

It’s up to Thor, Mighty Thor, and King Valkyrie (the ruler of New Asgard) to track down the children and return them safely to New Asgard.

It’s funny, it’s been eleven years since the first Thor movie came out; only eleven. It received an Average morality rating on our site. If you look at the MPAA rating it stated “PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence.” The second Thor film, “Dark World” had the same rating, same description and added “sensual content.” The third film, Ragnarok, again, had the same rating and same description but went from sensual content to SUGGESTIVE content.

In this fourth installment, “… Love and Thunder” we now have “intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, some suggestive material and partial nudity.” It’s as if, throughout the course of each film Marvel kept pushing the limits as to what they could and couldn’t have in a PG-13 rated film. It’s a shame, truthfully, because when a movie pushes the rating to its limit it makes some viewers, such as myself, very uncomfortable. As I stated to the theater manager yesterday, content that would have been rated R ten or fifteen years ago, some of which I saw in “Love and Thunder” (which I’ll discuss later), was in a PG-13 rated film like “Love and Thunder.”

Perhaps I could overlook some of the violence, the language and suggestive material (and that’s a HUGE perhaps). What I can’t overlook though is how far and how much blasphemous, and yes I say blasphemous, content made its way into “Love and Thunder.” It is almost on the same level as “Eternals.” Of course, you expect a certain level of fantasy and mythology to go along with a Thor film. But “Love and Thunder” goes beyond what is acceptable, especially since this film is being marketed toward children and teens (I will get into this more in the Offensive Content section).

From a performance standpoint, Chris Hemsworth is still as charming and as funny as he’s ever been as Thor. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t chuckle from time to time. It was also nice to see Natalie Portman back in a supporting role. Tessa Thompson did an okay job, though her appearance was very minimal (though I must admit I let out a big “sigh” in the theater when I heard her name was KING Valkyrie and not Queen Valkyrie). Enough Hollywood, just enough). The most laughable performance, sadly, is Russell Crowe as Zeus, as though he was the comedic relief at times, his Greek accent was so terrible it detracted from the brief scene he was in.

Offensive Content

VIOLENCE: Please note not every violent moment is listed here, only the main issues you should be aware of. In one of the most appalling scenes (my mouth dropped), Gorr rips a creature’s head off in front of some young children and throws it at them. He also talks about ripping apart creatures. A corpse is seen hanging from a bridge. Someone is seen missing an arm. Shadow-like creatures attack people and then are butchered. More shadow-like creatures kidnap some children in a terrifying manner. A god is killed and beheaded (the beheading takes place off-screen). Characters are seen dying in brief flashbacks. There is a brief fight sequence on a planet. We witness some buildings crumble. Someone gets hit with a plasma bullet. A character is supposedly killed. A fight occurs between some gods and Thor’s crew (Thor, Jane and Valkyrie). Thor’s crew are strangled by some vines. Children are empowered by Thor to fight the shadow creatures. A character dies.

VULGARITY: S-words (11), A**-hole (1), Cr*p (1), Fr*ckin (1), P*ssed Off (1)

PROFANITY: G*d (1), Oh my G*d (1), D*mn (5), H*ll (4) — including “Go to H*ll”, H*ly Sh*t (1)

SEX: Zeus asks a crowd, “Where are we going to hold this year’s orgy?” King Valkyrie is openly bi-sexual in the film and kisses a woman’s hand. A character graphically mentions how his two dads made a baby (don’t ask). This same character is also openly Gay and we see him holding hands with another character. Thor and Jane share two kisses and are romantic at times (no intercourse occurs). Thor kisses several women. Men are shown shirtless.

NUDITY: There is a scene involving male rear nudity (this male is nude in the front, we only see partial nudity in the front though). When this occurs we see females looking at his rear and also swooning over his nudity and sighing when his clothes come back on.

ALCOHOL: Characters share a couple glasses of wine. Alcohol is brought on board a ship. Thor has beer.

PAGAN MESSAGING: The film discusses the concepts of multiple deities ruling earth and how the deities grow frustrated at the idea of how humans don’t look to them anymore. *MILD SPOILER* In the beginning sequence we learn that a character became a villain because he was worshiping a false god he believed would spare him and his child, but the god laughed at him and told him “There is no eternal reward. Just death.” *END MILD SPOILER* In fact this message is mentioned not just once, but a few times. A sequence takes place in Omnipotence City where the multiple deities rule. A sequence takes place at the Gate of Eternity (without giving too much away, it is NOTHING like the real Heaven. It’s almost like a purgatory-like state). There is a scene, post credits, where someone is welcomed into Valhalla (a place of eternal, blissful life in Norse mythology), and we see Valhalla. Also Valhalla is referenced a couple other times in the film.

Message

As I mentioned before, one character becomes a villain at one point because a false deity that he worshiped tells him that there is nothing eternal for him when he dies, only more death.

This is an extremely false narrative, poisonous to anyone who listens to it! There is only death for those who die without believing in Jesus, accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior and trusting Him with their whole heart. The first half of Romans 6:23 says,

“For the wages of sin is death,”

The last half says this…

“but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus’ mercy, love and forgiveness is unending! There are absolutely no strings attached. With accepting Jesus into your heart comes eternal life. There is no fear of death, no fear of Hell.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” —John 3:16-17

“For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” —Romans 10:10

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” —Ephesians 2:8

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” —John 1:12

Final Thoughts

“Oh how the mighty have fallen,” says Thor at one point in the movie. You took the words right out my mouth, Thor. Marvel (and Disney by association) has fallen hard.

In my opinion, and perhaps this is harsh, the words “wholesome entertainment” and Marvel no longer go hand in hand. When you compare films like “Captain America” and “Iron Man” from over a decade ago to the Marvel films that we have now, I can’t help but pray and hope that Disney and Marvel make a complete 180 degree turn around before it’s too late.

Christian audiences are strongly discouraged from attending “Thor: Love and Thunder.” The violence is heavy (sometimes appalling), the language is heavy as is the sexual content and nudity, and it is FAR more ungodly this time around than in previous films. It is definitely NOT for children.

  • Violence: Heavy
  • Profane language: Moderately Heavy
  • Sex: Moderately Heavy
  • Occult/Paganism: Heavy
  • Woke: Most definitely
  • Vulgar/Crude language: Moderate
  • Nudity: Moderate
  • Drugs/Alcohol: Mild

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—Great movie regarding dealing with loss, and how humanity copes with grief in varying ways. Overall themes of love include parent and child, a former couple, dreams of future love, and loss of loved ones. Times have changed in the universe the movie has been set in, and includes many references to the way things were in the past. The good news is show in the hope of the future, and what your dreams are for future generations. Some thematic violence including non-Earth entities that are killed. Language is consisted with the current rules for a PG-13 movie.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Danielle Vogel, age 36 (USA)
Positive—I just wanted to point out the film’s surprisingly Christian message. MASSIVE SPOILERS FOLLOW! Antagonist Gorr, The God Butcher vows to destroy all gods after his own god lets him down and allows his daughter to die. Initially, he manually tracks them down and kills them one by one. But then he hatches a plan to kill them all in one fell swoop—by using Thor’s axe, Stormbreaker to open the gate to a type of wishing well called Eternity, and wishing for all the gods to drop dead. Well, he gets to Eternity and as he’s about to make his wish, Thor tells him that what he really needs is love, and all he needs to do is wish for his daughter to come back. Why didn’t that thought occur to him earlier? Because he was blinded by his anger and hatred, so he pursued a goal that led to his death, and he almost didn’t see his daughter again. Now it doesn’t work like that in the real world, but the point is that instead of holding on to hurt and resentment, you need to pursue God and build your life with his help. And this is something I’ve learned in my own life.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Strachan, age 34 (United Kingdom)
Neutral
Neutral—I’ve always enjoyed seeing Thor on the big screen. He’s funny and always brings a “moral of the story” at the end. This is the worst Thor film, though. It’s as if it was written just to get wokeism in front of a large audience. I don’t like the direction they took with Jane’s character either. There were some great moments and funny moments to be sure, but overall, I wasn’t impressed with the film. Marvel has left superheroes behind and entered the realm of politics and wokeism.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5
Chrystal, age 45 (USA)
Negative
Negative—Do not watch this film if you are a Christian. It will offend you in many ways. I have enjoyed Marvel movies in the past, but I am done now. Definitely not a movie for kids.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: no opinion
Theresa, age 52 (USA)
Negative—It’s hammer time for fans of the God of Thunder, but families may want to run from cover from the 29th film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Projected to bring in anywhere from $145 million to $155 million over its opening weekend, Thor: Love and Thunder is practically guaranteed to be a blockbuster, but the movie could go down as one of the MCU’s most divisive and controversial films.

On the positive side, the movie promotes everyone’s need to be loved, sacrificial love, caring for others, especially children, and courage.

A romantic comedy laced with spiritual overtones about deities, “Love and Thunder” features Thor (Chris Hemsworth playing the character for the eighth time) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced—a quest for inner peace following the events of “Avengers: Endgame” (2019). However, his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks to eliminate all gods.

To thwart the threat, Thor seeks the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who—to Thor’s surprise—inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, and has been transformed to become Mighty Thor.

They unite to embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

Some critics have called Marvel Studios’ latest film “an epic adventure” and a “heartfelt superhero jam, ” but my group who saw an early screening of the film didn’t feel the same way. In fact, the four college-aged, young men who went with me and are big MCU fans gave “Love and Thunder” eight thumbs down.

The biggest turn off? Featuring two main characters who are gay, the movie is tainted by more woke theology from Disney—Marvel Studios’ parent company. King Valkyrie is a lesbian who has lost many girlfriends in Old Asgard, Thor’s kingdom that was destroyed in “Thor: Ragnorok” (2017). In Love and Thunder, King Valkyrie is shown lovingly kissing the hand of a maiden in Zeus’ (Russell Crowe) palace. Additionally, Korg, who is a rock being, proudly says that he had two fathers who made him in the hot lava of a volcano. Korg also ends up growing a new body after he hooked up with a dude named Dwayne.

The representation of the LGBT community in Love and Thunder is just the latest push by Disney to prominently feature homosexual characters in recent movies, including “Lightyear, ” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Eternals.”

According to my young moviegoers, another drawback of “Love and Thunder” was “they tried too hard to be funny.” Although some scenes are really funny, including Thor’s interaction with the Guardians of the Galaxy, it comes across that everything is a joke. There are two running gags during the film, one featuring certain oversized animals and the other involving Stormbreaker, Thor’s weapon that replaced Mjolnir.

For the most part, “Love and Thunder” tries to up the ante of the humor of “Thor: Ragnorok, ” which was directed by Waititi and also helmed this movie. “Ragnorok” was praised for bringing out Thor’s funny and silly side. But instead of taking the heartfelt love story as the foundation of “Love and Thunder, ” everything is seemingly a joke in the movie. The jokes weaken the story, and the seemingly over the top humor makes it seem that none of the good guys are in any grave danger.

Speaking of failed comedy, Zeus blows off Thor’s clothes in one scene in which Thor is seen fully nude from behind for a second. Additionally, Zeus, who is portrayed not as a noble leader but a decadent coward, talks about inviting gods to orgies several times during the palace scene, which is the farthest thing from being family-friendly.

Waititi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, also doesn’t hold back on having gratuitous obscenities—many of which are used to generate a laugh.

The film features lots of talk about gods, who are mostly portrayed as uncaring, selfish and detached—except Thor, of course. One scene has Thor and Korg stare at the body of a fallen god.

Gorr’s introduction includes the death of his daughter after his prayers to his god is not answered, giving him the inspiration to rage. “The only ones who gods care about is themselves, ” Gorr proclaims. “So, this is my vow: all gods will die.”

Unlike the movie’s gods, the God of the Bible cares about mankind, with countless verses declaring so.

Psalm 136:1-10 says: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. To him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. Who by His understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. Who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. Who made the great lights—His love endures forever. The sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. The moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.”

One of the film’s tagline is “Not every god has a plan.” However, Jeremiah 29:11 says: “For I know the plans I have for you, ” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

All the talk about gods, though, could open the door for Christians to share about the gospel with friends and family who see “Love and Thunder.”

However, parents will want to know that Gorr is brutal, creepy and scary like his spider-like shadow monsters, which could frighten young children.

“Love and Thunder” has garnered a 69 percent audience score and 86 percent critics grade on Rotten Tomatoes. The film reportedly has a $250 million budget.

The movie is not all bad. On one hand, it’s a rocking and a rolling bombastic joy ride that is entertaining and loud, especially featuring the greatest hits of Guns N’ Roses such as “Welcome to the Jungle, ” to “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child of Mine.”

As usual, there are some fun cameos along the way. The action scenes are cool though intense, and the overall cinematic scenery is stunning as expected from Marvel.

Thor is the only MCU character to have four stand-alone films, and the film is part of Marvel’s Phase Four slate of films.

Bottom line is “Love and Thunder” is not family-friendly, which is a shame because the MCU used to be safe for young fans. Unfortunately, the studio’s latest releases could be called Fall From Grace Four.

Content Watch: “Thor: Love and Thunder” is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, some suggestive material and partial nudity. Thor meditates in an effort to find inner peace. Besides Thor’s being shown seen fully nude from behind, there are some mild to moderate sexual references, including a mild innuendo around a character’s large penis. There is gratuitous male nudity and objectification by women. There is fantasy violence, in which one god is stabbed and torn apart with golden blood trickling out of his throat. A villain pulls the head off a snake-like monster and throws it at children. A man is seen without an eye. There is a strong sustained threat to children, who are snatched from their beds at night by monsters and held captive by a sinister villain who threatens to chop off their heads… There is plenty of profanity, including uses of s***, b***, h*ll and cr*p. A character has a terminal illness and it is referenced frequently. Some alcohol, such as beer, champagne and wine are shown.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4
Eric Tiansay, age (USA)

PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.

Secular Movie Critics
…“Thor: Love and Thunder” is one of the goofiest and least consequential sagas in MCU history — an allegedly wild and wacky but ultimately disappointing and disjointed chapter in the ongoing story of the God of Thunder, who seems to get more clueless with each passing movie. …
Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times
…pushes the wisecracking to tiresome extremes, snuffing out any excitement, mythic grandeur or sense of danger that the God of Thunder’s latest round of rote challenges might hope to generate. Chris Hemsworth continues to give great musclebound himbo, but the stakes never acquire much urgency in a movie too busy being jokey and juvenile to tell a gripping story. …
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
…I very much wanted to enjoy this Thor outing… Ultimately, “Thor: Love and Thunder” will leave you feeling sad, empty, deadened. Which is what frequently happens in the MCU these days—it is an enterprise built with an Axl Rose-sized appetite for destruction, but no stomach for genuine risk or imagination. …
Barry Hertz, The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
…A Marvel movie so unworthy to wield Thor’s hammer, it barely tries to lift it… I wished I was actually watching “Batman and Robin” or “Superman IV,” because for all their camp, those movies felt less pointless and more human than “Thor 4,” a cheap corporate commercial for upcoming Marvel content. “Thor 4” feels like a Disney experiment in just how bad Marvel movies can get before someone points out the emperor has no clothes. It feels like a Marvel movie that secretly thinks you’re stupid for liking Marvel movies. …
Scott Greenstone, Seattle Times
A Marvel institute that’s easy to disparage… Across Taika Waititi’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” a war against the gods feels like an afterthought to a bad rom-com. …fully leaning into his goofball attributes at the expense of narrative cohesion and the somber topics that the film broaches. … [1/4]
Jake Coyle, Slant Magazine
The Marvel machine breaks down in “Thor: Love and Thunder”… Director Taika Waititi’s second outing with the godly hero is a major fall from grace. …Thor has grown a lot sillier. …may be the worst film yet in its long line of spectaculars, an erratic and fatally dull morass of limp jokes and aimless plotting. The magic is decidedly gone, and the film left me wondering, on a more macro scale, if this whole cinematic universe machine has any idea where it’s headed. …
Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair
“Thor: Love and Thunder” is a snooze… packed with gags and jokes, advertising itself so loudly as “Fun!” that it ceases to actually be fun. …The effects are broad and flat and colorful, and like most modern computer-generated visuals, do little to inspire wonder: when you can create anything you want with manufactured images, these highly manipulated moving pictures end up being a big yawn. We’ve reached that point. …
Stephanie Zacharek, Time
“Thor: Love and Thunder” makes you wonder if Marvel’s okay… the calibrations in “Love and Thunder” are all off… the overall feeling is that of a film spinning its wheels. …a fractured affair that tries to combine an immortal superhero’s millennia-in-the-making battle with arrested development with a woman’s encroaching death. It feels like a testament to how demented this massive franchise has gotten when stage-four cancer becomes just another learning tool to guide a divine himbo one step closer toward growing up. …
Alison Willmore, Vulture
“Love and Thunder” sells out its characters for jokes… “Thor: Love and Thunder” isn’t just a misfire, it’s a scam. Its characters only move forward in the most artificial ways. Their status at the end of the film is no more intriguing than it was at the beginning. It’s the worst thing a film in this mode can be: inconsequential. …
Joshua Rivera, Polygon
…A disappointingly shallow Marvel encore… feeling more like a shallow, unsatisfying mashup. It’s still a fun, silly entry in the MCU canon, but isn’t the classic Thor adventure its hunky hero seems to think he’s on.
Sean Keane, CNET