When indie director Taika Waititi took over the reins of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor franchise with Thor: Ragnarok, the MCU fandom received a quirky, weird, and charming film with a lot of heart. The film redefined the tone of Thor, making him a much more cheerful character. It was also a huge success at the box office, earning over $855 million globally.
So, when a fourth film directed by Waititi was announced the fandom was hyped beyond measure. However, fans were disappointed with the fourth film, Thor: Love and Thunder, despite the signature touches of Taika Waititi. In fact, the film earned less than its predecessor and has a significantly lower rating than MCU’s competitor, DCU’s lowest-earning film Blue Beetle on Rotten Tomatoes.
Reactions To Chris Hemsworth’s Thor: Love and Thunder
Chris Hemsworth’s Thor: Love and Thunder was released last year to polarizing reviews. The film was one of the most awaited entries in Phase 4 of the MCU, which already had been receiving less than stellar responses. The film was one of the few which still featured one of the original members of the Avengers and since it was directed by Taika Waititi, expectations were through the roof.
However, the film opened to divisive responses with many criticizing the use of extensive humor which cut the dramatic moments. A review on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes stated,
“Despite its great acting, score and worldbuilding, and epic character moments, Thor: Love and Thunder feels like one continuous joke that doesn’t land.”
Another review compared the film to its much-loved predecessor and specified how different it feels from Thor: Ragnarok despite appearing to be a rehash of the same formula. It stated,
“Thor Love & Thunder commits the frequent sequel sin of doubling up on everything that went over well the last time, which means non-stop goofing (rather than a lighter tone), Thor becoming even more of a himbo buffoon…the resulting tone is so sloppily winking and unserious that it feels grotesque given the new story context…”
Many felt that the talents of the amazing Christian Bale and Natalie Portman were wasted in the film. Bale played the role of Gorr, the God Butcher, who was supposed to be a menacing antagonist who had the vengeance to massacre gods. However, despite the actor’s earnest performance, many fans felt that the actor could only do so much with the written material.
Is Thor: Love and Thunder worse than Blue Beetle?
Chris Hemsworth’s fourth solo Thor film was a box-office success. It earned over $760 million globally against a $250 million budget. It was also the eighth highest-grossing film of the year. However, the film is not as loved by the audience and the critics. The film received a low 63% on the Rotten Tomatoes website, barely crossing the minimum requirement for a film to be certified ‘fresh’. While the audience treated the film slightly better than critics, giving it a score of 77%, they still had a lot of complaints.
The film’s biggest loss is probably its rating being compared to that of the recently released DCU film Blue Beetle. The Xolo Maridueña starrer, which is based on a relatively unknown superhero seems to have fared better than the fourth film in the Thor franchise. While the film was termed to be the DCEU’s lowest opening to date, earning just $43 million, it has gained a fresh 76% on the Rotten Tomatoes website. The audiences too seem to have embraced the film, giving it a whopping 92% score.
While Blue Beetle is still in its initial stages and has such a high rating with only 1000 reviews, it is still miles better than what Thor: Love and Thunder opened to. It received positive responses, with many lauding Xolo Maridueña’s performance and the family-friendly nature of the film. The film received an overwhelming response despite the actors not promoting the film due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
Blue Beetle is currently in cinemas
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
