Paco Reviews: "Thor: Love and Thunder"

 Chris Hemsworth is back as Thor, and so is ... Jane Foster (Natalie Portman)?! It's Thor: Love and Thunder, the fourth stand alone film in the franchise.

The film picks up right where we last saw Thor in the MCU: going on various adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy. He's back in shape, too. But then a distress call goes out, and it involves Gorr, the god butcher (Christian Bale)—and he's looking for Thor. To bait Thor into a confrontation, Gorr kidnaps several of the children of New Asgard.

Meanwhile, Jane has learned she's in stage 4 of a deadly cancer, and things are looking bleak. But then Thor's old hammer, Mjolnir—previously crushed to pieces by Hela in Ragnarok—calls out to her. When Jane finds it, it transforms her into Mighty Thor! She has all the powers of Thor, plus  she has a reconstructed Mjolnir, which looks like it was glued together by me when I was in the third grade. According to legend, the hammer has healing powers, and Jane is in dire need of them.

Before long, Thor and Jane join forces, and Valkyrie, now reigning as the "king" of New Asgard, and rock monster Korg come along for the journey. There is a whole planet of other "gods" where they go to enlist help, but unfortunately they find little. It leads to a confrontation with Zeus (Russell Crowe), hamming it up in a cameo role. Things escalate very quickly after that, including a rekindling of Thor's and Jane's romance.

Paco's rating: 7 out of 10

The Good: JB and I enjoyed the ride, and afterward we agreed this was our second-favorite Thor movie, after Ragnarok. That has a lot to do with director Taika Waititi, who made both films. Once again, he delivers a rollercoaster ride, and it includes a lot of humor (particularly from Thor's new pet goats) and Guns 'n' Roses songs on the soundtrack. He also once again voices Korg. Bale is great as the villain and seems to be channeling Voldemort in the process.

The Bad: The Guardians aren't in the movie long enough. Also, Jane's transformation into Mighty Thor doesn't ge explained well. Other than that, very few nits to pick here.

The Ugly: The movie is rated PG-13 for swearing, some vulgarity, violence, and Chris Hemsworth's bare bum in one scene. There is also a love story involving Korg and his gay rock monster love interest, so do with that what you will.