On July 8, Marvel’s highly anticipated “Thor: Love and Thunder” was released in theaters worldwide.
After garnering $143 million at the box office during the opening weekend, sales have dropped 62% during the movie’s second week in the theater. So, did this movie flop? Or are fans too critical?
Since its release, many fans have had mixed emotions about the fourth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s God of Thunder, Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth. Fans find that a year into the MCU’s phase four has been lackluster and forgettable.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” is similar to, “Thor: Ragnorok” because of the increased amount of comedic relief that is brought, which had never been implemented so heavily in Marvel’s movies. While that movie was well received, fans have found that this movie, along with several others during the early parts of the MCU’s phase four, has no connection together and that each story was hard to follow.
There are always two types of fans, those who enjoy the movie for what it is and those who are highly critical of every misstep that the movie entailed. It is easy to criticize something that isn’t up to par with what you’ve experienced before and that is where most fans are after watching this movie.
Is this the best movie Marvel has released in the last year? No, but it’s an enjoyable experience because of the soundtrack and how they brought back Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman. She was in the first two movies as Thor’s love interest but was then never seen again throughout the rest of phase three besides subtle name drops that had people wondering if she would appear again.
The high expectations of these movies before they come out make them suffer heavily at the box office several weeks after opening weekend. It’s understandable that Marvel wants to hype up films to the public but ultimately misleading story plots and negative reviews can affect sales.
Director Taika Waititi has recently been criticized for an interview he did with Vanity Fair in which he make a joke about a visual effect error in the movie. Many fans don’t think he took this movie seriously and it shows with the reaction of Marvel fans worldwide.
Did this movie get unfair criticism? Yes, because as fans, you have connections to previous movies that made you feel that same excitement which leaves you with a memorable moment in your memory and those feelings get attached to their opinions about this movie.
If you decide to go watch “Thor: Love and Thunder,” don’t expect this to be like anything previous from the MCU. To enjoy this movie, it’s a matter of going in with the mindset to enjoy what’s on the screen, not to try and tie the storyline with the rest of the movies or to be critical of every single scene but rather enjoy the movie for face value.
