Unless he was so caught up in the wackiness that he became indirectable, he gets a pass in my opinion. If that’s not the tone Waititi wanted, he would have been asked to be an actor and change the performance. Chris, you’re good. Keep on keepin’ on.
Noble of him to take some responsibility, but the plot elements were too dark for the tone that was established in Ragnarok. You’re walking a fine line trying to make “dying of cancer” and “revenge on the gods for my dead daughter” the subject of a goofy, weird adventure series.
The script failures aren’t Chis’ fault.
That comic story works because Thor Odinson isn’t really in it, at all. The entire premise is a perspective shift - how it feels to be a frail human burdened with godhood.
I almost understand how (if not why) the studios didn’t approve risking a huge budget film by putting all the weight on many-award-winning actress, Natalie Portman.
But adapting comic books is about taking risks. Thor: Love and Thunder needed to be entirely centered on Natalie Portman, and Chris should have been free to act goofy while Natalie delivered the heartbreaking cancer stuff.
But the script was too chicken to make that leap of faith, and the movie is worse for it.
They didnt want to be called woke, but they did anyway. For some people, even thought of a woman getting into some man’s space is woke, let alone her being as strong if not stronger than him.
Is that what the prevailing complaint was, though, or are you just saying that’s what the issue was with?
The director’s job is to give the actor direction, so even if Hemsworth’s assumptions that his antics hurt the movie are true, it was the director’s job to recognize that and, you know, direct the actor.
The problems with L&T have nothing to do with Hemsworth’s choices. He was hilarious and one of the high points of the film. The two biggest issues were with the writing/direction:
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We didn’t see the villain earn their nickname
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We didn’t see the villain learn about the Maguffin
These two issues could have been handled with a 1 minute rampage where he slays a few gods, and the last one chides him with “you know this will all be undone, right? One of us will just go to such-and-such-place, wish to undo your work, and it’ll never have happened.”
“So there’s a place that grants wishes?”
Shocked pikachu face
“… interesting.”
Kills them
Yeah, I agree that the villain needed more development. I enjoyed the movie overall because I’ve become ok with filling in blanks like that, but the villain’s arc was very disjointed, including the part about needing to be told… well, if you’ve seen it, you know what he needed to be told, so I’ll leave it at that to avoid spoiling.
And I agree that Hemsworth did great in the movie. And even if he was goofing around too much during filming, that would still be more on the director, editor, and producer for deciding what went into the final cut.
But yeah, the worst part IMO was having one guy go from dying in a desert to finding a magic sword and suddenly he’s one of the most powerful beings in existence. Did he have skills from before he was stuck in the desert? Did the sword give him knowledge? Does it steal powers/experiences from the gods it slays?
There’s other problems with it, mostly in the same vein.
