I rescind this comment. Even though it came earlier in the phase, No Way Home provided the must-see spectacle of an Avengers movie. Letting Thor 4 be the Ant-Man and the Wasp of Phase 4 was a bold call that probably lost Disney a few bucks, but it makes the franchise richer and more diverse overall.

I finally got around to watching Thor: Love & Thunder, and it's good, entertaining, just not very entertaining. My son and I agreed that it's not as good as Ragnarok. Its rock anthem-infused technicolour comedy fantasy is still there and operational, but it pivots more towards levity which undermines the project more so than previous Thor outings. Also, the Guns N' Roses rock anthems don't hit as exquisitely as Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" did in Ragnarok. They're a bit too well known, and maybe a bit obvious when sourcing 80s rock tunes. Visually, the film is in top form. The black-and-white planet sequence is artfully handled. Kudos to Waititi there.

While Jane eveeeeeeeeentually dies, the film disappointingly follows the Marvel tradition of no main character dying ... and then Jane enters Valhalla so not even she dies! They couldn't even let Korg die. And while I enjoy the idea of Zeus and Hercules getting revenge in what could be an epic fifth movie, the fact that Zeus didn't die caused an eyeroll or two. Brett Goldstein being Hercules is ridiculous, but I'll let it slide because we don't see him enough in this movie for it to matter.

Gorr was pretty good. Well acted by Christian Bale as expected, but the character felt underused and weak. Easily defeated. I wanted a more powerful threat, particularly from a villain called the God Butcher. Did he even butcher any gods apart from in the first scene? Russell Crowe's accent was awesome. Korg's jokes regarding Jane's name were the best gags in the movie. I was disappointed that the Guardians don't come back at the end to help out. They feel very much wasted. I suppose they don't want Guardians fatigue, which makes sense with Vol. 3 coming out next year.

What else? Oh yeah, Thor. Hemsworth looks fantastic. He's near Schwarzenegger levels. Absolutely massive. And he's got the comic timing down to a T. The film, though, uses comedy a little too much and it goes to depths of irritation, for example when Jane and Valkyrie head bop to Mary J Blige. The weapon jealousy gags are good but nearing overkill. There are also one too many cutaways, though the Thor-Jane relationship flashback was a welcome and fun break. The goats were kind of meh for me, but they weren't really a big part of it so I didn't care.

In retrospect, this is my favorite movie so far this year So fun and the cast is great.