Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

Taika Waititi's Thor episode dresses up the same old same old 'superhero battles a supervillain' plot in an 80s rock opera skin and fills it with big-name cameos, Taika Waititi's trademark kooky humour, and schoolkid-pleasing nonsense, but it is like this particular Marvel franchise is a hammer of God and try as he might Taika Waititi simply isn't able to lift it.

★★☆☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS

Thor Ragnarok (2017)

As a standalone superhero movie, this third Thor outing, a distinct departure from the previous two, doesn't really hold together - it is a messy, sprawling space adventure a bit like Flash Gordon with lots of 80s synthesizer but at times goes a bit The Fifth Element with Jeff Goldblum playing a flamboyant leader of a colourful planet of haves and havenots but at other times again transforms into Spaceballs with a new (to the Thor series) 'anything goes' hammy comedy that grows steadily more tired as the movie goes on and on - but as a series segue between Marvel's Avenger blockbusters and the space adventure Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor Ragnarok is a clever exercise that serves to bridge disparate Marvel franchises ahead of the Infinity War movie that brings them all together.

★★☆☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Marvel generally cannot sustain the fun and energy of its blockbuster 'firsts' and so it is again with this lifeless number two, a superhero action movie that never gets out of first gear - the humour falls flat, the action fails to interest, the cgi backdrops look cheap, and the Thor mythology is an incessant hammering for two hours ("convergence blah blah blah convergence blah blah blah)" that only the most dedicated of Marvel enthusiasts will care to really listen to.

★☆☆☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS