Buff Natalie Portman, surprise cameos, screaming goats… What else is there to say? A lot, actually. 

Beyond the hilarious, screaming goats, “Thor: Love and Thunder” is a film far different than what we’ve seen before. Taika Waititi adds yet another humor–infused film to his directing catalog: including movies such as “What We Do in the Shadows”, “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” and “Thor: Ragnarok.”

This is Chris Hemsworth’s eighth appearance in a Marvel film, and the fourth of his title-character movies. Compared to Thor’s last appearance in “Avengers: End Game”, he has transformed into his buffest in a classic 80s exercise montage scene.

This level of muscularity is the most Chris Hemsworth has ever done for Thor – but that’s nothing compared to Dr Jane Foster, portrayed by Natalie Portman. Not only has Natalie Portman bulked up significantly, but she has also magically gained six inches to her normal 5’3” height. The production teams did this by using elevated platforms to build the sets around Natalie Portman, ultimately making her powerful “Mighty Thor” work. Combine this with her long-awaited return, and Natalie Portman has stolen the show.

The Thor franchise has seen many villains, such as The Destroyer, The Grandmaster, Thor’s brother Loki, and sister Hela. Unlike the other movies, and of no relation to Thor, we see Christain Bale as Gorr the God Butcher. Beyond the awesome name, we start the film with a look at Gorr’s life before the gods failed him. He had religion and a daughter to keep him sane in a barren desert… that is until he lost both. While Gorr may be on a god–killing spree, it raises the question of ‘is he wrong?’ or does he just have contradicting viewpoints to our hero Thor. 

And of course we have Valkyrie, who is finally celebrated with the title of ‘King’ over New Asgard – who is looking for her Queen. However, her potential was cut short when she didn’t get to participate in the final fight against Gorr. It would’ve been great to see her ride in on those screaming goats, like she rode in on the pegasus in “Avengers: End Game”.

In addition to these star characters, we have surprise cameos that add on to the hilarity of the film. Matt Damon and Luke Hemworth reprise their roles as fake actors for Loki and Thor in parody plays of true events. Not only do we have Chris Hemsworth’s brother, we also have a quick cameo of Elsa Pataky (Chris Hemsworth’s wife) and their daughter Indie Hemsworth who had the significant role of Gorr’s daughter.

The plot formula itself doesn’t differ from other Marvel movies, however the visual effects are nothing to scoff at. In particular, a scene where the use of black-and-white and color special effects are intertwined to create one of the scariest scenes in a Marvel movie. 

“Thor: Love and Thunder” is definitely not the kind of scary “Dr. Strange In the Multiverse” is, but it’s far more sad – even amongst all the humor. The ending of this movie is one of the saddest we’ve seen from Marvel, and it definitely hits close to home. 

Overall, “Thor: Love and Thunder” has a lot of components making it successful – most of all the humor and reality Taika Waititi wields through vulnerable superheroes.