He’s as fantastic a Marvel villain as you’ll ever see. More menacing than Thanos and richer than Hela from “Thor: Ragnarok”. He has the complex motivations of ‘Black Panther’s’ Erik Killmonger, but with the mesmerizing physical transformation we’ve come to expect from Bale. The Brit is a glutton for punishment. Film critic Performance duration: 125 minutes. Rated PG-13 (Strong sequences of violence and sci-fi action, language, some suggestive material and some nudity.) In theaters July 8. Able to lose and gain weight with the seeming ease of Alexa delivering the weather report, he’s Hollywood’s most addictive freak. In his latest role, the actor is skinny (no Batman biceps here) and looks like he might have fleas. And unlike so many of his A-list buds who casually pop into comic book movies to pay for their kitchen renovations, he can act sensitively against a green screen. He is sensational. Bale is part of a completely thrilling action film, written and directed by Taika Waititi, that brings the indifferent phase 4 of the MCU to life. It’s like “Eternals” never happened. If only… The New Zealand director also once again takes on the role of rock alien Korg, who quickly recaps Thor’s story with his typical dry sense of pop culture-savvy humor. The “previously active” segment is set to “Time Only” by Enya.
Christian Bale is a stunner in “Thor: Love and Thunder.” Marvel StudiosChris Hemsworth stars as Thor in Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Love and Thunder.” Jason Boland These days, we learn, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) sits zen-like under a tree awaiting universe-saving missions. Then he learns about Gor, a vengeful guy, who kills gods in response to the death of his young daughter in the desert. If Gorr can reach a device called Eternity, he can defeat any ethereal being in one fell swoop. Including Thor. Only the God of Thunder himself can stop him. Well, Thor and the returning Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, who everyone forgets was in the MCU). Back on earth, Jane is ill, and the estranged couple are reunited in an unexpected, cheesy way. Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Thor (Hemsworth) reunite. Jason Boland Tessa Thompson’s party-hardy Valkyrie rules New Asgard – a fun mix of gods and school board meetings – here on our planet. And he gets thrown into the fray when Gor kidnaps all the town’s children. Waititi, who did an equally amazing job with “Ragnarok” and should be directing every Marvel movie, never gets lost in plot or vocabulary. Instead, it draws us in with stratospheric stakes for each character and a genuine sense of danger. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” was touted as a rare Marvel horror film. “Love and Thunder,” as funny as it is, is much, much scarier. For example, towards the end of the film, Waititi uses mostly black and white, and Bale’s Gorr begins to look like an anguished Nosferatu. Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) is along for the ride. Jason Boland Don’t worry — Thor isn’t all terror. This subseries, along with the highly enjoyable “Spider-Man” movies, is among the funniest in the MCU since Waititi took over. We meet new gods like Russell Crowe’s Zeus, who is straight out of ‘Monty Python’. And there’s a terrifying, hilarious rivalry between Thor’s Hammer and Stormbreaker — two inanimate objects. And, as much praise as Bale deserves, Hemsworth’s Thor still manages to take a regal, impenetrable figure and make him, for lack of a better word, human. We’re as worried about the God of Thunder saving all the gods of the universe as we are about him throwing away a note left in the kitchen. “Love and Thunder” is an urgent reminder that for the MCU to continue, in a fun, soulful way, creativity and innovation are required. You can’t just say “multiverse” 1,000 times and call it a movie.