Producers: Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum   Director: Taika Waititi   Screenplay: Taika Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson   Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe, Kieron L. Dyer, India Rose Hemsworth, Jaimie Alexander, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pon Klementieff, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel   Distributor: Disney

Grade: B-

With 2017’s “Ragnarok,” Taika Waititi rescued the standalone Thor series from the doldrums it had entered with the previous installment “The Dark World” (2013).  He did so by emphasizing the comic possibilities of a superhero who became, in his hands, pretty much a lovable lunkhead.  The writer-director tries to keep the momentum going with this fourth installment, but his decision to add some curiously tragic elements drawn from the comic book’s run of the last decade makes for a tonally disjointed picture that doesn’t totally satisfy, but is still one of the better recent MCU efforts.

“Love and Thunder” starts by reemphasizing the Norse hero’s comic nature: the goofily meditative Thor, again played by brawny Chris Hemsworth, is oblivious to the collateral damage he inadvertently causes when called upon to use his powerful axe Stormbreaker (his traditional hammer Mjolnir having been smashed to bits in the previous installment) in battle alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy—happily the script’s sole nod, an apparently obligatory element in these movies now, to the wider MCU.  Thankfully, the Guardians quickly go off on their own, leaving Thor to return to New Asgard, the faux Nordic village that residents have turned into a popular theme park (cue some fan-pleasing cameos), where Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) holds down the fort as its ruler.

But two events turn matters in a dark direction.  One is the despair of Gorr (Christian Bale), the last survivor of a world being destroyed by drought.  As he tries to comfort his dying daughter, he prays to the god whom he’s always reverenced, but that deity replies to his pleas with amused contempt. Gorr is so disgusted by the god’s lack of concern for humans that he seizes a weapon called the Necrosword and slays him, becoming Gorr the God Butcher, who vows to slaughter all the gods.  He sets a trap for Thor by kidnapping the children of New Asgard, among whom Axl (Kieron L. Dyer) assumes leadership in their prison cage.  Gorr’s ultimate aim is to reach the Altar of Eternity, where he will fulfill his ambitions.

The other involves Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), the brilliant scientist who was Thor’s love interest in the first two films and has remained so despite her long absence.  She is now suffering from stage four cancer, but is nonetheless mysteriously drawn to New Asgard, where she finds that the remnants of Mjolnir miraculously reassemble and endow her with the powers of Thor.  There is, however, a downside, since using it reverses the effect of her medications and will hasten her death.

Jane, Thor, Valkyrie and Korg (Waititi), the rocky warrior, become a team to travel to Gorr’s lair, free his captives, and save the gods.  But looking for more aid, they first visit the celestial domain ruled by Zeus (Russell Crowe) to seek the help of his assembly of deities.  When he refuses, a brouhaha breaks out, leaving Zeus injured and angry and the original quartet on their own.

Eventually they confront Gorr in another of the big action set-pieces that are de rigueur in MCU movies, and after much combat Gorr sacrifices himself for the person he loves.  Things end on a note of domesticity for our blonde hero, though a couple of the MCU’s customary credit-crawl additions indicate that Thor will face a new challenge and Jane a new life.

“Love and Thunder” has a number of solid virtues.  It’s a fairly straightforward adventure yarn, without the mind-bending complexities of something like “Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.”  (In fact it’s told by Korg to some kids in the form of a campfire tale.)  Apart from the Guardians, it avoids dragging other Marvel heroes into the narrative, something that too often clutters things up.  And it’s relatively short: Waititi and editors Peter S. Elliot, Tim Roche, Matthew Schmidt and Jennifer Vecchiarello bring the whole shebang in at under two hours, a pleasant surprise when most other MCU entries lumber along for at least another half-hour.

And it has some genuinely amusing elements, though the humor is often of the cartoonish sort.  The entire Olympian sequence is a hoot, not so much because Zeus strips Thor of his garb for a full reverse view, but because Crowe, sporting a hilarious pseudo-Greek accent and flouncing about like a mad debaucher, plays the entire thing—an extra-large version of the “Star Wars” cantina episode—like an extended vaudeville routine.  It’s intrusive, like an overripe cadenza, but pretty funny.

The return of Jane also adds an element of romantic comedy to the mix, not only because Thor is more than a little nonplussed at watching her transform into a female version of himself and wielding his beloved Mjolnir, but because Stormbreaker is envious of Thor’s attraction to both Jane and the hammer, and must be reassured of its master’s fidelity.  It’s a very peculiar ménage á quatre that’s good for some smiles.

And yet Jane’s presence casts a pall over the proceedings, since her medical condition is terminal, and her exercise of her new powers brings her end ever closer.  Since this is a comic-book movie, of course, death is never really the end, but a lighthearted mood can’t really be sustained in such circumstances.

Gorr, moreover, is played utterly straight by Bale, whose gaunt, haunted look might well remind you of his near-spectral appearance in “The Machinist.”  When he’s not exuding despair, he’s expressing venomous hatred, and even his last-moment transition is uncompromising.

This juxtaposition of the genial with the downbeat is more pronounced here than in most other MCU films, and it can be disconcerting.  For the most part, though, Waititi pulls it off, and his collaborators contribute to the effort.  Aside from Bale’s obvious commitment, Hemsworth has Thor down pat by now, and perhaps his energy is enhanced by the fact that this is something of a family affair, with his children taking part (his daughter fairly prominently), and his brother as well.  Portman, like Bale, adds a note of gravity to the proceedings, but also seems to enjoy her Mighty Thor scenes, while Thompson makes a vigorous Valkyrie.  (One of her scenes might cause distribution problems for Disney along the lines of those they faced with “Lightyear.”)  And Waititi’s voicework is droll.

The picture is typically well crafted, of course, the technical team coming through with visuals that are eye-catching and sometimes positively perverse: the sight of a Viking ship flying through the sky drawn by two giant-sized goats isn’t something you see every day.  Nigel Phelps’ production design is cheeky (see, once again, that Zeus sequence), as are Mayes C. Rubeo’s costumes, while the huge effects team supervised by Jake Morrison do their usual accomplished work, and the creature and prosthetic designs by Adam Johansen also seize on the myriad opportunities the narrative outlandishness affords.  Michael Giacchino’s score does the expected, and some will be taken by the use of old pop songs (with Guns N’ Roses taking pride of place) in the battle scenes; others may find the device hokey.                               

All told, “Love and Thunder” isn’t up to the standard of “Ragnarok,” and the changes of tone can be jarring.  But compared to other recent MCU product, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Shang Chi” being the welcome exceptions, it’s a reasonably enjoyable lark, showing that Waititi can still put his stamp on what’s mostly become an assembly-line operation.