Thor: Love and Thunder: there is, of course, nothing inherently serious about the space adventures of a mythological god turned super-hero, but director Taika Waititi takes that silliness and keeps cranking it up and up and up until the whole thing becomes essentially unbearable, simply because most jokes land with a heavy thud. It’s not a surprise the film is at its best when it gets more serious. It wastes an interesting (but typically simplistic) villain, powerful and with a relatable motivation; it is a good, creepy creation by Christian Bale. The film also disrespects one of its own heroes, the newly introduced Mighty Thor, making her a bag of muscles with fighting prowess and little else; Natalie Portman is in impressive physical shape but has little to do. The same can be said of Tessa Thompson. Chris Hemsworth is in tremendous physical shape, exploited almost to the limit, and he deals well enough with the change of key of his character. The production designer Nigel Phelps’ work is pretty good, mainly in evidence as a particular city is visited briefly. Everything else is pretty competent but unmemorable.

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