Director Taika Waititi’s second go around with the God of Thunder proves to be more spoof than smash, with Thor: Love and Thunder sacrificing stakes for silliness in a new low for the once mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Too much of a good thing” is what comes to mind when watching Thor: Love and Thunder. Waititi  is indeed a gifted filmmaker who has successfully adapted his brand of quirky Kiwi humour to the Hollywood model, yet there is a lazy goofiness to …Love and Thunder that zaps any magnetism, any charisma, and any semblance of stakes from the latest story involving the Asgardian Avenger. To go along with its neon-dripped colour palate, Thor: Love and Thunder is like a big bowl of rainbow ice-cream: pretty and full of sugar, yet with no nutritional value.

Thor: Love and Thunder catches up with Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) as he completes his inter-galactic adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy. With loveable rock monster Korg (voiced by Waititi) by his side and a sleigh of flying goats to call his own, Thor returns to New Asgard where he comes face-to-face with Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), a dangerous new foe who has made it his quest to kill of the gods.

Perhaps the biggest draw of Thor: Love and Thunder is the return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, the one-time love interest of Thor who is dying from cancer. In desperation, Foster visits the shattered remnants of Mjolnir, where the mighty Norse weapon indeed finds Foster worthy and transforms her into a new version of Thor (or Lady Thor, if you will). It is an interesting twist to the Thor-Jane Foster love story, yet one that Waititi handles with the maturity of a fifth grader, focusing too often on a love triangle of sorts between Thor, Foster, and Mjolnir, with which Thor interacts like a scorned ex-lover.

It is one of several over-the-top gags in Thor: Love and Thunder that renders to film to a parody. When Thor was first brought to the big screen the character had a Shakespearean quality about him, combined with a warrior spirit that projected itself through Hemsworth’s impressive physical stature. Now the once mighty Norse-god has been relegated to being the clown prince of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a character that we often laugh at rather then laugh with.

The light tone and goofy spirit of Thor: Love and Thunder often clashes with the films main theme: death. While Jane Foster deals with her dwindling mortality, the films villain Gorr (a wasted Christian Bale) embarks on a quest to slaughter the gods who he blames for the death of his daughter, Love (played by Hemsworth’s daughter India Rose). The goofy nature of Waititi’s approach to …Love and Thunder robs the film of the stakes needed to take any of this seriously. It surely feels like Waititi doesn’t.