Chris Hemsworth in a scene from "Thor: Love and Thunder."

It’s understandable that after a franchise has released nearly 30 films, the whole genre starts to feel a little stale. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been churning out films since 2008’s “Iron Man” and now, halfway through its so-called fourth phase of stories with the latest installment, “Thor: Love and Thunder,” things just aren’t what they used to be.

While the previous stand-alone adventure with the himbo Norse God of Thunder, 2017’s “Thor: Ragnarok” has been heralded as one of the best films in the MCU thanks to its infectious humor, fresh take on the genre, the vibrant directorial style of Taika Waititi (who co-wrote this latest venture’s script with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson) and star Chris Hemsworth’s impeccable comedic chops. It brought about a whole new spin on the franchise, bringing in different directors with different storytelling backgrounds and opening it all up to something new. There have been varying results to the method, but that’s on par with the rest of the films in the genre, but with Thor, expectations were high.

Knowing what can be done with the character in the capable hands of Waititi and Hemsworth, it was thrilling to know that they would team up again for this latest film, bringing back Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie — now the new king of the displaced Asgardians — who’s platonic chemistry with Hemsworth was off the charts, Waititi’s loveable rock creature Korg, and even Natalie Portman’s Dr. Jane Foster, who not-so-subtly left the franchise after the abysmal “Thor: The Dark World” (2013).

Picking up a short time after the events of “Avengers: Endgame” we find Thor teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy as he gets back in shape, “helps” them with various missions and ultimately tries to go Zen and find himself worthy again. Well, after a “classic Thor adventure” in his words, the god and the Guardians decide to go their separate ways once he learns there is a god killer on the loose.

Heading back to New Asgard, which has become a tourist destination, he finds god killer Gorr (Christian Bale) has also arrived. Thor and the rest of the Asgardians battle shadow monsters, and when our brawny blonde is distracted at the sight of his ex-girlfriend Jane now wielding his old hammer as the Mighty Thor, Gorr kidnaps the children of the village.

So Thor, Jane, Valkyrie and Korg head out to save the kids, enlist the other gods for assistance and stop Gorr at all costs.

“Love and Thunder” is still a fun way to spend two hours at the movies. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, though none of them really stands out or works as well as they did in “Ragnarok.” You can’t tell if this is a writing/directing choice from Waititi’s team, or if it was an edict from the upper ups at Marvel to make it fit within their formula. And it does fit in that very rigid way of storytelling, but it loses a lot of that comedic heart that we knew before.

Because of all that, “Love and Thunder” is just … fine. It’s not bad necessarily, but with so much potential, audiences may end up feeling only “whelmed” by it.

One issue arises during the more serious scenes and moments. The film moves on too quickly from those emotional beats. It never gives its actors time to fill them out, and as such, it doesn’t give the audience time to process or feel them effectively. Instead, the movie darts to a joke or schtick to keep the pacing up.

Another problem lies within the story itself (slight spoiler here) and involves using a female-presenting character’s plight to drive the male-presenting protagonist toward his end goal. I won’t divulge more than that, but it’s something Waititi has done before, and it’s irksome.

“Love and Thunder” is loud and gregariously shot with plenty of dad-rock needle drops to put a grin on your face, but many of the action sequences don’t come off as well as they did in “Ragnarok.” Again, “Love and Thunder” falls victim to the MCU formula, with specific beats rigorously dictating the direction the film takes.

However, I cannot stress enough that it is not a bad film. I love seeing Thor on another adventure with his friends and former lover. I love the scale and the style that is on screen, the diversity of characters and nonchalant queerness (though they could have taken it much further; it feels more like a side note), and even the quick inclusion of various languages including Maori gave me immense joy. But it just never goes far enough to reach its potential. It feels more routine than it should, and even with fun performances — Bale, for instance, is surprisingly good — it never stands out the way its predecessor did.

On screens this week: More book adaptations hit the big screen with “Where the Crawdads Sing” and “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” (catch my review of the latter next week) opening in theaters this week, as well as “Persuasion,” dropping on Netflix. Plus, animated action-comedy “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank” kicks into theaters and John Cho’s drama about a terminally ill dad reuniting with his estranged ex, “Don’t Make Me Go,” premieres on Amazon Prime.

“Thor: Love and Thunder”

119 minutes

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, some suggestive material and partial nudity.

3 stars