Marvel Studios have made some inspired choices in terms of their directors. Joe Johnston for Captain America, John Favreau for Iron Man 1 & 2, they've even roped in Joss Whedon for The Avengers and Shane Freaking Black for Iron Man 3, so grabbing Kenneth "I'm Shakespeare's Love Child" Branagh for Thor seems like a no brainer. And it works. For the most part at least.
Thor immediately knows how utterly ludicrous its mythology is and plays it as such. Whilst there are moments of gravitas to be found, for the most part the film is a light hearted family affair that breezes along on the fun wagon, helped in part by the perfectly capable cast.
There are problems with it: its breeziness results in a film that, whilst fun, has little in the way of staying power, the human characters are uninteresting and underwritten and it gets so goofy at times that it almost becomes childish. But to fault a film too harshly with the narrative this has is a superfluous exercise. At least it knows it's silly.
3.5/5
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