Thor's hammer aimed at funny bone

He may come from the comics books. But Thor's latest movie looks more like a kids coloring book, with splashes of intergalactic sherbet stretching to every corner of the page, I mean screen.

Marvel went into the God of Thunder's third movie with comedy on its mind. The first two flicks featuring the famous Norse gave us some light moments in a fish-out-of-water sense, but were, for the most part, straight ahead action packed heroics.

But by hiring Taika Waititi, a director with serious comic chops (check out the hilarious "What We Do in the Shadows") Marvel is aiming Thor's hammer directly at your funny bone.

That famous hammer doesn't make it through the first act, thanks to an angry sibling (Cate Blanchett) out for revenge and domination of Thor's homeworld of Asgard.

She sends Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to the far reaches of his universe to a planet where Jeff Goldblum oversees a gladiator culture with a great green giant as his champion.

The champ is of course the Hulk, and that Avengers reunion gives the movie it's boost to the final act and inevitable final battle for Asgard's soul.

Along the way there are plenty of laughs, and Hemsworth is game, and good as a funnier version of a character whose bluster and brawn can wear thin at times (Avengers movies).

Going full-on comedy was a gamble here, but one that also paid off in the recent Spider-Man movie, and in this case makes for another entertaining movie in the ongoing Marvel universe.