Good news from Asgard! Kenneth Branagh, whose last foray into the fantastic was the overblown and overwrought
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, does not follow in the footsteps of Ang Lee with the release of
Thor, Paramount's latest entry into the Marvel cinematic canon. Many comics fans may breathe a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, avoiding Lee's missteps with 2003's
Hulk means only that Branagh has avoided pop culture shipwreck, for
Thor never attains the legendary status of the best comic book adaptations. In this, it actually compares to another iteration of the green gamma giant, Louis Leterrier's
The Incredible Hulk: enjoyable, fun, but ultimately slight. Not a bad place to be, but disappointing considering where it could have gone.
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