Mighty Thor!

Just saw Thor. I enjoyed it, though I've definitely seen better films. Some off the top of my head reactions:

Things I liked:

• The main three human characters were likable and interesting, as was Thor. I liked the inclusion of Stellan Skarsgard as a northern European boggling incredulously when Thor mentions random Norse mythology.
  
• The plot wasn't totally predictable, was a nice change from the usual superhero fare and had me pretty engaged.
  
• The combination of JMS's story and Kenneth Branagh directing made for some effective godly epicness in parts.
  
• There were TWO moderately significant female characters who could just as easily have been male (a research assistant and Thor's friend Sif) and at no point become anyone's love interest/mother etc.
  

Things I didn't like:

• I get the feeling actual Northern Europeans would find the portrayal of Norse mythology hilariously terrible.
  
• Loki had no sense of humour! None! He was good at tricking people but he didn't seem to be having a lot of fun doing it. Admittedly, my understanding of Loki's personality is based on possibly dodgy retellings, and this is based on the comics, but overall he could have been more interesting than he was.
  
• Thor, Odin and Loki were the only Asgardians with much of a personality, everyone else's plot and arc was very much All About Thor.
  
• The combination of JMS's story and Kenneth Branagh directing meant a lot of self important cheese. Also the sets looked silly.
  
• The ending wasn't as cliched as I was expecting, but felt rushed and confused, and didn't have the emotional weight they seemed to be going for.
  

Overall I think I really benefited from having a very shallow understanding of Norse mythology. All the talk about Bifrost was a bit surreal since the only other time I've really seen it mentioned was the scifi novel "Strength of Stones" about sentient cities, and I kept thinking of Stargate.