By the hoary frost of Heimdall’s beard, THOR is the mightiest Marvel Studios film yet! Well, I think so anyway. What’s not to like about a movie that is, to put it simply, an epic fantasy superhero love story of brotherly love and betrayal, mixed with plenty of appropriate humor and based on Norse myth. To be clear, the movie focuses on the Marvel Comics character Thor who is loosely based on the Norse deity. Naturally, Marvel exercised much creative license over the years.

The movie–directed by Kenneth Branagh and written by Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz and Don Payne–is done with a Shakespearean approach well-suited to such larger than life characters and in keeping with the comics. That said, it doesn’t take itself too seriously nor stray into the realm of cheddar, which was my biggest concern coming in. Thor has always been a difficult character for writers to pull off, walking a narrow path between ridiculous and mythic. The Nordic deity didn’t have this problem, but Thor who sometimes encounters characters like Spiderman or, say, Batroc the Leaper, does.

As a fan of the character, and the Avengers in general, I have awaited this movie most of my life, but I never thought it would happen. I wasn’t disappointed. I can’t imagine any fan not loving it. And I have yet to meet anyone who didn’t at least like the movie after seeing it.

The movie currently stands at 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, which only proves to me that 22% of reviewers have no taste in good superhero movies. (Ignore Roger Ebert’s review, unless you want to be amused after seeing the movie. He failed to grasp basics that any first grader could handle.)

As the story begins, King Odin of Asgard (Anthony Hopkins) is proclaiming his hammer-wielding son Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to be his official heir when a trio of frost giants attempt to steal the Cask of Eternal Winters. Odin wishes to deal with this diplomatically, but Thor insists on teaching those damnable frost giants a thing or two. (Long ago when Thor was but a child, the Asgardians defeated the frost giants and seized the casket: a bloody flashback of this opens the movie. Peace has since reigned.)

When Thor’s adolescent actions nearly lead to open warfare, Odin banishes Thor to Midgard (Earth), where he must learn humility or he will never regain his immortality or the power of his hammer, Mjolnir.

On Earth, Thor runs into three scientists, most notably Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who is stricken by his god-bod sexiness. And perhaps his improving personality?

When Odin falls into the Odin sleep, his other son Loki (Tom Hiddleston) takes throne and begins to machinate most mightily whilst SHIELD messes around with Thor’s hammer and gets in the way.

The action in the beginning sequences with frost giant battles and Asgardian splendor are breathtaking. I saw the movie in iMax 3D, and while I’m not normally a fan of movies that appear in more than 2 dimensions, 3D made the grandeur of Thor more … well … grand. I also found the soundtrack by Patrick Doyle to be most heroic and impressive, one of the best I’ve heard in some time.

The plot is fast, engrossing, and well-done, but I think this was more of a character story than anything. A coming of age story for Thor and Loki, even if they are grown men… gods… Asgardians… whatever.

Speaking of characters, Balder the Brave is notably absent, probably because having him around adds too much complication with little payoff. But fans will be pleased to find Thor’s companions the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three: Fandral the Dashing, Volstagg the Voluminous, and Hogun the Grim. I wasn’t crazy about the actor who played Hogun. I thought his accent too strong off-putting, but his part is small. Otherwise, the characters were well portrayed and added depth and humor to the movie. Dr. Foster’s assistant, Darcy (Kat Dennings) was beyond hilarious.

Heimdall, played by Idris Elba, is every bit as awesome as one would expect. In addition to being a badass, Heimdall has cool powers and is one of the most powerful of the Asgardians.

Chris Hemsworth makes for a believable Thor, and the ladies seem to like his muscled looks quite a lot. But Tom Hiddleston’s performance as Loki was marvelous. He deftly added nuance to the character as he was able not only to portray depth but swiftly switch between different subtle emotional displays. To me, Loki’s tragic relationship with his brother and father steals the show. Loki’s motives, however, seem to be lost on some viewers, especially critics. Loki is not your typical “I want to mess stuff up because I’m evil” character. His motivations are nuanced and personal.

Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) appears in the movie briefly, bow and all. (That’s Hawkeye to those lacking extensive knowledge of the Avengers.) Those few brief minutes made me feel like a kid again. I’m not exaggerating. I nearly leapt out of my seat.

So what’s not to like? I have no major complaints. The movie hit every note that a Thor movie should hit.

While the special effects were great, the costumes were a bit glitzy for my taste. But how does one pull off the translation of colorful, fantastic Asgard from the comics into a movie? They didn’t want to do a drab historical look, thank the gods, but I could have done with a little less bling.

The Foo Fighters song as the credits scroll bugs the crap out of me, even after a second viewing. Nothing wrong with the Foo Fighters, but metal would be far more appropriate. Viking metal. There’s no shortage. I would have recommended the Faroese metal band Tyr because they’re fret-thundering musicians, because they’re sincere about honoring the old ways, and because the band is named for the same deity.

All in all, if you like Marvel Comic’s Thor, you will love this movie. And if you’re unfamiliar with the character but like superheroes or epic fantasy action, I think that at the very least you will like the movie, if not love it. And don’t forget, since THOR serves as a lead-in to next summer’s THE AVENGERS, you must wait until the end of the credits to see the ultra cool sneak peek. (You see now why the Foo Fighters song bugs me so.)