There were plenty of winning strikes when the hammer and the Asgardian were brought back for a second instalment of Thor.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Natalie Portman as the superhero's mortal love interest Jane Foster were an unbeatable match, as was the careful and tenuous relationship between Thor and adopted brother Locki.
This was worked in with battle scenes which were no doubt brutal but had that comic and Disney feel of no-one actually dying so there was no risk of the audience falling through the war-movie trapdoor.
Instead, Thor: The Dark World was constantly upbeat - somehow despite the horrifying faces of the Dark Elves, who seek to reinstate the universe to how it was before its creation.
What the film depicted was a flawless construction of worlds humans, with the exception of Ms Foster, are not privileged to know.
Battles were fought, won and lost and the budget available to director Alan Taylor and the production team at Walt Disney Studios did not disappoint - delivering an endless supply of hammer throws, terrifying armies of Dark Elves and their equally terrifying vertical ships.
It was satisfying not to predict the next 10 minutes every 10 minutes, as so often is the fate for films with comic origins - and many Disney films - after the plot and scene has been established.
I will admit to not reading the comic so am not rating the film purely on what was seen in the cinema.
And most will like what they see, but if anyone was to have broken into the editing room before the film was released they could have deleted what was a constant grate but seems to be necessary for American fans - this of course is the slapstick comic relief.
Thor: The Dark World - 3D (M)
Starring: Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers), Natalie Portman (Thor), Anthony Hopkins (Hitchcock), Tom Hiddleston (Thor)
Director: Alan Taylor (Kill the Poor).
Screening: Reading Cinemas Queenstown
Four stars (out of five)
