'Thor: Rangarok' revitalizes the full-blown action comedy

I remember scoffing back when one of my film professors said -- and I'm paraphrasing -- that there are essentially about five or six different kinds of stories and its basically the way that you tell them that makes them unique and interesting. There's romance, comedy, horror, suspense, action and drama.

For some time now I've floated the theory that the superhero genre was essentially a revisionist form of the western -- and I think the comparison definitely applies to a film like Logan or even The Dark Knight, which are both meditations on the nature of heroism and feature flawed but noble men in search of meaning.

Then there's Thor: Rangarok, which is in no way deep, but which comes from a completely different world entirely -- the long forgotten art of the action comedy. Action comedies were once Hollywood's bread and butter and somewhere along the way the movies started to tamp down on the humor in order to -- I guess -- appear more badass.

But the Marvel movies have by-and-large, sneakily realized that they have a comic gold mine on their hands with these larger-than-life characters mixing it up with each other. It all started with the casting of the fast-talking, quip-heavy Robert Downey, Jr. in the Iron Man movies, which then broadened out the high stakes office comedy of The Avengers.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor

Now, by tapping the great New Zealand director Taika Waititi (who made the new cult classic comedies What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople), the producers of this sequel have fully embraced the silliness of the form and its titular character, and in doing so they've produced one the most enjoyable entries in their seemingly never-ending assembly line.

One of the only positive takeaways from the recent reboot of Ghostbusters was that Chris Hemsworth (who now can play Thor in his sleep) has great comic timing that contrasts wonderfully with his massive, imposing physique and startling good looks. With each turn as Thor he's become goofier and more lovable, and while he is still very credible in action scenes, the more his lunkheadedness is played up, the better these movies get.

He's aided tremendously by a very vibrant cast -- Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Hiddleston and Mark Ruffalo (back as the Hulk) -- all steal scenes in their supporting roles. And the look of the film itself -- a multicolored rainbow of visual delights with arguably the best Marvel score/soundtrack to date -- is also like a breath of fresh air.

Cate Blanchett looks incredible as the big baddie, although like a lot of Marvel villains her character's motivation is lacking and she is pretty underdeveloped, but she's still fun. In fact, nothing in the movie really drags -- because again it has the pacing that action comedies in the '80s and '90s perfected.

They leave room for jokes and for character, but they are always moving. Even a perfunctory but amusing cameo from another major character in the Marvel universe doesn't gum up the works too much. This one aims to please and doesn't miss.

Marvel has simply figured out how to keep these movies from feeling too routine. And with Black Panther on the way there doesn't appear to be any signs that these movies are losing steam. I do wonder what will happen when some of these actors simply want to move on with their lives.

For instance, I don't envy the actor who has to fill Hemsworth's shoes someday as Thor, or Hugh Jackman's as Wolverine for that matter. Part of the reason I think Ben Affleck's Batman doesn't work -- besides the films being subpar -- is it feels as though he can bring nothing to the part that Michael Keaton and Christian Bale haven't already.

It's hard to dispute though how satisfying these movies can be because they spend their enormous budgets right, and they do champion diversity and they are genuinely funny.

What more could you want from a blockbuster right now?