I’ve grown wary of superhero movies.

They’re formulaic, they take themselves too seriously and it feels as though there has been a thousand of them over the last decade with very few standouts.

Thor Ragnarok is an exception.

Right from the opening moments when our muscled hero, Thor, is swinging helplessly in chains and interrupts his fiery enemy’s declaration of war with his back turned, you know this movie is going to be a welcome departure from the norm.

It’s branded Marvel but this really is the New Zealand director Taika Waititi’s show.

It’s fun and irreverent.

It never takes itself too seriously - in fact, most of the fun is in taking the piss - and it has a great cast who have piled on for what is one of the best Marvel films yet.

Keep an eye out for some stellar cameos in the first 20 minutes.

In many ways this is an anti-hero film.

Thor, played by Australian Chris Hemsworth, and his mischievous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) are stripped of their power in an off-world exchange with their wretched older sister, Hela the Goddess of Death (Cate Blanchett).

The pair are cast out to a planet that appears to be quite literally the arse-end of the world.

This theme is rammed home by their only escape route being hilariously through a portal known locally as "the Devil’s anus”.

The hammerless Thor is picked up by a fallen Valkyrie-turned-scrapper (Tessa Thompson) and sold as a gladiator slave to the camp and malevolent Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum).

It’s a race against time to find an escape, befriend the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) again and get back to Asgard where Hela is raising the dead and certain destruction.

Blanchett is a brilliant villain and she’s in her element embodying the Goddess of Death.

Special mention to Karl Urban as Skurge, who plays the spineless henchman.

Loki is a little tedious, but he doesn’t have much to work with in the script.

Waititi didn’t indulge in the well-covered ground of the brothers’ competitive relationship more than is necessary.

A brief throwback to their brotherly double-crossing of yore is dealt with efficiently.

Some of the best lines went to an imprisoned rock-man called Korg, voiced by Waititi himself.

Korg is intent on staging a prison break and befriends Thor in a thick New Zealand accent.

Anyone who loved Waititi’s hit 2016 movie The Hunt for the Wilderpeople will appreciate the inclusion of Rachel House, who plays Topaz, as the Grandmaster’s overly enthusiastic hench-woman.

Things really hit their stride when the band of heroes attempt escape to Asgard aboard the Grandmaster’s orgy aircraft.

Don’t miss Brisbane’s city streets dressed up as New York in some blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shots and some great, panoramic vistas of the stunning Gold Coast hinterland.

Thor: Ragnarok is an entertaining and funny film and injects some much-needed sass - and New Zealand humour - into the superhero genre.