Hey everybody and welcome back to a brand new review! For this one, I will be looking into the second MCU entry on the docket for this year after February’s Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*. Based off of the comic team of the same name, the basic concept essentially involves various anti-heroes/villains forming a team, a la Suicide Squad. I’ll admit that when this movie was first announced, I was somewhat indifferent towards it. While I like quite a couple of the characters on the roster, I just didn’t really have a sense of excitement of seeing these specific individuals together as a team (especially as someone who hasn’t seen the Disney+ shows). That being said, the trailers for this increased my excitement exponentially as I thought they did a good job showcasing the film as it looked like a really fun ride with good company. Thus, I was looking forward in what this had in store! Was this able to rise to glory? Let’s jump right in and see if this team is worthy of being on the Wheaties box!
We are first re introduced to former Red Room assassin, Yelena Belova, who lives her life carrying out missions under the command of CIA director, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Finding herself unhappy with this line of work, she debates on whether she should quit and do something else with her life with her surrogate father, Alexi, convincing her to keep going at it. One night, she is called into a new mission where she is sent to take down someone breaking into a top secret facility, but ends up running into the likes of super powered criminal Ghost, disgraced former Captain America, John Walker, assassin, Taskmaster, and a mysterious man named Bob. After much confusion, they figure out that they have all been set up by Valentina who is trying to tie up any and all loose ends involved in her schemes. So now, they all have to work together in order to figure out what is going on and stop whatever nefarious schemes might be going down.
Putting aside any one’s feeling towards any of the characters here, one thing that can be agreed upon is that they are far from A list characters in the MCU and are viewed as minor in the grand scheme of things. This is something the movie actually acknowledges and uses that as the jumping off point to tell a surprisingly compelling story regarding these lost soul dealing with the mistakes of their pasts. Director, Jake Schreier, and writers, Eric Pearson, and Joanna Calo, succeed in crafting a highly entertaining team up story that manages to deliver the fun and enjoyability one would expect/hope for from an MCU production. The main conflict regarding Valentina and these individuals learning that they’ve been duped and trying to get out of it is set up well and I enjoyed seeing the various situations they would end up and having to try to begrudgingly work together to get out of. The comedy in the film lands consistently with the various arguments between the different characters getting some solid laughs and tonally it manages to strike a solid balance with humor never taking away from the more serious moments. I was even genuinely surprised at the direction the plot would take at times with there being some unexpected plot turns or just some aspects that go against the grain in regards to a typical MCU entry with the climactic battle being not what I thought it would be.
Admittedly, it can be a bit uneven at times, especially with the second act as it feels like there was more that could’ve been done before getting to the third act, but the character work and entertainment value are able to more than carry it. While the film is indeed a lot of fun, I just greatly admired the way it went about exploring its heavy subject matter in a way that I thought was thoughtful and made this super powered extravaganza feel real in a way. There is much said about mental health and how the harsh experiences of the past can shape one’s self and the writers use our knowledge of the characters to great effect in making use understand why they would connect with one another. These are all people who have faced lonely and at times inhumane existences and while those experiences just don’t go away, them learning to battle these demons and help one another push through made for an emotionally satisfying journey (almost plays like feature length therapy and I mean that as a compliment). One could call it an Earth bound Guardians of the Galaxy which I can see, but the film is able to have its own feel to make it more than just that.
One of the main criticisms surrounding MCU projects as of late have been that visually, they tend to suffer from an overuse of green screen and lack of interesting cinematography, criticisms that are valid. However, with Thunderbolts* I can say that this is one of the best looking ones in some time with Schrier making the decision to shoot on location and utilize more practical effects and stunt work which pays off well here. The film looks very nice, with Andrew Droz Palermo’s cinematography being very strong (unsurprising considering this is the man who shot The Green Knight) and he especially does a great job in his use of shadows to convey the darkness inside these characters and how it eats everything up. May not subtle, but still very effective symbolism. It also succeeds in capturing the more grounded (relatively speaking) feel of this one compared to some of the more fantastical entries and the CGI blended very well with the real world environments, never looking off like in other recent entries. Also was a fan of how certain costumes were translated into live action as they looked straight out of the comics.
As for the action, I was also quite fond of what was presented here. Like I said, there is a lot of really good stunt work present that adds to the intensity of certain sequences. The scenes themselves are a lot of fun and coherent with a couple of long takes that manage to be very effective. I also like how the scenes would showcase the different abilities and skillsets of the different characters, with an early 1st act skirmish inside the warehouse being a good example as we see just how dysfunctional these guys are. As the film goes on, we see them use their skills together as a team and I like how rough and tumble they are as a unit compared to the Avengers. Another angle I appreciated about there were beats focused on saving civilians than taking down bad guys which was honestly nice to see and ended up being among the more powerful moments of the feature. I would also say that Son Lux’s score for the film is the best MCU composition in quite some time as it often plays like an oft kilter version of the main Avengers theme and is quite the heavy hitter at its best.
The movie may be called Thunderbolts*, but it also functions as a follow up to Black Widow considering how big of a focus Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova is here. She’s essentially the main character here and as someone who was fond of her in the underrated MCU solo prequel, I really loved what was done with her character in this flick. Pugh is terrific, conveying the character’s deadpan wit with ease in a way that’s funny, but also in a manner that serves as a cover for the emotional turmoil she’s going through. We get to see more of her internal struggles as someone a adrift in life (as she lays out in the amusing opening sequence) and I like how she comes to find some emotional support in these other broken individuals she meets. David Harbour also returns from Black Widow as Red Guardian and he is just as boisterous and hilarious as ever providing some great laughs, but also an engrossing relationship with Yelena that helps make them into some of my favorite recent additions to the MCU. The rest of the team members are able to make notable impressions with Sebastian Stan’s Bucky being the veteran of the group, serving the experienced one who has been through various hardships before. His subplot as a congressman trying to take down Valentina is also fun and adds another layer to the story. Meanwhile Wyatt Russell is fun as the military expert, John Walker, and Hannah John-Kamen brings some neat sass to Ghost (underrated MCU antagonist that was nice to see again) that I enjoyed. I wish we could’ve seen more of them (as well as Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster) as I really enjoyed whenever they appeared, it just felt like there was more they could’ve done.
As for Valentina, I thought she made for an appropriately sleazy foe for the group (essentially a slimy Nick Fury) with Julia Louis-Dreyfus nailing the role. Despite not having seen the show, the film does a good job getting across the necessary aspects of her character and I like that as cynical as she is, there is still some solid depth added to her that made her more interesting and not too dissimilar from our ragtag group of anti heroes. Her main goal to bring heroes back to forefront for public approval (much to the chagrin of Wendall Pierce’s amusingly annoyed congressman, Gary) could also be read as how the MCU is now in regards to battling audience fatigue (intentional or not, it can definitely be read in such a way). I also liked Geraldine Viswanathan as her young assistant, Mal, who has her moral compass challenged when she figures out Valentina’s nefarious motivations and questions what good can be done in this world, serving as the anti thesis of her boss. The stand out for me alongside Yelena though would have to be Bob. Without giving anything away regarding the character (though if you’ve been following this film’s production, you probably already know who he really is), I thought his storyline was immensely compelling thanks to how his character is written and a fantastic and nuanced performance from Lewis Pullman. He makes for a complicated individual who has good intentions but is constantly manipulated by those around him and lives an isolated existence. His interactions with the Thunderbolts only add to his arc and his inner conflict and happens to him proves to be a highlight of the feature adding a lot of emotional oomph that culminates in a deeply intimate and emotional climax.
All in all, I found Thunderbolts* to be a breath of fresh air for the MCU, proving to be one of their more unique entries to date. It could’ve fleshed certain aspects of the story more and I wish more time was dedicated to some of the characters. However, it is still a highly enjoyable team up flick that has plenty of strong humor, tackles some powerful themes in a thoughtful manner, is visually strong, has some exciting action, and showcases some terrific performances. For those who are fans of these characters or just want to watch a very entertaining comic book flick, I think this more than does the job and I feel it could win back over some who may have given up on the MCU as it does remind me of the quality level that was once expected from them each time out. Considering the lack of strong feelings I had towards the project’s inception, I’m very happy to find myself highly enjoying the final product as much as I did and my appreciation for a lot of the characters has definitely grown. It is both entertaining while having things to say which is something one ideally hopes for from any high quality blockbuster.
Side Note: There are two after credits scenes. The first is a very funny pay off to a joke in the film, while the second plays an important role in establishing the team’s role in the future of the MCU. I’ll admit that (without giving anything away) that considering the way things end up being by the end of the film… I’m disappointed we’ll have almost no time dedicated to seeing the status quo this film leaves off on before Avengers: Doomsday, as I think it would’ve been interesting to explore.
Rating: A-
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