Like seeing a green sprout in a long dead plant, Thunderbolts* is actually… good??
A reluctant Yelena is sent on yet another mission. But when this particular mission aims to see her dead, she finds herself part of a team. A team of misfits. Can these rebels figure out what’s going on?
Thunderbolts* is an MCU movie at a time when Marvel/Disney are at an all time low. Entries like The Marvels and The Eternals doing nothing but damage to the cinematic universe’s reputation. Deadpool 3 was an irreverent aberration. While Captain America: Brave New World barely moved the needle. Incredibly, seemingly from nowhere, this film is actually really good. With some obvious caveats.
Directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* returns to the screen various “bit players” from previous movies. Sebastian Stan (Captain America: Winter Soldier) Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Olga Kurylenko (all from Black Widow), Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man & The Wasp) and others from Marvel Disney+ shows. Now if that isn’t a segue into what’s wrong with the movie, I don’t know what is.
Yes, this movie requires homework. With the MCU almost knocked out at this stage, we have to look objectively at how they are drawing in audiences. Thunderbolts* is an excellent MCU movie, one of the best, probably. But if you, like many, haven’t seen the Disney+ show Falcon & The Winter Soldier, and Black Widow, and Ant-Man & the Wasp… You are going to wonder who these people are and why you should especially care. Especially Black Widow, which really wasn’t very good.
But fans will say that this is how the MCU works, which is true. This new movie is like a lower grade Avengers Assemble from 2012. Explosively bringing together different characters from different movies. This shared D.N.A with Avengers is likely part of its success, but it borrows from other reputable sources too. This film is grittier and grungier looking than any other MCU movie. The character designs are darker with muted colours (like a Zack Snyder movie, har har) the scenarios their in are often shadowy and subdued. The characters are generally unlikeable. This evokes the small-screen show The Boys, but less violent. But there’s also a certain “classic” comic book movie vibe here too. There’s a lighter, airier feel to the plot that comes with being untethered to the greater MCU.
Director Jake Schreier might be unknown to many, and certainly finding he directed 2012’s Robot & Frank won’t dissuade anyone. Not exactly an action-blockbuster. The action in Thunderbolts* is very good. It is much more “grounded”. However the movie is resoundingly not action-orientated, and that is where its strength lies.
Forgiving the fact that the characters originate from other movies, the film does incredibly well making us sympathize and empathise with them. Florence Pugh (Oppenheimer, We Live in Time) absolutely gives it her all. Far more conviction and gravitas than is ever required for an MCU movie. She sticks the landing in every scene, and elevates “another comic book movie” into something greater. David Harbour and Wyatt Russell keep her honest, but generally enliven the script’s moodier moments.
It certainly has moodier moments. How does a team of dead-beats fight anything substantial with success? Mostly they don’t. But the story delves into psychology instead. This movie is more emotionally investing than many of the recent MCU movies, with Guardians of the Galaxy 3 as the most recent comparison. Considering that had several previous films backing it up, this is no small feat.
A real bolt from the blue. If you can tolerate the prior reading material, or can go with the flow, Thunderbolts* is a good time at the cinema. It isn’t CGI heavy, like so many Marvel movies are now. It has heart and some real emotional beats. If Marvel can keep this sort of human-driven storytelling, they might be onto something.
