There is some irony that many were quick to write off the Thunderbolts* movie as the Marvel Cinematic Universe answer to The Suicide Squad. The original comic started with a unique premise but quickly degraded into Marvel Comics‘ version of Suicide Squad. By contrast, the Thunderbolts* film starts off as a cliché comedy about a team of misfits and metamorphizes into something else. Something that is not just good, but easily the most innovative and exciting production to come out of Marvel Studios in years.
Thunderbolts* opens on Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), who is in a bit of a rut. Depressed following the death of her older sister and estranged from her father Alexi (David Harbour), she finds herself running covert mission after covert mission with little sense as to why she should bother. Thankfully, her controller, CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), is sympathetic and promises her a more forward-facing role if she’ll agree to one last job.
(Image Credit: Marvel Studios)
The job takes her to an remote bunker, where Yelena finds herself surrounded by other covert operatives. These include professional thief Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), disgraced Captain America successor John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and the mercenary Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). It also includes a man named Bob (Lewis Pullman) who has no idea how he got there.
(Image Credit: Marvel Studios)
It soon becomes apparent that the bunker is a deathtrap. This is all part of Valentina’s efforts to cover her tracks as she faces impeachment and prison time for, well, hiring the Thunderbolts* to do her dirty work. This sends them on the run from the government and puts them in the crosshairs of the former Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), who is running his own investigation into Valentina’s crimes.
Fans will doubtlessly find many points of comparison between Thunderbolts* and earlier MCU films. I myself was reminded of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. Not because both movies center around a team of misfits forced into a heroic role or because of the comedy, but because it defied my expectations repeatedly.
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One of the chief ways it did this was having far more heart than one would expect in a movie full of antiheroes. Most of this is expressed through the relationship between Red Guardian and Yelena. I know David Harbour to be a talented actor capable of great range, but I expected him to simply be the comic relief in Thunderbolts* and nothing more.
(Image Credit: Marvel Studios)
However, while Alexi may be simple, he is far from stupid. He also has the most powerful speech in the film. This comes as he reminds Yelena why she wanted to be a goalie on her childhood soccer team; She wanted to be the one everyone relies on when they make a mistake. That sums up her character in a nutshell, and the reminder likewise sums up Alexi.
Unfortunately, most of the ensemble do not have similar moments of revelation. Indeed, most of them have no reason to believe themselves capable of being any better than they already are. And yet, they stand up in the end because someone must. This theme of redemption rings throughout the screenplay by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo.
(Image Credit: Marvel Studios)
Director Jake Schreier does a fantastic job with the film’s many action sequences. I noticed no questionable CGI here compared to other recent superhero movies. This may have been due to Thunderbolts* reported use of practical effects over CGI. In any case, there are many intense psychodrama sequences that seem more at home in a horror film.
(Image Credit: Marvel Studios)
In the end, Thunderbolts* is just what the MCU needed to remind us of why we like these silly superhero movies so much. It is not a perfect film, but it delivers a valuable message that we are sometimes better than we think. That we can be the heroes we are waiting for. And, most importantly, that we are not alone.
Grade: 9/10
Thunderbolts* is now playing in movie theaters everywhere.