Film: Thunderbolts*

 

GENRE: Superhero Action
RATING: PG-13 for violence, language and thematic elements
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 6 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Florence Pugh (Midsommar, Black Widow, A Good Person)
Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice); Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick)
DIRECTOR: Jake Schreier (Beef, Robot & Frank, Kidding)
WRITERS: Eric Pearson (Black Widow, Thor: Ragnarok, Transformers One)
Joanna Calo (The Bear, Beef, BoJack Horseman)
PLOT: The anti-heroes of past Marvel films team up to stop a threat.        

FULL DISCLOSURE: Mix of lowered expectations and hoping for good stuff.

STORY STUFF: I really liked this film. I personally think they should have ended the franchise with Endgame but this made me interested again after a string of ho-hum Marvel phases. The subject matter gets pretty deep with a lot of talk about depression and loneliness but they handle it incredibly well. If you look at the director and writer, you can tell that this is not your typical Marvel roster of behind-the-scenes talent. What I really enjoyed about this film is that the group stuck together for the majority of the time instead of splitting them off so they could shine without the others. It’s the relationships that are at the heart of this film. I liked the pacing and I’m glad there were a bunch of well-crafted funny lines to break up the seriousness. I do think watching Black Widow and the Falcon & the Winter Soldier series would be helpful to get a better understanding of a few characters but it is not necessary.

ACTING STUFF: Pugh is amazing. She is so captivating to watch as she taps into real emotion and character work that it almost seems unfair to be in a Marvel film. David Harbour (Stranger Things) is also bringing his A game with both comic relief for the group and powerful emotional moments with Pugh. And then you have Sebastian Stan just coming in like a rockstar in every scene. I did not like Wyatt Russell in the Falcon & Winter Soldier series but he grew on me in this film as his dickishness was necessary and also added some humour. Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost surprisingly doesn’t get much to do except use her cool fighting powers – I don’t get a sense about her character’s personality. And while I like Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld), I still find it odd to have her in a film like this. Finally, Pullman was maybe a tad too geeky but I still enjoyed his performance as Bob.

ARTISTIC STUFF: I like that there was a lot less green screen in this film. Way to use the Utah landscape folks! The mountain bunker and upper tower fight sequences were done incredibly well. There’s a point when New York is getting taken over by blackness and it just reminded me of a Spider-Man cartoon episode where black goo takes over the city with some humourous repetition. What I would have liked in this film is more of a soundtrack. I like Starship’s “Nothing’s Going to Stop Us Now” but felt there should be a few more needledrops – maybe in Red Guardian’s limo. By the way, after a wonderful end credit magazine sequence, there is a funny stinger and then there is an important one at the very end. This one was more worth it than the past string of stingers.

VERDICT: Four and a half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You are able to give Marvel another chance.
UPCOMING REVIEW: Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning