‘Thunderbolts*’ Review

When ‘Avengers: Endgame’ came out in 2019, it was a triumphant, if flawed, pay off to a twelve year build up of Marvel entertainment. Since then, Marvel has done even more, but has lacked the cohesion and clarity of vision that built that mega success. As the universe, and multiverses, kept getting bigger, the individual movies mattered less and less. You could rarely just sit down and watch a new Marvel movie, or TV show, or miniseries, or sequel, you needed to be up to date on all of the other movies and TV shows and miniseries and sequels to know who is who and what’s going on and why. Marvel stopped making movies, and instead leaned into making a decades spanning TV series with two and a half hour long episodes with increasingly nonsensical plots and tones.

All of this to say, ‘Thunderbolts*’ is a delightful, simple return to form for Marvel. Without achieving anything groundbreaking or visionary, ‘Thunderbolts*’ tells a concise, self contained story with a clear beginning, middle and end. The story and its characters tie into the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe, of course, but it’s not necessary to have studied all of the sacred texts in order to enjoy this film.

‘Thunderbolts*’ opens with a bold, dark tone. Yelena (Florence Pugh) stands atop a skyscraper and explains the call of the void through voice over before jumping off of the building. She eventually pulls the cord for a parachute and rolls into an action sequence, but the film makes its intentions clear: this movie will deal with some heavy topics including depression, suicidal thoughts, self doubt. The characters are all broken, traumatized people who have been rejected by the world and use their own pain to lash out at anybody who dares try to get close to them. These themes feel new to the Marvel Universe, and even though they are eventually handled too literally in the climactic action sequences, they work to build empathy and understanding for the cast of antiheroes.

The movie opens, as mentioned, with Yelena performing a mission for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the head of the CIA sporting her best Tulsi Gabbard hairstyle. Facing an impeachment inquiry, de Fontaine looks to eliminate all evidence of wrongdoing with her company, the O.X.E. Group, and sends Yelena to a hidden O.X.E. facility to follow somebody with designs to steal from the company’s secrets. When there, Yelena encounters John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). All of them are trained mercenaries working for the O.X.E. Group, and it is quickly made clear that they have all been given competing missions to ensure that none of them can ever be used as evidence of de Fontaine’s shadow agenda.

While in the facility, this group also meets Bob, played by Lewis Pullman as a souped-up version of his character from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ (also named Bob), a mysterious everyman who just so happens to be in the room they all break into. Eventually these cocky, standoffish assassins realize they’ve been set up and start to work together to take down de Fontaine, with help from Yelena’s estranged father Red Guardian (David Harbour) as well as Congressman Bucky Barnes, formerly the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).

There is a fun energy throughout this movie, often playing like a more manic-depressive version of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, which is powered by the strong charisma and chemistry of its cast. As Yelena, Florence Pugh provides some of the best acting throughout the MCU. In one specific scene, she breaks down and vents to Red Guardian about how alone and abandoned she felt after her sister’s death. Even through her thick put-upon Russian accent, she mines genuine pathos for this character beyond the average Marvel-by-numbers characters we’re used to. The same can be said for the entire cast: Wyatt Russell is a delight as a snarky, dickish version of Captain America, David Harbour goes big as Red Guardian, and Lewis Pullman alternates believably between self doubt and anger at a world he feels never gave him a chance. The actors all play off of each other in moments both comedic and dramatic, such that as the team comes together it is believable and affecting. Unlike other Marvel films, with franchises and brands to protect, we don’t know these heroes and the stakes consequently feel more real. They are outmatched at every turn and are keenly aware of the fact that if something were to happen to them, the world would move on without noticing. This dramatic conflict makes these characters easy to root for and heightens the emotional payoff of the film.

In the third act, the movie becomes more of the classic punching and shooting fight sequence demanded in a Marvel movie. Even as it attempts to merge the mental health themes with action sequences, the results are entertaining enough but ring a little After School Special-y. But when the credits role, a full story has been told. Will this eventually tie more tightly into the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe? Probably. But for now, it was a pleasure to watch a well told action story of underdogs working through what it means to be a hero.

Thunderbolts*
Rated PG-13 for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references.
Running Time: 2 hours and 7 minutes

Director Jake Schreier
Writers Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo
Stars Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Rating PG-13
Running Time 127 Minutes
Genres Superhero, Action, Adventure, Crime