Thunderbolts*

One of the newer Marvel films, Thunderbolts*, faced an unfortunate dilemma of coming out during a time of sheer unsteadiness for the brand, as multiple recent mediocre releases have heavily watered down what used to be one of cinema’s biggest moneymaking franchises. Even if it were a 10/10 movie, it risked not being given a chance, with the unimpressive advertising and similarities to DC’s poorly reviewed anti-hero comic book team-up film, Suicide Squad, not helping its case, but Thunderbolts* actually proved to be a surprise win for Marvel, and one that did more than just calmly move the needle. With a very strong critical response from critics and audiences and, at the time of its release, became the second highest rated MCU movie on Rotten Tomatoes behind Black Panther, Thunderbolts* turned out to be the hit no one was anticipating.

Yelena Belova (played again by Florence Pugh) has grown despondent while mindlessly performing grunt work for CIA director, Valentina de Fontaine (played again by Julia Louis-Dreyfuss), with the traumatic weight of losing her sister finally catching up with her and throwing her into a lonely depression. After being told to destroy incriminating evidence in an isolated facility, Yelena comes faces to face with other people working for Val, including recently disgraced Captain America replacement, John Walker (played again by Wyatt Russell), former Black Widow assassin, Taskmaster (played again by Olga Kurylenko), and the phase-shifting Ghost (played again by Hannah John-Kamen), who all quickly realize Val plans to dispose of them. After finding a seemingly harmless man named Bob (played by Lewis Pullman) in the bunker, they begrudgingly assist each other in order to escape, yet upon doing so, learn that Bob is far more powerful and dangerous than even he is aware of, which Val quickly picks up on in order to sway him to her side. After meeting up with Yelena’s adoptive father, Red Guardian (played again by David Harbour) and The Winter Solider/Bucky Barnes (played again by Sebastian Stan), the team learn that Val has convinced Bob to become Sentry, a being of unimaginable strength who could be the world’s newest savior, but due to his unstable mental state, he turns on everybody  and throws the surrounding city into a void-like state. Wanting to save her new friend, Yelena and her new crew need to snap out of their funk and prove that they can be heroes, while also coming to grips with their own psychological issues.

Thunderbolts* is far better than many would’ve expected, which mainly comes from very capable direction, emotionally resonant performances and a mostly solid script, but to call it one of the greatest Marvel films would be overlooking its messy narrative, occasionally scrambled pacing, underutilized supporting characters and ineffective humor.

Making a movie centred around the Thunderbolts (who in the comics were a team of villains led by Baron Zemo parading as heroes who eventually decided to be good for real) could’ve made for a fun time, but considering it was announced during a point when Marvel lacked a defined directive, it just felt like another detour. What got people onboard was the talent attached, as even though the returning cast members looked perfectly manageable albeit sparse on variety, it was learning that Jake Schreier was set to direct that got people excited, due to his work on the award-winning Netflix show, Beef. With him and several other creatives from the show involved, including editor Harry Yoon, production designer Grace Yun, and writers Lee Sung Jin and Joanna Calo (both of whom provided script rewrites), their involvement brings a new dimension to this film, as there is a heavy, genuinely effective emotional core to this narrative which provides a more grounded and introspective take on what looked like just another wacky, off-the-walls comedic endeavor. Most of the scenes focused on grief and trauma are played pretty well, the dramatic moments feel legitimate thanks to some very raw-feeling performances, and while the first two acts can have some awkward moments of pacing, the third act is pretty solid overall and ends things on a very nice note.

While the film exceeds expectations, there are still apparent Marvel-isms present, and they do somewhat drag down what this story is hoping to achieve. While the topic of mental fatigue and depression is nicely visualized in a sense that highlights its super hero roots and makes the film feel like a gritty comic book brought to life, it doesn’t reach the depths other more dramatic bodies of work can achieve in the genre due to the general faults of this universe that can’t easily be scrubbed out. Thunderbolts* proves to be more of a showcase for a talented director and screenwriter, rather than a wholly formed project that’s nicely polished all around, as while the filmography of fellow screenwriter, Eric Pearson, isn’t terrible (with options like Thor: Ragnarök, Godzilla vs. Kong and Transformers One under his belt),  it doesn’t in any way shape up to Calo’s, whose worked on shows like Beef, Hacks, BoJack Horseman and being a co-showrunner on The Bear, clearly demonstrates the disparity present in the script and why things feel uneven. The banter between characters is a little basic, the surrounding plot of Val’s impeachment doesn’t offer much, the film deserves credit for tackling the messy unpleasantness of mental health but the tone of \dialogue doesn’t really feel upgraded to effectively analyze something that intense, and while the emotional struggles of the characters are what make this film interesting and fresh, the actual plot doesn’t always support them and feels haphazardly pieced together just so that specific scenes can occur.

When the cast was first announced, people were disappointed to see a team which originally consisted of new villains with interesting powersets, resorted to a ragtag collection of pre-existing characters with all the same powerset. That mixed with them being from Disney+ content made the stakes feel even lower, but the acting does go a long way to boast their favourability. With a compact roster that are given ample time to interact, the actors do a good job selling these roles even if some feel underbaked. The character of Val has a solid basis despite her handling in past projects being pretty messy, and it feels like she’s used at her best here, as her amoral and manipulative qualities flow pretty smoothly in this narrative and Dreyfuss is actually given effective scenes to work with, so it’s a positive sign of growth. The two best characters are Yelena and Sentry, as both are given the most time, effort and development which results in a lot of great shared scenes. Yelena was already a fan favorite, but with this being the first time she’s led a movie, she fits that title very nicely, as her struggle with dealing with her depression is played very well by Pugh who really brings humanity and flavor to a character that could’ve easily just felt like a sloppy replacement for Scarlett Johansson.

Lewis Pullman is also very good as Sentry, pulling off the hapless dope in the earlier stages before switching to the more arrogant and disturbed persona very effectively, and while his mental anguish and split personality could’ve been better dissected, the brief moments that are explored are intriguing, and his darker identity is appropriately horrifying. While the leads feel emboldened by the emotional story and tone, the other characters feel like they’re just along for the ride and don’t offer much in terms of value (Taskmaster is so irrelevant, she shouldn’t even be on the poster). Ghost and John Walker don’t have much personality, so their interactions with other characters aren’t very interesting, the dramatic moments with Red Guardian are done well enough but the comedy can be a bit much, and Bucky doesn’t contribute much to the plot or have any meaningful interactions even though he should fit perfectly in this premise.

Despite initially building themselves through movies known for strong comedic elements, humor has now become a hinderance for Marvel as it’s commonly mocked for being basic, chattery, and disruptive. While this universe should always have a sense of light-heartedness, its more prominent usage in films that don’t require it needs to be resolved in order for things to improve, and Thunderbolts* does suffer with this issue. Most of the jokes don’t get a laugh, the zingers aren’t written very well and can ramble for too long, and because the setting and atmosphere feels genuingly grim and heavy without being soulless, it’s even more pointless and out-of-place when it shows up.

You can tell from the visual design and general attitude that the film is trying to take itself seriously, and thanks to these ingredients and the people in charge of them, it’s able to achieve what it sets out to do even in spite of the pointless humor. The production design by Grace Yun and costume design by Sanja Milkovic Hays definitely feels more washed-out and less vibrant than other Marvel outings, but because the subject matter and visuals feel better handled and actually work with the tone rather than conflict with it, it doesn’t feel distracting and strangely looks okay. What also helps is that the cinematography by Andrew Droz Palermo works with the harsher lighting and frequent use of shadows to create some nice eye-catching imagery. The more stationary positioning of the camera and less visual clutter allows the audience to actually take in what’s been showcased, and even if it never goes overboard, it still has some visuals that look ripped right out of a comic book (especially Sentry’s alter ego).

Thunderbolts* is a step in the right direction for Marvel, but to label it one of the MCU’s best feels a bit overboard, as the chinks in the studio’s armor haven’t been erased but rather overshadowed by more capable talent who were brought in to fix things. To call it ‘’back to form’’ would be to ignore how many of the film’s issues are ones that have plagued most Marvel films for years, including poor humor, underwritten supporting characters, and plots that are spearheaded by conflicts not as engaging as the characters they’re spotlighting. This is a good, well-made movie led by talented people, houses good actors, and has some genuinely effective scenes, but if it weren’t for the rewrites later in production, it could’ve been just another mediocre add-on to the pile. A step in the right direction, but still only just a step, let’s see how Marvel continues on from this unexpected win.