I’ve seen ‘Thunderbolts’ — and now I’m more excited for Marvel than I’ve been in years
I just saw “Thunderbolts*” ahead of its release this week, and I can’t tell how pleased I am to walk out of an MCU movie in a great mood again.
I think it’s fair to say that the Marvel movies haven’t been in a great place in recent years. We’ve had some highs — “Guardians of the Galaxy 3”, “Deadpool & Wolverine” — but also some real lows (yes, I’m looking at you, “Quantumania” and “Thor: Love and Thunder”).
Thankfully, though, “Thunderbolts*” is anything but a Marvel misfire. Indeed, Phase Five’s final film functions rather fittingly as a capstone for this uneven era, and an entertaining one at that.
If you want to go in as blind as possible, just know that I definitely recommend seeing it. Speaking as someone who had kind of fallen off the Marvel train, post-“Thunderbolts*”, I am more excited about the future of the MCU than I have been for a long time.
Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts* is a welcome surprise
The best way I can sum “Thunderbolts*” up is as a pleasant surprise. I had decent expectations going in; it looked like a fun underdog tale, but ended up being far more impactful than I expected.
It’s a story that bears strong similarity to “Guardians of the Galaxy” arc; a rag-tag gang banding together to face down some truly insurmountable odds, and it has a similarly cathartic story thanks to the way it grapples with very real and distinctly human issues.
To drill deeper would feel a little too spoiler-y for my liking, but these are characters with troubled pasts or regrets, struggling to find their place in the world, and “Thunderbolts*” tackles these issues sensitively enough.
The narrative of finding a new place/purpose is also what makes this a fitting end to Phase Five, in a way. I left “Thunderbolts*” with the impression it’s very much designed to course-correct after an uneven period and to tee up what’s to come.
Super-powered performances
“Thunderbolts*” is very much Yelena’s (Florence Pugh) and Bob’s/Sentry’s (Lewis Pullman) movie, above all else, and they both are on fine form. No one will be surprised to hear that Pugh is doing great on-screen work, but Yelena serves as a great anchor for the movie and its misfit team.
I was also particularly impressed by Lewis Pullman. Making your mark in this crowded genre is no easy feat, but I thought this was a strong debut, one that saw him deftly capture the very literal light and dark in Robert Reynolds’ life. As hapless Bob, he’s a funny (and emotive) addition, but he has real presence once his powers are shown off in the latter part of the movie.
That’s not to say the rest of the gang aren’t firing on all cylinders — they are — just that these two carry the story’s weight, while the rest of the team are secondary and serve more to dole out genuinely funny jokes and jabs or to get involved in the action.
Action stations
Being a superhero movie, you want thrills, and “Thunderbolts*” has them. Not the sprawling “Endgame” battlefield spectacle kind, but in well-executed, smaller-scale punch-ups and well-staged setpiece moments that are doled out at regular intervals.
The fact that everyone (barring Sentry, obviously) here is primarily a capable brawler or marksman makes “Thunderbolts*” action just that bit crunchier, and there’s some real scrappy fight choreography on display that makes the most of their respective skillsets.
And when the group contends with the hero with the power of, as Marvel puts it, “a million exploding suns“, I defy you to not at least be somewhat impressed by how The Void’s powers manifest here. They have real, instantaneous impact on-screen, and successfully hammer home the huge disparity between Bob and our antiheroes’ power levels.
‘Thunderbolts*’ verdict: Marvel’s newest misfit team make for a great watch
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out a couple of minor problems before I wrap up. The visuals are impressive, but the CGI still varies in quality throughout the flick, and I still think confirming several names in that big “Avengers: Doomsday” livestream only served to make the story’s stakes felt pretty low.
On the whole, though, “Thunderbolts*” is by-and-large a confident step forward for the MCU, one that sticks the superhero landing. It’s smaller in scale, but satisfyingly so, packing in action and emotion in equal measure.
If “Fantastic Four: First Steps” is of similar quality, I’d be tempted to say the franchise is hitting its stride all over again. I’m confident Marvel fans are going to like this one; I certainly did.
“Thunderbolts*” hits U.S. theaters on Friday, May 2, and U.K. cinemas on Thursday, May 1.
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