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 (052225)
I was not expecting much from the Thunderbolts.
Firstly, the best stories of the Thunderbolts comics occurred early on in the
run when well-known villains in new costumes took on new personas. They were led
by the second Baron Zemo and posed as heroes but unexpectedly they gradually
became more noble and selfless until they became real heroes and found
themselves in conflict with their leader. In contrast the basic concept here of
super powered characters with questionable morals forced to work for an amoral
governmental official is much less original than the initial idea. This film
owes more to DC’s the Suicide Squad than the early Marvel Thunderbolts comics.
It is also in some ways similar to the recently reviewed DC show Creature
Commandos which has a similar basic premise but is far more offbeat and
ingenious.
Secondly, with a few exceptions, the members they chose to put on the actual
Thunderbolts movie roster are among the dullest costumed characters in the
Marvel U. Most of them are ex government agents and/or inferior rip-offs or
spin-offs of Captain America. They lack the diverse powers of the original comic
book Thunderbolts team (which included the former Beetle, Moonstone, The Fixer
Songbird and Goliath) or most versions of the Avengers. At one point the new
Black Widow, Yelena Belova even asks: “Do all of us just point guns?” She might
be a more interesting character if they gave her different powers than the
original.
Finally, most of the recent Marvel related films have crashed commercially and
suffered from terrible conceptual ideas, unconvincing special effects with
substandard CGI and horrendous writing. The recent batch of films took important
Marvel’s characters like Thor and Ant-Man and made them parodies or side
characters in their own films. And although the trailers of Thunderbolts were
okay, they did not convince me that this film would be all that much different
or any better.
But Thunderbolts is mostly satisfying in terms of the dialogue, story, and the
acting. It is certainly a huge improvement over
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022),
The Marvels (2023) and
Captain America: Brave New World (2025). It helps that
they are telling a decent story here that can stand on it's own. Thunderbolts is
not just another installment of the overall decaying MCU franchise universe, and
you don’t have to have seen a dozen other films and/or shows to enjoy it,
although seeing the disappointing
Captain America: Brave New World
or Falcon and
Winter Soldier (which I sort of liked) could enhance the experience. But you can
enjoy it even if you have never read a Marvel comic or if you have never seen a
Marvel U film. It’s the best entry point to the Marvel U that we have seen since
earlier phases.
The film was more than capably directed by Jake Schreier, who made Paper
Towns (2015) which became a favorite film among many "twenty-somethings". But his
best work is probably the excellent comedy/drama, Netflix miniseries, Beef
(2023-2024) which earned several Emmys last year.
The main performances are unexpectedly rich and multidimensional, and Florence
Pugh shows again that she is one of the most promising young actresses. She was
excellent in the Indy folk horror film, Midsommar (2018) as well as Little Women
(2019), and she was equally wonderful in
Dune Part 2
(2024). She gives a surprisingly memorable and nuanced performance as the new
Black Widow, although she was largely forgettable in the actual
Black Widow solo film (2021). She
portrays the conflicted sister of the original Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johanssen) who after being an assassin has found her humanity.
Belova’s character evolves and grows in an interesting direction and her
relationship with the mysterious character named Bob is one of the best aspects
of the film. Louis Pullman Is also sympathetic as the vulnerable and geeky Bob
who has a terrible dark side. She also plays off the other characters well and
often acts as the team’s conscience.
Sebastian Stan, who has become quite a terrific actor. Since 2007s I Tonya and
last year’s The Apprentice in which he was an amazing young Trump, he has grown
greatly as an actor and a screen presence. His Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier is
captivating with occasional nuances through out his performance. Although he does not wear the Captain America
costume he is like a more jaded, hardened version of Steve Rogers. His
character here has also evolved, using the fame he acquired from helping save
the world in
Avengers: Endgame (2019) to become the first superhero senator and
he tries to make the world a better place in a different way. He has become the
main political opponent of the corrupt Countess Valeria (Julie Louise Dreyfus)
in the senate which puts him in danger. While the hesitant and unproven team of heroes with clashing personalities is led by
the second Black Widow, there is no reason it could/should not have been led by
the far more experienced and battle savvy, Bucky who has
been fighting decades longer and actually spent time as an Avenger.
The other characters on the team are much less interesting. Dave Harbour returns as the Red Guardian, a sometimes likeable but often irritating
one-dimensional buffoon who provides much of the film’s humor. He has been
working as a cabbie and he has been neglecting his daughter Yelena who has grown
to resent him for his neglect. Wyatt Russell is John Walker or USAgent, the
flawed imperfect cracked mirror reflection of Steve Rogers. He could not hack it
as Captain America and lost the title, although I would argue that Sam Wilson is
also unworthy of the role. His relationship to Steve Rogers is like the one
between Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan in DC comics. Like Gardner, Walker is an
inferior version of a classic hero with less ethical filters who often does the
wrong thing and goes too far. There is also the eco-terrorist who can turn
intangible, the Ghost from
Ant Man
and the Wasp, who is again played by ex-model Hannah John Kamen. She brings
little to the role, is just passable
and shows minimal acting talent in her performance.
All the individuals on the team are deeply flawed and they initially lack
self-confidence. They get together because their boss Countess Valeria (played
by Julia Louis Dreyfus as a copy of DC’s Amanda Waller) wants to get rid of them
and sends them to a spot where they are likely to get killed. She wants to cover
up the fact the government is experimenting on people to produce super powered
lapdogs to do their bidding.
When Jim Steranko introduced Valeria in the original Nick Fury, Agent of Shield
comic from 1967, Val was a sexy super spy in the mode of some of the Bond girls
and in a relationship with Nick.
But in this movie she is a ruthless, cold blooded bureaucrat who sends people to
their deaths without a second thought for the crime of potentially embarrassing
her by bringing to light her illegal activities. Julia Louis Dreyfus does what
she can with the role, but her character is predictable and we have seen it all
before.
The team must band together to survive a perilous situation. As we get to know
them and see the tremendous odds against them, we can’t help but root for them.
They are like annoying family members that often let you down that we do not
want to see too often that come through in the end. Their ego's clash, and they squabble a lot like the early
Avengers, FF and Defenders. But eventually they put aside their differences and
band together to stop a world threatening foe connected to one of their friends.
Although the foe is much more powerful than the Thunderbolts combined, they do
fight him in a believable manner. It helps that the director (unlike the people
who made She-Hulk or
The Eternals) know how to set up and deliver credible and
dynamic action scenes that put you in the moment.
Despite all my complaints. Thunderbolts is better than I expected, and the film
makes the most from its limited concept and characters. It provides some
much-needed good early summer fun with rollicking action scenes and a good payoff that
left me wanting more. And it shows that, against all expectations, Marvel might
finally be back on the right track. But if the upcoming Fantastic Four film is
another flop buster the Marvel U will just be in the same boat again.
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