Thunderbolts (or as it's stylized Thunderbolts*, by the way at the end the asterisk is finally explained) is a comic book movie based on the Marvel Comics' team with the same name. It serves as the 36th film in the MCU and it's produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The story is written by Joanna Calo and Eric Pearson with directing done by Jake Schreier.
The story is, Yelena, John Walker, Taskmaster, and Ghost were set up to kill each other so the manipulative CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine has no loose ends. But after surviving her plot and befriending a test subject named Bob, this unlikely alliance sets out to expose her. But as their mission goes on, something is going on with Bob and it's a far bigger problem than Valentina.
Initial Reaction
Now this movie wasn't on my most anticipated list because I'm not a Thunderbolts fan. But after seeing some TV spots I decided to give the movie a chance.
Cons
I've got nothing.
Middle Ground
Let's start off with the pacing. This does take a while a to get started, mainly during the first act. Thankfully when everything is set up, acts two and three going by quickly. Then there's the credit scenes. Now the post-credit is good. It hypes you up for the next big movie, but the mid-credit scene is stupid. It's just a joke about Red Guardian (Yelena's dad) trying to convince a woman to buy cereal because he's on it along with the rest of the team. So here's how you're plan should go. Bathroom break for the mid-credit scene and go back for the post-credit. Then there's the aspect of character. Now Yelena and Bob get great character development. We really get to know what they're going through. John Walker (who by the way did nothing wrong! So MCU writers and wannabe pundits on social media, stop trying to convince us otherwise!) also gets something for his character, whether it's adding something to his backstory or giving him some entertaining moments. But others aren't given as much care. Bucky, despite being featured in a lot of marketing, is sidelined and his arc of taking down Valentina isn't given that much attention. And Ghost doesn't get much of anything. She just kinda there, okay she does do that one awesome thing to that fake Taskmaster but other than that, she's not given much. As for Valentina, she's a very one dimensional villain. Her character is kinda saved by Julia Louis-Dreyfus' charisma, but it still felt like the writers could've done more.
Pros
The first thing I'll credit is the action. Yes is very it's very good, got great sequences and choreography, but my biggest praise is the practical side. Yes we do get CGI, but a lot of this movie is more focused on stunts, some long takes, and shockingly enough practical effects! I was beginning to think Marvel Studios didn't know what those were anymore. Alright enough of me being dick. Let's move on to the other biggest strength, that being the performances from Florence Pugh and Lewis Pullman. Pugh does great with dry humor but she really shines with moments of emotional depth. With Pullman, he adds vulnerability to the movie. He was really good whenever the Bob's mental issues were tormenting him. These two shined in this. But my biggest praise goes for the depth. Now I agree with it being surface level, but you know what? I prefer that off some of the other MCU movies were it seems more comedy was the focus than telling a story. Looking at you Thor: Love & Thunder! So I enjoyed the movie took its time touching on themes of depression, loneliness, trauma, redemption and doing it with sincerity even if it's not the deepest. Because at the end of the day it was refreshing and added something grounded.
Thunderbolts isn't by any means perfect, but I came out of this liking it a lot more than I thought.
My final rating is, Good.
That's all for now. Come back on Monday, May 5th, for the first part of The Road to The Naked Gun (2025) with my review of the original 1988 film also titled The Naked Gun. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
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