“Thunderbolts*” is setting out to get you to care again. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is running at its best when it makes you invest in the characters first, while developing the “big events” within the background. 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” proved successful because the audience had a chance to follow character arcs for years and see them reach a satisfying, emotional apex. With the Multiverse Saga, the spectacle has become the draw. There have been so many projects and timelines thrown at you that the viewer asks, “Who is going to show up?” instead of “Why do I care that they are here?” The odd couple, fourth-wall-breaking pair of Deadpool and Wolverine, tried to show the urgency of dying universes, but became about showing off Disney’s prizes from the 21st Century Fox merger in 2019.
That’s why Jake Schreier’s film, which serves as a turning point from a scattered phase five, feels so refreshing. Sure, there’s the formula of a collection of discarded anti-heroes getting together to save the world. At times, the mood switches to the bombastic fight scenes and set pieces you’re used to seeing, as well as the comedic quarreling that comes with people who can’t stand one another. Where “Thunderbolts*” succeeds is tapping into the endless abyss of depression and taking the stance that superheroes can experience it, too. Writers Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo handle this subject with a seriousness that elevates the film’s central star and everyone else around her.
Thunderbolts* / Photo Credit: Disney
The world is still searching for a cohort of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” to protect itself against outer threats. Since the original Avengers team is no more, CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) employs a bunch of shadowy figures to do her mercenary work around the world in secret. Yelena (Florence Pugh) serves as our entry point. Disillusioned by seeking purpose she hasn’t found and still reeling from losing her sister Natasha/Black Widow, Yelena does a Valentina-provided mission almost on autopilot. She describes herself as “drifting like an old leaf,” so she’s resigned to be part of a “clean-up” crew. When things get dicey regarding a possible impeachment inquiry, de Fontaine decides it’s time to go all-out scorched earth on any potential evidence of some nefarious experiments she’s been doing on the side. In the spirit of killing two birds with one stone, why not invite all your hired guns to a bunker and have them take each other out?
Well, Yelena, along with “junior varsity” Captain America, John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) heed the call and engage in rapid fisticuffs. What de Fontaine didn’t account for is that this collection of people may have more in common than she first presumed. Trying to stay alive is a good jumping-off point. If you’re hearing the “we’re the patsies” line from 2016’s “Suicide Squad,” you’re in the right ballpark. Coupied with the eventual bit of dialogue from Yelena when she says, “So, we just run and shoot?” – there’s no way that anybody at de Fontaine’s level who thinks they could pull off a world-saving event like Tony Stark and Steve Rodgers of yesteryear.
Thunderbolts* / Photo Credit: Disney
Most of the group becomes more endearing in their imperfections. Pugh’s performance as the broken-down Yelena is at the core of the success of “Thunderbolts*” (as she should be). She is given the whole arc; she jokes effortlessly, tries to strive as a de facto leader, and breaks down due to her overwhelming sadness. John Walter (who you may or may not remember from “The Falcon and Winter Soldier” series) is still a jerk who recalls his high school football days as an achievement. But deep down inside, he’s still trying to reason with losing the mantle of Captain America and thus, his family. While it’s good to have Ghost around, it’s more about what the character can do than what she’s gone through. Taskmaster immediately fades into the background.
The secret weapon (double entendre) is a character named Bob (Lewis Pullman) who hasn’t the slightest idea how he got within the ranks of our main characters and doesn’t carry guns and a shield. He’s dressed in a hospital gown and comes off as nice and timid to the group. Inside him is a war of two halves, and it seeks to be a bridge of the film’s dual thesis. There’s the one we’ve seen before of redemption and a person not just being the sum of their transgressions. The other is where “Thunderbolts*” finds its rhythm, in that it is not as easy to climb out of that pit of despair. Turns out superheroes, villains, and every type in between can experience the lows of life. In that sense, unworthiness is the real “big bad” that the film makes the best decision to focus on in the third act.
‘Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ Should Have Been ‘Captain America: Brave New World’
A sub plot of political tension is present which serves as a way to get veteran and now congressman Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) involved. The espionage aspect involves getting information about de Fontaine from her assistant, Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan). That keeps Stan busy until he turns into the “big brother” of the group. He’s been in their shoes and is an image of a reformation project that the Thunderbolts* would like to be themselves. David Harbour as the Red Guardian/Yelena’s father is the volume ten source of comedic relief. Alexei is all too eager to return when he was a triumphant avatar for a country. Thus, he dives into the mission with gusto, bringing a lot of subtle details of Yelena’s childhood with him. Parts of this work, but there comes a point where an emotional father/daughter monologue between Alexei and Yelena stands tall above pizzazz.
Returning to the form of practicality and also a familiar sense of “will this team come together” proves to get Marvel back on the right track. Special effects are here, but the environment being on actual sets and not greenscreened to death gives the film an extra kick. If you remember, the heroes who made up the “classic” lineup of the 2012 film weren’t the best of friends initially either. But we knew we were going to root for them no matter what. “Thunderbolts*” knows that it wants the audience to do that eventually. So, it takes the heavy burden of undeservingness and magnifies it while not discounting it because a “superhero film” shouldn’t investigate the topic of mental health.
The “Absolute Cinema” trailer for “Thunderbolts*” wore A24 prestige on its sleeve to show that this isn’t THAT MCU—we’ve surveyed the landscape. What’s funny is that the film recounts the themes that brought people to the MCU in droves in the first place. When you’re down a few points in basketball, you need a couple of back-to-back buckets to swing the momentum to get you back in the game. While “Thunderbolts*” doesn’t completely erase the deficit, it might put Marvel in a position for a comeback.
