THUNDERBOLTS* Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Jake Shreier
Stars: Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Lewis Pullman, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen, Geraldine Viswanathan, Wendell Pierce, Chris Bauer, Gabrielle Byndloss.
Like many I have become jaded with the surfeit of comic book movie adaptations and was not particularly looking forward to Thunderbolts*, the latest film from the extended Marvel Cinematic Universe. After all, the popular Avengers were no more and there was a need for a new breed of superheroes to fill the void. But with this 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the final film in the so-called Phase Five of the MCU, it seemed as though Marvel was scraping the bottom of the superhero barrel with this assortment of damaged misfits and anti-heroes who are reluctantly brought together and served up for public consumption as the new Avengers.
When the film opens, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the head of the CIA and also involved with the top secret “Sentry” superhuman program with O.X.E., a secret high-tech research and development company, is facing impeachment in front of the US Congress. In her employ is the assassin Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), aka Red Widow. She is deeply unhappy and angry after the death of her sister Natasha, the Black Widow. She reluctantly reaches out to her estranged father Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour), aka Red Guardian, a former Russian soldier, who is struggling for a purpose in his adopted homeland of America as he is now reduced to driving limousines for a living.
Yelena demands a different role. Valentina agrees if Yelena will complete one last task for her. Valentina needs to remove all evidence of her previous involvement in some dubious experiments, so she sends Yelena to an underground vault to destroy the evidence. She is accompanied by Alexei, and a couple of other superheroes, including John Walker (Wyatt Russell), who was intended to become the new Captain America until his fall from grace, and Axa Starr, aka Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen, from Game Of Thrones, etc), and Antonio Drekhov (former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko) aka Taskmaster. But it is a trap intended to wipe them out as well.
In the underground vault they encounter a strange, unassuming and disoriented young man named Bob (Lewis Pullman, replacing Steven Yeun in the role). It turns out that Bob had also undergone some experiments conducted by Valentina and now has superhuman powers. But Bob suffered abuse as a child and now his rage shapes his use of his powers, and he becomes an existential threat to New York City. He develops a Godlike sense of superiority.
These disparate dysfunctional heroes are forced to work together to defeat Bob and save the city from the threat he poses and also expose Valentina’s corruption. They team up with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), aka The Winter Soldier, who is now a congressman working to expose Valentina. He has been secretly given inside information and intelligence on Valentina by her conflicted assistant Mel (Australian actor Geraldine Viswanathan, from Drive Away Dolls, etc).
For this 36th film in the MCU Marvel has tapped into a creative team which has more experience with independent and low budget cinema, which brings a fresh touch to the familiar demands of the genre. As such Thunderbolts* is much more enjoyable and entertaining than anticipated.
Thunderbolts* has been written by Eric Pearson (Black Widow, Thor Ragnarok, etc) and Joanna Calo (better known as a television writer having worked on series including Beef and The Bear, etc), and is based on characters created by Kurt Busiek. The plot is a little complicated, and audiences do need to have seen some of the other recent entries in the MCU and television series to pick up many of the background details and character arcs. Pearson and Calo do suffuse the material with a strong streak of humour. The film also deals with themes of mental illness, depression and loneliness and isolation, which gives it a stronger focus. The various characters have to confront the failings of their past in order to overcome the threat posed by Bob.
Director Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank, etc) keeps things moving at a fast pace throughout. His handling of the destructive climactic set piece is muscular as much of New York is destroyed in the epic fight. Cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo (The Green Knight, etc) does a good job with the visuals. The production design from Grace Yun (Hereditary, etc) is also very good. The special effects are, as usual, superb.
Pugh acquits herself well in a physical role. Harbour provides much of the humour here with his over-the-top performance and his dodgy accent. Dreyfus also seems to be enjoying herself as the villainous Valentina.
Thunderbolts* is not perfect but it works as a timely reset for the MCU and a step in the right direction for a studio that seems to have grown complacent. And as with most films in the MCU audiences should stick around during the end credits for a couple of teasers that hint at future directions for the franchise.
★★★☆
