Florence Pugh pulls together an unlikely team of non-heroes in Marvel’s latest superhero romp. Here’s our Thunderbolts* review.
Tell me if this sounds familiar: a group of misunderstood loners with specific, often violent skills, team up to fight the forces of evil when they’re forced to save the world. It’s pretty much the plot to both cinematic variations of Suicide Squad and Marvel’s own Guardians Of The Galaxy trilogy. Heck, it applies to The Goonies and Armageddon as well if you really think about it.
It’s also the vague description of Thunderbolts*, Marvel’s latest attempt to become the cinematic superpower it once was. It finds Florence Pugh’s contract killer Yelena, still grieving the death of her sister, Black Widow. Yelena teams up with other, lesser-known Marvel villains-turned-heroes, including Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Red Guardian (David Harbour), to fight Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who’s up to no good.
If you just read the above paragraph and have no idea who any of those characters are, I wouldn’t blame you. Thunderbolts* is another Marvel movie that assumes you’ve been keeping up with all of its projects across film and TV. It refuses to dedicate any time to introducing its new team of anti-heroes. Watching a Marvel movie has become the equivalent of tuning in to The Sopranos in the middle of season five and trying to figure out Tony’s entire family tree.
Yet, if you’re able to get on Thunderbolts*’s wavelength and remember who’s who, you’re in for a treat. It’s a rare Marvel film in that it’s a movie about something. There’s more to its story than just defeating a villain and providing some impressive action sequences. Thunderbolts* wants you to walk away from the cinema having a sense that there’s more to superheroes than their powers. Director Jake Schreier also aims for a tone and structure closer to Kick Ass than John Wick or Mission: Impossible, where no one ever gets beaten or loses. In terms of Marvel movies, there’s something rather revolutionary about it all.
Thunderbolts*, like any ensemble film, is aided by its excellent cast. Florence Pugh is a reliable lead, managing to bring a lot of humanity to her contract killer looking for a purpose in life. Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Sebastian Stan and David Harbour have little to work with, their characters mostly defined by their fighting styles and superpowers. Their chemistry is easy and believable, even if the film asks us to just kind of go with it and believe that these strangers would trust each other so quickly.
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Lewis Pullman, playing Bob, another misfit who finds himself tangled with the Thunderbolts, is the film’s standout for this writer. Instead of following the usual superhero movie formula, Thunderbolts* morphs into a story about belonging, finding your place in the world and defeating that horrible voice inside your head that tells you you’re never going to be good enough.
Many of us have heard that voice before, and Thunderbolts* actually manages to make us see ourselves in these heroes rather than just admire them from afar. Who would have guessed Marvel was open to making mental health a key theme in one of its major films? Not me, but perhaps this is a sign that there is room for more than just repetitive action in the studio’s recipe for filmmaking.
This isn’t the only reason the film is surprisingly relatable. Thunderbolts* fits into our world nicely. The main villain isn’t a cosmic baddie that can be beaten with fists and shields; she’s a regular human, with far too much power and influence. Louis-Dreyfus’ de Fontaine might one of the most evil Marvel villains we’ve encountered so far. She doesn’t seek to rule planets, but to rule and manipulate us. Sure, Thanos was able to turn half of the world to dust with a snap of his fingers, but de Fontaine isn’t too far removed from the CEOs and politicians of our own world. I know which I’m more scared of.
Schreier’s film, like most Marvel projects, is bogged down by its incessant need to further the overall narrative of the studio’s ever-growing, exhaustingly large cinematic universe. If it didn’t have to tie into other films and Marvel’s big future plans, Thunderbolts* would have been a rare superhero film that was meant to be enjoyed by just about anyone, not just Marvel fans.
But at least this is a film that has something to say. And it says it rather well.
Thunderbolts* is in UK cinemas 1st May.
