Review: "Thunderbolts*"

“Thunderbolts*” has been on everyone’s radar since the movie trailers started hitting the screens months ago.  A lot was riding on it, including the future success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  So much has been written about the decades-long superhero trend and whether it has finally run its course.  For many, the sheer overkill of comic book heroes and franchises (and subsequent sequels and spinoffs) had brought about its own demise. 

But then the rumors started to circulate that “Thunderbolts*” might be the movie that could breathe some fresh air into a genre that was on life support.  Some were calling it the best Marvel superhero movie ever made.  Hollywood has overused that claim since the days of silent film, to the point that it means almost nothing.  It’s a sad truth.

The larger truth was that “Thunderbolts*” needed to be that good in order to reverse the decline of the lucrative superhero genre.  Studios and fans alike prayed it would live up to the hype. 

The wait is over.  While “Thunderbolts*” might fall short of super-high expectations, it is shaping up to be a successful crowd pleaser.

The movie smartly and coyly reflects the general feeling that movies like this are running out steam, creatively.  Here, in this film, the characters are losing their passion for their work and their grip on their sanity.

The story begins on a darker note than fans might expect, with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) bemoaning the depressing aspects of her sad, meaningless existence in a Hamlet-like soliloquy, before stepping off the roof of a skyscraper in what appears to be an act of suicide.  It’s a shocking attention grabber, both in terms of her mental state and her decision to jump (which results in an opening reel plot twist—no spoilers). 

It might be mentioned here that the stunt is something that Florence Pugh has bragged about on late night talk shows recently, comparing it to some of Tom Cruise’s famous, death-defying moments in the “Mission Impossible” series (“Ghost Protocol” in particular).  The problem here is that Cruise’s heart-stopping stunts were staged and filmed in a way to underscore the fact that he actually performed the dangerous stunts himself.  The sequences did not involve stunt doubles or elaborate digital effects.

In Pugh’s case, we see her begin to step off the top of the world’s second tallest building, but the sequence quickly cuts to a very wide shot of a tiny body seen from a great distance, falling hundreds of feet. It looks frightening but faked.  It’s not a “Mission Impossible” Tom Cruise moment.  It’s not even close.

Bragging about the scene, which Pugh claimed was so dangerous that the insurance companies would not permit her to do it, was a bad PR decision.

It was an awkward, unnecessary publicity stunt for a movie that was largely capable of standing on its own merits as a thoughtful departure from the cookie-cutter, superhero formula.

Pugh’s character, Yelena is the movie’s main character.  She’s super-talented, super-tough and super-troubled, dealing with her deepening depression and festering psychological damage from her early childhood.  Fans of “Black Widow” (2021) know the backstory which is shown here in brief flashbacks.

Both she and her friend-turned-nemesis Robert Reynolds (who everyone just calls ”Bob”) share a common struggle with troubling existential issues including fundamental questions about their identity and purpose.  The script digs deep into their psyches. 

Yes, much like the “Guardians of the Galaxy” characters, the Thunderbolts are a rag-tag, mismatched bunch of outcasts who have nothing much in common, with the exception of a shared mission to stop a dangerously powerful woman (Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) from creating and unleashing a lab-generated superhuman being with god-like powers.  

As in many classic sci-fi films, it is sometimes impossible to control what you create.  Defeating the dark Anti-Superman here requires taking the fight into the very depths of his twisted mind and soul.

While “Thunderbolts*” may rely on some borrowed story elements, it manages to chart its own course.  It ventures off the well-worn, beaten path while still serving up the superhero action that superhero fans spend money to see.

The cast (also featuring Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov and Wyatt Russell as John Walker) work well together, bringing camaraderie and nuance to their roles. 

There is a major reveal at the end of the film (as well as an obligatory post credit sequence) that sets the stage for a sequel or multiple sequels.  Studio heads will determine whether “Thunderbolts*” generates enough lightning bolts at the box office to justify the return that the final credits promise.

“Thunderbolts*” is rated PG-13 due to strong violence, language, thematic elements and some suggestive drug references.