Thunderbolts*—Lightning in a Bottle (With The Lid Still On)
Disclaimer: I was invited to a Press Screening for this film
Overall Rating: 3.75/5
Now I won’t lie, Marvel’s Thunderbolts* was my most anticipated film of the year. When the first trailer dropped I was even more hyped, finally here we would have a dark gritty film that explores characters that for one reason or another have demons that ostracise them from society. And with the cast that we were given, it was guaranteed to be a much-needed home run for Marvel. However, like many Post-Endgame entries before Thunderbolts* ultimately falls victim to the mediocracy we have become accustomed to in the last few years.
Despite the phenomenal cast and compelling ideas, Thunderbolts* ultimately falls short and feels held back for one reason or another. (Image Credit: Marvel Studios)
Lets start with what is the highlight of the film, regardless of if you loved it or hated it. The cast was phenomenal. Finally, we have a solid lineup of anti-heros that all have found their way into the clutches of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louise-Dreyfus).
The film opens with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) on yet another assignment from Val as she is tasked with wiping any trace of Val’s not so secret secret company during the middle of an impeachment trial. However Yelena is feeling stuck in this monotonous cycle of sitting down, scrolling on your phone, regretting all her past choices, going to work and rinse and repeat. After a heart to heart talk with her dad Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) Yelena agrees to one last undercover assignment. To take down Ghost a.k.a Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen) to prevent her from stealing vital information that would expose Valentina for her crimes. However when she arrives at this secret warehouse location she finds that she is not alone because low and behold John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Task Master a.k.a Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko) are also there… to all kill each other. That can’t be a coincidence right? And hidden in the shadows is Bob (Lewis Pullman). Who is Bob you may be asking. Well Bob is another secret Valentina would like to bury, he was the sole survivor of Val’s secret experiments to try and create another super soldier/human - think Steve Rogers
One of the highlights of the film for me - outside of Pugh’s performance as Yelena, was the portrayal of Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan) who by all accounts lit up the screen whenever she was on it, and managed to balance it with the perfect amount of comedy and drama, absolutely no notes there and cannot wait to see where the MCU takes her next. My next big highlight was the villain of this story, and without spoiling anything, it had the potential to be a top five villain in my eyes, with one of the coolest superpowers I have seen in years.
Now lets get into what I didn’t like, and unfortunately there’s a fair bit. Firstly when you tote Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) as one of the key players in the Thunderbolts* lineup, I’m going to expect that he will be well, a key member. However he ultimately felt like a denoted one dimensional character that was purely there to get viewers to the movie theatre. And while the cast lineup was amazing it ultimately was a Florence Pugh centred film with all the rest of the characters becoming secondary placeholders, and while some did get their moment in the sun I wish they had delved a little deeper.
I think the biggest issue I have with this film was that it was held back, whether it be because of the PG rating or if there was some drama going on behind the scenes I’ll never know, but there were so many ideas that were either mentioned or hinted at, but it was nothing more than that. I wanted to see these ideas be explored, not just something that is mentioned once.
In the end Thunderbolts* is the definition of lightning in a bottle (with the lid still on), it has a stellar lineup that I cannot wait to see in future projects, cool elements and narrative decisions and one of the coolest villains I have seen, but ultimately all falls victim to the fact that these cool ideas are not expanded upon or are simply brushed aside.
