Thunderbolts*
Like a more cuddly Suicide Squad, Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* brings the MCU’s misfits together for one the saga's best post-Endgame adventures.
All off-book employees for crooked CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), quasi-rehabilitated villains Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky “Winter Soldier” Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ava “Ghost” Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), John “Junior Varsity Captain America” Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Antonia “Taskmaster” Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko) aren't in the best places mentally — hence their willingness to accept such missions. Likewise struggling is Yelena’s Russian-issued super soldier father Alexei “Red Guardian” Shostakov (David Harbour), who wishes Valentina would hire him.
Precisely how they all get thrown in together and grudgingly work together deserves to be experienced rather than spoiled, in part for discovering which of these colorful characters shockingly don't survive the opening 20 minutes, and to suss out why the hell the seemingly unremarkable Bob (Lewis Pullman) fits into the equation.
As the team’s path takes shape, the writing team of Eric Pearson (Black Widow; Thor: Ragnarok) and Joanna Calo (The Bear; Bojack Horseman) play to each individuals’ strengths, producing the equivalent of an All-Star Game that celebrates the qualities that make these antiheroes appealing.
But in addition to Yelena’s and Red Guardian’s sense of humor and Bucky's impressive combat skills, Thunderbolts* expands the crew’s depths by going to some surprisingly dark places. The more that's revealed about Bob, the more he feels like a symbol of Incel culture and how their loneliness and self-hate can be weaponized by nefarious parties. While his pain receives special attention, the screenwriters also interrogate the lingering hurt within these specially-abled outcasts to memorable ends.
Even for defenders of recent non-Deadpool/Wolverine MCU films like myself, it's easy to acknowledge that the lighting, special effects, and action direction here are significantly better than its Phase Five peers. Though a seemingly odd choice, the man behind Robot & Frank and Paper Towns winds up being an excellent fit for the material and builds on his recent effect-heavy action work in the Star Wars series Skeleton Crew.
Toss in some intelligent modern political commentary via the extremely Trumpy Valentina and Thunderbolts* should reignite viewer interest in the long-running comic book saga and its buildup to Secret Wars. If not, we can always try again with The Fantastic Four: First Steps in late July.
Grade: B-plus. Rated PG-13. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co., Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.
(Photo: Walt Disney Studios)
