Thunderbolts* Review

Is the MCU finally back?!

In this 35th entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe we follow the “Thunderbolts*” an unconventional team of disillusioned antiheroes who join forces after finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart, or find redemption and unite as something much more before it’s too late?

Making up the Thunderbolts* team are Florence Pugh as ex- Black Widow: Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan, as Bucky ‘The Winter Soldier’ Barnes, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, the dishonourably discharged ex- Captain America’, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, David Harbour as the Red Guardian and Lewis Pullman as MCU newbie, Bob Reynolds.

I have to admit, before going to see Thunderbolts* my expectations were rather low. The only film that I’ve genuinely both liked and really enjoyed post Avengers: Endgame is Shang Chi (and WandaVision if we’re also counting the TV universe). Since then the MCU have pumped out a lot of just average films and when I heard about Thunderbolts* I expected more of the same.

To my delight (and surprise), Thunderbolts* turned out to be a genuinely good and heartfelt film, to the point where I came out of the screening, post cinema-buzz thinking: And dare I say it… is the MCU finally back?! Don’t get me wrong, it still very much hung on to the very standard Marvel humour that we’ve all become very accustom to, but what this film had that many of its predecessors have recently lacked, is genuine heart. Not to mention – and this might seem like a trivial thing to say – it actually had a memorable score, which made all the difference (something which I look for in superhero films like this). Can you say that you remember Thor’s, Black Widow, The Hulk or even Captain America’s theme of by hear- my guess is no. One of the first things I did on my way home was search for who composed the score. (Son Lux). The two I remember distinctly from this franchise is the original Avengers theme and the Black Panther theme which were both during the time of their releases event superhero films. And this film, in some ways almost felt the same.

I can’t say I left the film liking each member of The Thunderbolts* – hopefully there’ll be more in the near future for them to grow on me – however I did like them collectively as a team. The star of the film was undoubtedly Florence Pugh who continues to be a beacon of light in the MCU. My second favourite performance came from Lewis Pullman who gave – and I’m going to continue using this word – a genuinely good and honest performance, as the very nuanced character of Bob a.k.a Sentry a.k.a the Void. I recently learned that this role was initially going to be played by Steven Yeun; and though I don’t doubt he would have been great (if you’ve watched The Walking Dead and anything he’s starred in since, you’ll know), however Pullman really got me to care about his character and felt he brilliantly held his own throughout the entirety of the film.

A few other highlights (*slight spoiler*): I’m really glad we finally got to see a cool and very much overdue hero moment from Bucky, and again the score during this scene added so much to this moment – if you’ve seen it, you know exactly what I’m talking about (and i could honestly type another paragraph about all the references that were made during that scene)! Another surprising element which I really liked, was how this film explored themes of mental health, loneliness and depression. These themes are definitely touched upon in films like Thor: Love and Thunder and Iron Man: 3 but think it was tackled, here more attentively and in a way I don’t think I’ve seen in a superhero film since Logan. Because of this, the characters were in every sense, unpredictable and the plot as a result felt fresh and it was nice to watch a Marvel film which kept you guessing.

I only have one gripe with Thunderbolts*: (*Spoiler alert*) There is a death at the beginning of the film which didn’t quite sit well with me, and I think considering the background of this character, would have definitely made an interesting addition to the group.

Otherwise, I genuinely enjoyed Thunderbolts* from start to finish and I really hope the MCU continue on trajectory of making their characters feel more grounded and ‘human’.

A 4 star Rave Review!
What did you think of Thunderbolts*? Do you agree? Disagree, let me know.