'Thunderbolts*' Is the First Great Marvel Movie in Years (Review)
And then, bursting forth from the dregs of the MCU's garbled multiverse arose Thunderbolts*, a expertly crafted superhero film second only to Black Panther when it comes to the importance of its message. In spite of what appear to be numerous potential pitfalls on paper, Thunderbolts* manages to weave together a timely and personal examination of depression from the tattered remnants of previous failed Marvel projects.
The movie opens with Florence Pugh's mercenary Yelena Belova sitting atop Malaysia's Merdeka, the second tallest building in the world, contemplating the "emptiness" of her life despite a successful career. While the scene initially reads as a possible suicide attempt with her stepping off the edge, it's actually her mode of entry into the top secret laboratory she's been sent to destroy, but the discussion of the, often inexplicable, darkness we feel moving through life sets the stage for the probing of mental health to come.
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Yelena, her mission complete, attempts to quit her job as an assassin, but is tasked by CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to kill one more target before retiring. When Yelena arrives at an underground bunker to murder Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) she also finds both Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) and John Walker (Wyatt Russell), each there to murder one of the others in Valentina's attempt to tie-up loose ends. After the shocking death of Taskmaster (Kurylenko received fourth billing on the posters only to have her character killed instantly), the other three band together with a mysterious man named Bob (Lewis Pullman) to escape. This rag tag crew is joined by now Congressman Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Yelena's adopted father Alexei aka Red Guardian (David Harbour) to create the Thunderbolts, named after Yelena's childhood soccer team.
Whereas the Avengers were formed from the top-billed A-listers of their respective films, the Thunderbolts are a real who's who of who cares. While Pugh's Yelena was the breakout star of Black Widow. John Walker arrived in the MCU via the TV show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Ghost was the villain of the second Ant-Man film, and even Bucky Barnes has never helmed a Marvel film alone. The island-of-misfit-toys energy of the Thunderbolts, however, is the perfect backdrop on which to discuss depression and mental health. Whether that be Yelena's purposefully repressed trauma and purposelessness, John Walker's masculine entitlement and feeling that the world has passed him by or Alexei's longing for the successes of his past, every member of the Thunderbolts is suffering in loneliness.
These battles of mental health come to the forefront as Valentina reveals that Bob is actually her hand-crafted super-soldier Sentry. However, the bureaucratic baddy seemingly bites off more than she can chew when Bob's childhood traumas, substance abuse battles and depression (not to mention a bad blonde hair dye job), cause him to send New York into a state of oblivion, disappearing humans into shadows one-by-one.
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In one of Marvel's most inventive set pieces to date, the Thunderbolts, helmed by Yelena who has befriended Bob, chase him into the void, and in a clever metaphor for therapy, the hodge-podge group of anti-heroes help Bob charge his way forward through his most difficult memories rather than run away from them. In a final cathartic scene similar to something from Everything Everywhere All at Once, the Thunderbolts remind viewers of the healing power of chosen family and processing our darkest thoughts and memories with others rather than suffering with them in silence.
After a string of Marvel movies clogged by easter eggs, bad CGI and set up for future films, Thunderbolts* is a welcome reminder as to what a good superhero film can look like. It's a completely intact story even if there are certainly references to past MCU films and a post-credits scene pointing to things to come. Much of the credit must be given to the writing team of Eric Pearson (who wrote Black Widow) and newcomer Joanna Calo (who wrote on Hacks and The Bear), who steer the film in a more personal direction. Jake Schreier, the director and another Marvel rookie, also seems to have relieved the film from the drag of past lore and tacky visual effects.
It cannot be undersold, however, just how charismatic this cast is as well. While the MCU has certainly managed to nab a who's who of A-list talent over the years, the Thunderbolts* cast does seem unique in both the caliber of its actors and the fact that none of them seem to be signaling in each scene that they're there SOLELY for a paycheck (*cough* Harrison Ford *cough*). Florence Pugh is one of the greatest actors of her generation and commands empathy, while Harbour and Louis-Dreyfus turn in perfectly calibrated comedic performances and Geraldine Viswanathan delights as Valentina's assistant Mel. The breakout star, however, is Pullman who manages to wow as the doofy Bob, the vengeful Sentry and the apathetic Void.
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Mostly though, Thunderbolts* succeeds because for the first time since Black Panther it is an MCU movie with something to say. In a world of screens and politics where isolation is growing stronger and darkness can be overpowering, a popular superhero movie focusing so unabashedly on mental health is a welcome revelation. It's a reminder that no matter how screw up you think you are, there are still people out there who will love and care for you if you just open up.
Rating: B+
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