Florence Pugh is the standout in fun Thunderbolts, Marvel's best movie since Avengers: Endgame
THUNDERBOLTS* (PG)
Director: Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank)
Starring: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Lewis Pullman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
★★★★
After too much calm, Marvel zaps up a storm
For those who have kept the faith in all things Marvel while the comic-book studio powerhouse has struggled to snap itself out of its post-Avengers: Endgame slump, the wait is finally over.
There won't be any talk of so-called 'superhero fatigue' this time around: Thunderbolts* marks a refreshing reclaiming of form that hopefully augurs well for more Marvel magic to come.
While Thunderbolts* lands ever so slightly short of being truly great, its strengths as a well-acted, shrewdly-written and consistently entertaining movie experience are there for all to see and genuinely enjoy.
Conceptually, Thunderbolts is structured like a tougher, gruffer variation of a Guardians of the Galaxy instalment, where a raggedy bunch of self-deprecating, second-tier superhero types must reluctantly join forces for the greater good.
In many ways, this lot are more antiheroes than superheroes, all plucked from the substitutes' bench of earlier Marvel fixtures, and given substantial game time for the first time.
The unofficial leader of this pack is Black Widow's Yelena Belova (a fantastic Florence Pugh), a shell of her former self who has recently been making ends meet as a black-ops mischief-maker for the CIA.
The equally exiled likes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Ant-man and the Wasp's Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) have also been pulling a pay cheque from the same employer.
However, when the CIA's disreputable boss Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) tries to literally terminate all who have been doing her dirty work, the Thunderbolts begin to properly take shape.
Former Captain America associate Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) has cause to join this fledgling task force, as does Yelena's vodka-fuelled dad, the very amusing Red Guardian (David Harbour).
By movie's end, all will be pulling in unison to take down an all-new, ultra-destructive superhero named Sentry, a figure described as being the equivalent of all Avengers rolled into one.
The only advantage that might end up working in favour of the Thunderbolts is that they used to know Sentry when he was merely a meek and mild fellow named Bob (Lewis Pullman).
Longtime Marvel devotees will immediately recognise the uptick in quality achieved by Thunderbolts*.
By the end of the movie's first act, its easygoing confidence has enlivened every aspect of the production.
The better Marvel movies have always struck the right balance between individual characters and a unifying calamity, and Thunderbolts hits this all-important benchmark with ease.
While the climax of the tale arguably lags in pacing and tone compared to all that has happened earlier, the vivid feelings of relief and elation generated by Thunderbolts* at its best are not to be taken lightly.
Thunderbolts* is in cinemas now
UNTIL DAWN (MA15+)
★★★
General release
An engagingly nimble little horror movie that adequately mirrors (and sometimes, sneakily transcends) its origins as a well-known PlayStation game.
The action centres on a strange place known as The Welcome Center, where five young friends have arrived in search of a member of their circle who has mysteriously disappeared. Before long, the group find themselves stuck in a grotesque, Groundhog Day-style time loop, where their search continually leads to guaranteed death, only for time to suddenly rewind back so they can start all over again.
The key line that may help this mob make it out of this macabre maze is 'survive the night, or become a part of it'.
If they can learn from their mistakes – and hopefully, not make any new ones – they just might make it until dawn.
Yes, we have been in similar scenarios before, but there is still an energetic enthusiasm in play here that won't be denied. Director David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation) is an underrated master of making little chills go a long way, and his willing cast of newbies merrily keep dying and keep trying right through to the end.
HAVOC (MA15+)
★★★
Now streaming on Netflix
It is called Havoc for one very good reason. Just as this unabashedly anarchic, all-stops-out action flick isn't here to make friends, it's not about to suddenly make sense at any given moment, either. Simple storytelling tools such as dialogue, character names and plotting are merely stepping stones to get us from one shootout, chase sequence or hand-to-head combat routine to the next.
While you will need a GPS to follow exactly who is hating on who throughout – by my count, there are at least 20 corrupt cops, crime lords, mobsters, fixers, dealers, municipal politicians and their relatives jostling for fleeting prominence here – the only figure truly worth focusing on is a down-and-out homicide detective named Walker (Tom Hardy).
That's him spending the night of Christmas Eve being funnelled through a series of implausibly deathly confrontations that would have Die Hard's John McClane laying down his guns and making a run for it.
Aside from the occasional flourish of mumbled menace contributed by Hardy, the real stars are the movie's stunt choreographers, who come up with a number of hyper-ballistic ballets that can only be applauded. Co-stars Forest Whitaker, Timothy Olyphant.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
6 hours ago
- Perth Now
Paul Walter Hauser revealed Fantastic Four role to 'dozens' of random people
Paul Walter Hauser told "70 or 80 random people" about his appearance in Fantastic Four. The 38-year-old actor's appearance as antihero Mole Man was kept out of the trailers for the Marvel blockbuster in order to surprise audiences but despite the notorious secrecy surrounding MCU projects, Paul admitted he had let the news slip to "several dozen people" before the movie was released. He told Britain's GQ magazine: "For the most part I was zip-lipped, and everybody understands at this point. They all know if you do Star Wars, or Marvel, you can't talk about it. "But if I'm being honest - and I pride myself on my honesty nowadays - I probably told 70 or 80 random people, be it family members or fans. "I'm not gonna lie and say I told literally no one. I told several dozen people. "But at the same time, they weren't blabbering it out, or giving it to news outlets. "They were respectful, and excited, and what-have-you. "But if a little kid comes up to me in a wheelchair with a comic book, and they're like, 'Are you Mole Man?' I would say something like, 'I don't know man, I hear there is a mole…' And wink at them, just to get them excited." The Black Bird star doesn't think Marvel bosses would be too upset with his lack of discretion because they have bigger things to think about. He said: "It's kind of like jaywalking, too. It's like, you can get [arrested] for that, but it's like, hopefully they're catching the bad guys. "And when I look at Kevin Feige and the Marvel folks, I go, I think they're probably busy with some other stuff. They're probably not gonna chase me down and scalp me, or shoot a little [dart] into my neck." Meanwhile, the Black Bird star has also been busy shooting Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, in which he plays recording engineer Mike Batlan, and he explained how he largely left lead star Jeremy Allen White alone during breaks in filming because he could see how much he was trying to juggle. He said: "Jeremy was very dialed in, and it was not in a showy actor way; it was not in some puffy, performative nature. It was just very much Jeremy Allen White in a mode of operation where he had a lot he had to think about. "Physicality, dialogue, the look, the voice, singing the real songs, playing the real music. It was a lot. "I usually try to bond with my male co-stars on a movie, like Sebastian Stan on I, Tonya, or Sam Rockwell on Richard Jewell. But I purposely just stayed out of his way, because I recognised how exhausted he was, and that he was trying to be a dad to his daughter, while also starring in this massive movie."
Perth Now
10 hours ago
- Perth Now
Josh Brolin says Weapons is the cure for ‘boring' streaming content
Josh Brolin thinks Weapons is the cure for 'boring' content from streamers. The 57-year-old actor stars in director Zach Cregger's new twisty horror flick, and has now argued Weapons is able to bring the genre to 'the edge of absurdity' to ultimately create something fresh and unique away from the offerings of streaming platforms. Speaking with Collider, Brolin said: 'You're looking for great filmmakers, and you're hoping that there's another new good filmmaker out there. 'Right now, with so much content, you're just watching things on whatever streaming service you're on, and you're just going, 'F***, why is this so boring, man? Why?' And just go to the next thing. It's all the same s***. 'And then somebody not only takes the horror genre, but then f**** with it and then does something on the edge of absurdity, and it's sort of humorous, so it's keeping you off-[balance] enough for him to have an emotional impact.' The Avengers: Endgame star added he 'really liked' Cregger's 2022 horror movie Barbarian, though couldn't quite understand why he enjoyed the film until he spoke with his daughter and his son-in-law to get a younger perspective on the director's work. He explained: 'You talk to that era of people, and, I mean, he's like a god to them. And I'm like, 'Okay, so they're reacting to something that I may not understand.' 'I would rather not understand it and do business with that guy and understand it better later. And I think that Weapons is a much more refined version of something that he had his finger on the pulse of with Barbarian.' Brolin revealed he had also 'challenged' Cregger, 44, during the making of Weapons because the director is 'young' and had previously starred in the sketch comedy show The Whitest Kids U' Know, which the Dune actor felt was 'totally different' to the horror film. He said of challenging Cregger: 'But how can you not, man? He's a young guy who's done his sketch comedy, which is something totally different than what he's doing, and then he did Barbarian.' Reflecting on how he challenged Cregger, Brolin said he wanted to ensure that the 'very strong' director of photography for Weapons didn't 'take over' his vision for the film. The No Country for Old Men star said: 'I just generally challenged him. I think he had a very strong DP, and I had experienced this before where a DP kind of took over. Do you know what I mean? A lot of DPs want to be directors, so they kind of …' He added: 'So, I think that he had a very strong DP, and then what I ended up seeing is a very strongly cinematic, emotionally lit movie, which was good.' In Weapons - which stars Julia Garner, Austin Abrams, June Diane Raphael, Alden Ehrenreich and Brolin - 17 third-grade students vanish from their homes in the dead of night, triggering a tense mystery told through multiple perspectives that must unravel the sinister force behind their disappearance.
The Advertiser
19 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Chris Hemsworth's diagnosis changed his outlook
Chris Hemsworth's perspective on life changed when he learned he had a greater chance of developing Alzheimer's disease. The 41-year-old actor previously learned that he is, biologically, eight to ten times more likely than other people to develop Alzheimer's, as he carries two copies of the APOE4 gene, and Hemsworth admits that the revelation has changed his life. Hemsworth - who made the discovery while filming the TV show Limitless: Live Better Now - told Sky News: "It was just kind of this point in my life where up until your 40s, you're kind of gathering data and information and it's all reactionary and then you get to a point where you think, 'oh some of this sort of identity that I've sort of built doesn't hold true anymore'. "There's some inner sort of protest or inner voice that has a deeper need to understand and there's deeper questions and what is the purpose and the why behind what I'm doing ... and what am I seeking, what am I contributing, as opposed to just what I am collecting." Meanwhile, Hemsworth previously admitted that his busy work schedule has taken a toll on him. The actor starred in a host of big-budget films, including eight Marvel blockbusters, in just over 12 years, and Hemsworth admitted that he struggled to cope with the demands. He told Vanity Fair: "I'd been trying to muscle and beat things into existence for so long, out of obsession and desperation to build this career, and I was just exhausted. I was worried about everything. Nothing was as enjoyable as it once was, or I had imagined it was. "I was making back-to-back movies and doing the press tours, and I was married and had three young kids, and it was all happening at the same time in a very short window. "You're sort of just running on fumes, and then you're showing up to something with little in the tank and you start to pick things apart: 'Why am I doing this film?' 'Why isn't this script better?' 'Why didn't that director call me for that,' or, 'Why didn't I get considered for this role?' 'Why don't I get the call-up from Scorsese or Tarantino?' "I had begun to take it all too serious and too personal." Chris Hemsworth's perspective on life changed when he learned he had a greater chance of developing Alzheimer's disease. The 41-year-old actor previously learned that he is, biologically, eight to ten times more likely than other people to develop Alzheimer's, as he carries two copies of the APOE4 gene, and Hemsworth admits that the revelation has changed his life. Hemsworth - who made the discovery while filming the TV show Limitless: Live Better Now - told Sky News: "It was just kind of this point in my life where up until your 40s, you're kind of gathering data and information and it's all reactionary and then you get to a point where you think, 'oh some of this sort of identity that I've sort of built doesn't hold true anymore'. "There's some inner sort of protest or inner voice that has a deeper need to understand and there's deeper questions and what is the purpose and the why behind what I'm doing ... and what am I seeking, what am I contributing, as opposed to just what I am collecting." Meanwhile, Hemsworth previously admitted that his busy work schedule has taken a toll on him. The actor starred in a host of big-budget films, including eight Marvel blockbusters, in just over 12 years, and Hemsworth admitted that he struggled to cope with the demands. He told Vanity Fair: "I'd been trying to muscle and beat things into existence for so long, out of obsession and desperation to build this career, and I was just exhausted. I was worried about everything. Nothing was as enjoyable as it once was, or I had imagined it was. "I was making back-to-back movies and doing the press tours, and I was married and had three young kids, and it was all happening at the same time in a very short window. "You're sort of just running on fumes, and then you're showing up to something with little in the tank and you start to pick things apart: 'Why am I doing this film?' 'Why isn't this script better?' 'Why didn't that director call me for that,' or, 'Why didn't I get considered for this role?' 'Why don't I get the call-up from Scorsese or Tarantino?' "I had begun to take it all too serious and too personal." Chris Hemsworth's perspective on life changed when he learned he had a greater chance of developing Alzheimer's disease. The 41-year-old actor previously learned that he is, biologically, eight to ten times more likely than other people to develop Alzheimer's, as he carries two copies of the APOE4 gene, and Hemsworth admits that the revelation has changed his life. Hemsworth - who made the discovery while filming the TV show Limitless: Live Better Now - told Sky News: "It was just kind of this point in my life where up until your 40s, you're kind of gathering data and information and it's all reactionary and then you get to a point where you think, 'oh some of this sort of identity that I've sort of built doesn't hold true anymore'. "There's some inner sort of protest or inner voice that has a deeper need to understand and there's deeper questions and what is the purpose and the why behind what I'm doing ... and what am I seeking, what am I contributing, as opposed to just what I am collecting." Meanwhile, Hemsworth previously admitted that his busy work schedule has taken a toll on him. The actor starred in a host of big-budget films, including eight Marvel blockbusters, in just over 12 years, and Hemsworth admitted that he struggled to cope with the demands. He told Vanity Fair: "I'd been trying to muscle and beat things into existence for so long, out of obsession and desperation to build this career, and I was just exhausted. I was worried about everything. Nothing was as enjoyable as it once was, or I had imagined it was. "I was making back-to-back movies and doing the press tours, and I was married and had three young kids, and it was all happening at the same time in a very short window. "You're sort of just running on fumes, and then you're showing up to something with little in the tank and you start to pick things apart: 'Why am I doing this film?' 'Why isn't this script better?' 'Why didn't that director call me for that,' or, 'Why didn't I get considered for this role?' 'Why don't I get the call-up from Scorsese or Tarantino?' "I had begun to take it all too serious and too personal."
