Directed By Jake Schreier

Starring – Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Lewis Pullman

The Plot – After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, an unconventional team of antiheroes must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.

Rated PG-13 for strong violence, adult language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references.

Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* | Final Trailer | In Theaters May 2

POSITIVES

It’s been a couple of years since a Marvel Cinematic Universe installment has moved me both creatively and emotionally, and while “Thunderbolts” is far from a perfect film, it’s definitely the most meaningful addition to the franchise since “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, bringing the deepest and darkest depths to a superhero movie that simultaneously fleshes out these characters more accessibly vulnerable than one could ever expect. It does this by exploring a connective tissue to its audience through thematic impulses pertaining to everything from depression, to situational anxieties, to even personal loneliness, all in the ways of not only showcasing an empathetic humanity to these characters, but also in seamlessly building the bond between them that makes this band of misfits run like a well-oiled machine, and one that is every bit entertainingly gripping towards making a two hour runtime float by as effortless as some of the earlier installments in this now 36 movie franchise. What’s most commendable is how everybody assembled has unresolved baggage from their personal pasts that continuously hangs over them like toys in the attic that eventually materialize into full-fledged demons, and with a visual form of expression that brings to life more than one memorable hero among comic book lore, Schreier has conjured Marvel’s answer to D.C failures that spent years producing darker and more devastating tones to their world, with an equally meaningful merit in presentational cinematography from Andrew Droz Palermo, and instrumentally complex score from Son Lux conveying a one-of-a-kind atmosphere that balances the boundaries of the aforementioned PG-13 material from the script. While the bright and boldly colorful canvases of Marvel consistency are missed, here the gloomy and weathered visuals not only naturally fit into the internal adversity that each of these characters face towards their own road to redemptions, but also inscribes an eerie element of ambiguity within the established world, as a result of the Avengers no longer being around to save the day, and with Lux commanding a more cerebral side to audible psychologies that unlock some very profoundly interpretive tones that stay away from the thunderously triumphant that we’ve come accustomed to, effortlessly conjures heft in ways that we can feel towards every revealing character depiction, granting us access and insight, but never in ways that feel shallowly spoon-fed towards the emotional authenticity of the scenes that they accompany. Much praise can also be paid to Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo’s screenplay, which finds cleverly valuable ways to build the foundation of this family dynamic that force each of these characters to rely on each other, in order to evade some truly dangerous circumstances that lead to some fun set pieces to both action and situational adversity. While the action is still a bit overly cloaked towards C.G consistencies, particularly in the motions of its characters surmising supernatural strengths to their captures, the way that each set piece tremendously showcases the abilities of each of the respective members gives plenty of value to what effortlessly feels like an ensemble movie, articulating each of them with not only a confidence in capability that feel like the full-fledged evolutions of their previous cameos in other films and shows, but also a radiance in charisma that impeccably pays off towards some truly charming performances. Much can be praised in the underlining melancholy and surface level coldness of the demeanor of Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, or Sebastian Stan’s emotional maturity and dominant control that he constantly exudes towards Bucky being the unofficial leader of this newly established group, but for my money it was the mesmerizing combination of Florence Pugh and Lewis Pullman that completely captivated my attention, affording each of them ample opportunity to take their respective characters in directions that I truly wasn’t expecting. For Pugh, this means a far more emotional vulnerability than we’re used to seeing out of Yelena, particularly during those tender moments when she psychologically confronts her traumatic past, in which Florence feels like she could fall to pieces at any given moment. The resiliency of her stoic demeanor still persists, but Pugh is given far more to endure than anything that she has ever experienced in the shoes of the character, and it allows us to finally see Yelena the person, instead of the ass-kicker, for what truly feels like the first time, especially as the glowingly guiding hand towards Pullman’s own consuming anxieties. On that front, when I first heard Pullman was cast as Bob, I certainly had my doubts, however those were quickly put to rest in a duality to turn that not only ratchets the egotistical arrogance of an alter ego, but more importantly the paralyzing physicality of continuously pushing down everything that plagues him, resulting in a career-shifting turn that definitely cements him as the single most important character in the entire film, which is saying something when you consider this is Bob’s introduction to the M.C.U. Lastly, I wanted to touch on the closing impressions from mid-credits and post-credits scenes because they certainly move the storytelling forward in more of the immediate future of Marvel’s releases. Without spoiling anything, the post-credits sequence surprisingly shifts forward a considerable amount in the timeline, and with the inevitability of an emerging outsider from outer space, it definitely gets you pumped for the next couple of movies in the franchise, especially considering those involved in the scene have no idea what’s in store for them from a very familiar logo that’s donned on-screen to close out those final few tensely riveting moments.

NEGATIVES

While “Thunderbolts” fixes a lot of the issues that I’ve had with recent phase five installments, there are still two that unfortunately persist in this engagement, beginning with a dependency towards unnatural humor that I regretfully think took away some of the appeal from earlier scenes involving characters confronting their traumatic pasts. This is not to say that the comedy is ineffective, as more times than not the pocketed moments of levity definitely exerted a laugh out of me, particularly in David Harbour’s razor sharp comedic timing for broken English that endearingly charmed me to him, but rather the comedy is used a little too often as a crutch in a movie with such an overwhelmingly empowering way of unearthing psychological scars, where one moment a character will touch on an abusive relationship with their father, before the next scene follows up with Harbour chewing up the scenery with stupid lines of dialogue that unceremoniously shatter the sentiment. I didn’t necessarily need the movie to feel like a wet blanket, but I think it stands out most during those moments that emotionally challenge its characters in ways that no movie would previously dare to explore, and considering the material here attains notoriety on the talents of its ensemble, rather than the cleverness of its creativity, I could’ve used less of it in the finished product, as the result leaves quite a few tonal clashes throughout the film’s duration that made it feel like a jockeying for control between a buddy comedy and psychological drama that don’t belong together. In addition to this, another continued problem is the spoon-feeding of the unnatural dialogue, which continuously grinds the movie’s pacing during the opening act to remind audiences who these characters are and what their respective powers can conjure. It’s not even so much an issue with new characters to the fold, whom those outside of comic book lore have no idea about, but rather characters from Disney Plus shows, like John Walker, which the producers obviously have zero confidence in the audience to have actually seen. It wouldn’t be a problem if the script found noble ways to imbed it that didn’t involve other characters feeling like they were reading a Wikipedia biography, but more times than not it feels like bullet-points meant to get everybody up to speed, and it ultimately serves as one of my biggest issues with so many storylines persisting on a streaming app that not everybody cares to pay for. Finally, I have to tread carefully with my other critique, as it does contain spoilers, but I will say that I was greatly disappointed with the waste of use towards one particular character in the group, which is made all the more hilarious when you consider how faithfully everyone else is focused on upon depiction. On one hand, I appreciate what the movie was going for, towards generating stakes to the engagement, especially because it quite literally comes out of nowhere, so anticlimactically, however I wish that their inclusion to this film didn’t feel like such an afterthought, as I loved this character in a previous movie, but here got nothing justifiable as to why they would even agree to be a part of something uninfluential.

OVERALL
“Thunderbolts” is a heavily harrowing and humanly heartfelt addition to the Marvel franchise, which sees its ragtag group of misfits coming to terms with their own respective traumas in refreshingly daring and ambitious exploits that connect to humanity perhaps better than any other previous film. While the superhero genre is still plagued by heavily intentioned dialogue and periodically inappropriate humor, Jake Schreier’s command over the material sees it uncovering the burden of psychological trauma simultaneously with the importance of surrounding friendships, restoring hope and ambition to the future of a franchise that now enters its sixth phase with some of the most iconic characters on the horizon.

My Grade: 8.1 or B+