Review: ‘Thunderbolts*’ is an Effective Standalone MCU Outing that Fluctuates Between Fun and Formidable

No one wants to be a last choice or to consider the possibility that their friends and colleagues don’t really respect them. Yet it’s not always the most capable, responsible, or intelligent individuals in this world who get gifted with both great power and good luck, leading to some unfortunate clashes between what’s right and what’s much easier. The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe effort assembles a spattering of former heroes with questionable credentials from different projects for a film that’s both tremendous fun and fodder for more serious contemplation about what it means to feel alone.

CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is facing an impeachment trial for her many nefarious dealings and, while she spends most of her time at the microphone making jokes and grand statements of denial, she wastes little time in ordering her assistant Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan) to have all loose ends that could incriminate her eliminated. Those include Yelena (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who, against all odds, choose to team up to survive together when they are nearly killed along with a mysterious man named Bob (Lewis Pullman) who has no memories but contains great untapped power as a result of being experimented on in one of Valentina’s clandestine projects.

While there are undoubtedly countless moviegoers who automatically flock to theatres every time a new Marvel movie is released regardless of who’s involved, it’s affirming to note that this film doesn’t really require the screening of any previous MCU films or TV series. Drawing heavily from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Black Widow, as well as Ant-Man and the Wasp and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to a lesser degree, this film contains just enough information about its characters’ backstories to ensure that audiences coming in fresh will know all they need and still get to appreciate how these players, as well as Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Red Guardian (David Harbour), have reached the point at which this film finds them.

Pugh, who got her own chance to chew scenery in the most fantastic way in a multi-episode arc in Hawkeye, more than proves herself capable of carrying a film with an onslaught of consistent humor delivered in the film’s opening scenes. It’s wonderful to see her paired again with her onscreen father Harbour, who is hilarious as a bored former national hero who now operates a limo service whose tagline is “protecting you from boring evening.” It’s a treat also to get to experience Russell’s Walker and John-Kamen’s Ghost in this new comedic context after much more somber cinematic introductions in earlier projects, and this is an effective vehicle for the most experienced MCU ensemble member to appear in this film, Stan.

Positioning Louis-Dreyfus, an actress primarily known for her TV comedy work who has won eight Emmys across three different shows, as this film’s major villain is also a smart choice since she’s so delighted by her ability to be despicable yet isn’t a superpowered or extraterrestrial entity who can incinerate her foes with minimal effort. The sarcastic nature of her portrayal helps give way to this film’s much darker second half, which finds Bob, played to nervous perfection by Pullman, discovering his true nature and the awe- and terror-inspiring bounds of his abilities. This film deals with grief, loss, sadness, and regret in interesting ways that utilize physical manifestations to explore deeply personal and meditative sentiments, hardly a typical route for a superhero action movie like this one.

As this film’s on-screen text promises, the characters who survive this film’s events will indeed be back in future films. Yet this doesn’t feel just like filler in an endless series of comic book blockbusters building towards major team-up installments, and instead shows how it’s possible to pick characters from different beginnings and make something that really works, both as entertainment and as a thought-provoking look at how abilities can manifest and be controlled. There really aren’t surprises cameos or easter eggs to be found in this film, which stands on its own as an entry that will appeal to diehard fans but also doesn’t need anything that comes before or after it to feel like a complete and worthwhile cinematic experience all by itself.

Movie Rating: 8/10