After the disaster that was Captain America: Brave New World, I was worried that Marvel’s 2025 quality standards had been indefinitely degraded. Luckily, Thunderbolts* is a refreshing upgrade and change of pace across the board.
The action, storytelling, and characters are all combine for a uniquely cinematic and entertaining milestone for the the MCU. The film is not without its flaws, but the focused and earnest perspective really works.
Florence Pugh’s Yelena is the MVP of this film and this group; she carries a lot of emotional weight on her shoulders and delivers. The omnipresent emphasis on the cathartic processing of deep-held emotions makes this one stand out. All the members of Thunderbolts have traumatic pasts that resulted in them hurting people; people they loved. The manifestation of this grief exposes these strong-willed antiheroes to be quite vulnerable, the themes of which gel nicely with the character arc and power revelations of the antagonist, Sentry.
Director Jake Schreier (Netlix’s BEEF ) creatively utilizes editing and visuals to effectively convey the processing of these tortured pasts. Making the jump to blockbuster films after a young career in television, Schreier proves he has the ability to both stick with MCU formula, while also carving out unique space with his own cinematic vision; his sensibilities fit well with this particular story.
As mentioned at the top, Thunderbolts* has weaknesses. The humor mostly works (especially the hilarious comedic timing of David Harbour’s Red Guardian), but more than a few jokes don’t quite land; they feel forced/lazy. Additionally, the machinery of American government, on paper, would seem like an especially relevant narrative thread to pull on at this time, but I’ve never thought the depiction of superheroes interacting with government agencies and operatives to be thoughtful or convincing in the MCU. Same thing here.
Spectacle-wise, the action is well done. The reduced reliance on CGI and execution of chase and combat sequences filmed in-camera makes this feel like a proper, classic action thriller, which I appreciated. And the end battle with Sentry depicts acts of mass malevolence that I thought were quite interesting and unlike anything I’ve seen before; albeit accompanied by a cringy montage of civilian rescue tropes.
All in all, Thunderbolts* is a pretty good movie and a really good MCU film compared to the recent track record of subpar theatrical releases. It shows that filmmakers can indeed achieve the sweet spot of maintaining the Marvel tone, while injecting their unique sensibilities into their specific story, spectacle, and characters. Definitely worthwhile to see on the biggest screen possible.
