Director: Jake Schreier
Actors: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: PG
‘Thunderbolts*’ is a great MCU film, probably mostly due to
it mostly being a non-Super Hero film, and thus feeling more grounded and (semi)
realistic. Even though this film follows ‘Captain America: Brave New World’,
other than a few mentions, it’s not a direct sequel – almost-required prior
viewing are ‘The Falcon & the Winter Soldier’ and ‘Black Widow’. The heart
of the film’s plot is following Yelena (Pugh)’s search for meaning and family,
and dealing with her past. It doesn’t help that she’s working as an
off-the-books operative for Valentina (Louis-Dreyfus), head of the CIA.
It's a good set-up how Yelena, Ava/Ghost (John-Kamen), Antonia/Taskmaster
(Kurylenko), Bob (Pullman – looking like his dad), John Walker (Russell – not looking
that much like his dad) and Alexi/Red Guardian (Harbour) end up together, and
how they overcome their initial instincts to fight each other. Bucky/Winter
Soldier (Stan) has a significant role, as does Val’s offsider Mel (Viswanathan)
– as they all find something they’ve been missing when they all come together,
no matter how begrudgingly. Without any spoilers, the set-up of “The Sentry”
and then the unveiling of his powers is handled well, with a bit of an ‘Inception’
vibe.
It's quite quick – under 2 hours (before the credits), with
both mid- and post-credits scenes worth staying for, and the black and white
newspaper titles are great. The story of the “Thunderbolts” name is good and
builds naturally – and I won’t delve into the “*” here, other than to say it’s
obvious in hindsight. While it has some dark moments – deals with depression
quite well – there’s still plenty of jokes and fun moments. Very strong performances
elevate this film, Pugh and Pullman in particular, with neither playing a stereotypical
part. Bring on Phase 6!
Overall: Great misfits saving the day against all odds
Gav’s Rating: 4 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment