Film Review: "Thunderbolts*"
The newest entry to the sprawling MCU takes the storytelling back to basics, with remarkably strong results that paint a path forward for the struggling entertainment behemoth.
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Warning: Full spoilers for the film follow.
It’s no secret that the MCU has been struggling a bit as of late. Its last few banner film productions have been disappointments with critics and at the box office, for both good and bad reasons. Thus, there was clearly a lot riding on Thunderbolts, and I’ll be the first to admit that I went into it with rather low expectations. Much to my surprise, however, the film is actually quite good, with a brisk pace, some truly knockout performances, and that trademark MCU humor. It’s also notable for grappling with some pretty weighty emotional issues–most of which revolve around mental health–though its efforts here are less successful, which we’ll get to in a moment.
The film opens with Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova undertaking a mission for Julia Louis-Dreyfus Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the unscrupulous head of the CIA whose actions are under scrutiny by the US Congress. Soon enough, though, Yelena is pulled into de Fonaine’s schemes when the latter tricks her into going into a vault, with the intent on incinerating her and the other “loose ends” who might reveal compromising information about her. These include John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and strange and unearthly Bob Reynolds (Lewis Pullman). After narrowly escaping death, the three join forces with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) to bring de Fontaine down, though not before she manages to turn Walker into the superhero Sentry (and then, after she tries to kill him, Void).
There’s no question that Florence Pugh is the standout performance in Thunderbolts*. She’s consistently proven that she is one of her generation’s finest talents, and she brings her considerable emotional range to bear in her performance as Yelena. From the moment we meet here at the beginning of the film it’s clear that she is struggling under an immense burden of grief and increasing apathy at the direction her life is taking, and Pugh allows us to see the hurt and world-weariness behind the facade. At the same time, she also shows that she has a rather deadpan sense of humor, and it’s this underlying warmth that gives Pugh’s performance its emotional heft. You believe that this is a damaged soul seeking redemption–even if she doesn’t always seem to realize it–and you want her to succeed.
Equally powerful is Julia Louis-Dreyfus who, like Pugh, has shown herself time and again to be a once-in-a-generation talent, and she is perfectly poised as de Fontaine, one of those figures that taps expertly into our own cynical age. Like so many of those who now occupy the highest echelons of our government she believes that she is, quite literally, unimpeachable, that there is no one and nothing–no superhero, no government oversight body, not even her own conscience–that can stand between her and her own ambitions. With that streak of white in her hair, she could almost be Tulsi Gabbard, yet another member of Trump world who seems to think that her position makes her untouchable and unaccountable.
There’s something chilling about Louis-Dreyfus’ performance, in part because so much of it bears more than a passing resemblance to one of the actress’ most iconic roles: Selina Meyer of Veep. Like Selina, de Fontaine is a woman of titanic and overweening ambition. Unlike Selina, however, she is ruthlessly competent, able to browbeat her assistant into doing her bidding and quite willing to create a totally unpredictable human superweapon in order to make sure that she’s the one who gets to determine what keeps the American people safe. Her hubris is very nearly her downfall when Sentry attempts to rebel against her, and it’s to Louis-Dreyfus’ credit that she so credibly shows de Fontaine’s fear, as well as her determination to seize victory from the jaws of defeat.
The rest of the cast is uniformly excellent, though some are given more to do than others. It’s always a pleasure to see Sebastian Stan/Bucky, even though he largely plays second fiddle to the humorously-titled Thunderbolts. David Harbour is a true standout, bringing some much-needed levity and exuberant humor to the role, though he also has his fair share of deeper emotional moments, particularly when it comes to drawing Yelena back from the darkness into which she has fallen. In their own ways, both Russell and Pullman nicely capture the angst and despair of broken young men, each of whom are trying to overcome their personal demons to find some greater meaning to their superpowered lives. Though they are both the sons of very famous and highly-regarded fathers, they have shown in this film that they have what it takes to go the distance on their own merits.
Narratively the film is quite brisk, and it’s clear that the MCU has learned a thing or two about not overstaying its welcome. At just over 2 hours, there’s not a lot of room for narrative bloat, and this is to the film’s overall benefit. It’s nicely-paced, with some strong action set-pieces and editing choices. I particularly appreciated the juxtaposition between the nascent Thunderbolts’ attempt to escape from de Fontaine’s trap and her swanning about at a gala, trying to make sure that these loose ends are dispensed with and that she accrues some much-needed political capital. It’s another of those moments that reminds you that the MCU is at its best when it’s willing to actually engage with the nuts and bolts of politics, even if it’s still unwilling to attach a partisan label to the bad guys.
If I have one complaint about this film it is, strangely enough, its handling of mental health. One of the throughlines is, as you might gather, depression (or, in the case of Bob, something more akin to undiagnosed and untreated schizophrenia). There’s also more than a little trauma here, as Yelena is the product of a program that trains children to be assassins, while Bob has clearly suffered at the hands of abuse at the hands of his father. In the end, both Yelena and Bob, as well as the other characters, are able to triumph because they come back together and forge anew the bonds of human affection and connection. This is obviously good news for New York City, since Bob’s fearsome alter-ego Void was poised to turn the whole city to nothing but shadow. At the same time, it’s one of those sentiments that rings just a little hollow, especially given just how much these characters, particularly Yelena and Bob, have been through.
I’m not saying that a popular film has to be some sort of treatise on treating mental health. However, I do think that if you’re going to have mental health be a key part of several characters’ journeys that you should have a better message to offer both said characters and the audience than “if you just fight hard enough and have enough friends you’ll be able to overcome anything.” At the same time, it is genuinely nice to have a Marvel film whose stakes aren’t existential but instead deeply personal, with some politics thrown in for flavor.
All in all, I enjoyed Thunderbolts* much more than I thought I would, even if the ending was a bit abrupt and clearly meant to set up a whole new cycle. Now that we have a new group of Avengers–thanks to de Fontaine’s bit of face-saving PR magic–the stage is set for a whole new set of confrontations and encounters, both between the New Avengers and Captain America and between the new Avengers and the Fantastic Four.
I know that I, for one, will be seated.