Thunderbolts* - an enjoyable return to form for the MCU

i will avoid spoilers in this - you're welcome x

A lot of people have given opinions on all things Marvel in recent years, myself included, and they haven't always been the most positive reviews. Don't get me wrong, Marvel is still comfortably one of the best selling franchises of all time, but they've put themselves in a really tricky position coming out of Avengers: Endgame in the eyes of fans and critics. There's definitely numerous reasons for this with some being more obvious than the others but in its simplest form, it's because they tried to capitalise on the highest grossing film of all time by increasing their offering across Film and Television and unfortunately, it just hasn't really worked. We've instead been left with the first two phases of their 'Multiverse Saga' being incredibly messy with the general themes of unclear plot direction and hasty rewrites being the overall focus as a result of a broad range of factors such as Strikes and lead actors getting into trouble (rip Kang Dynasty). If you can push all that aside then this leads us into the latest release for the MCU, Thunderbolts*, which is the 36th (crazy number for a franchise when you deep it!?!) in the franchise.

Thunderbolts* follows the story of a group of antiheroes that are caught in a trap and forced to work together on a dangerous mission. I actually found it to be a really refreshing lineup of characters because so much of the heavy lifting in recent years has been on characters/plot points that it feels like Marvel just kind of hoped that the fans can cling too. Whereas with this film, most of these lead characters have previously been secondary characters coming from Marvel releases such as Black Widow (Taskmaster, Red Guardian and Yelena), Ant-Man and The Wasp (Ghost) and the miniseries The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (John Walker) which traditionally are fairly mixed rated in the public eye. The group also includes Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier aka One of the only people still basically in every phase of the MCU and also the newly introduced Bob.

Before I get into the strengths of the character performances in this film, I think the most important thing to focus on when looking at the positives is the strength of the overall script, look and direction of the film because although the character performances are all genuinely strong, they can only realistically get to that level of performance as a result of the platform that the director, Jake Schreier, offers them in this film. I've been thinking about why this film works so well compared to other recent Marvel films and my conclusion is that it just feels like it's successfully gone back to its basics. It's picked its plot, its characters and its intended themes (a focus on mental health) and it's used those three as a cornerstone for making a film that fans can really get behind. As a result, it's plot is as successfully grounded in reality as it can be for a Marvel film, it's characters stories are told in a way that allows for a greater connection between them/audiences and by having a group of characters that are predominantly Earth originated, it allows the film to be more practical effect led which in turn allows for a better looking film. I'm not saying that previous Marvel films haven't necessarily achieved those three things but I don't think any Marvel film has done it quite as cohesively as Thunderbolts* has done in the last few years.

I mentioned previously that it's a really refreshing line up of characters and that they all came from films/shows that have a mixed standing amongst fans and critics. This is interesting because part of the reason that those films/shows have such a mixed standing amongst fans and critics is because they haven't quite nailed the important cornerstones of a film that I highlighted in the previous paragraph as being a major reason in the success for Thunderbolts*. When you then break down the character performances, it's fascinating to see how having a different writer and having a more focussed direction allows for the cast to really develop their performances as the characters. It's a film that's bold in it's themes but it's done in a way that allows the cast to really shine with their performances. Although all the leads are solid in their performances, Florence Pugh and Lewis Pullman are particularly strong as Yelena and Bob respectively with both characters having really lovely character arcs as their characters reflect on their pasts in order to look forward once again throughout the film. I also thought David Harbour was really good as the more comedic voice of the group and on a sidenote, I still have a lot of time for Bucky Barnes as a character.

It's difficult to comment much more on the film without getting into spoiler territory so I will leave this review with the recommendation that this film is definitely worth seeing. It's one of, if not the strongest, Marvel release for a few years and hopefully has set up the franchise for a return to form ahead of the highly anticipated Fanastic Four: The Last Steps coming out over the Summer. I'd also go as far as saying even if you ignore the context of the wider Marvel picture, it does still stand up as a very well made action film in which you don't really need to have seen previous films to get the plot (although it probably does help a little bit).

On a final note, if you're reading this and wondering about post credit scenes, there are two. The internet has seemingly decided that the last one is the greatest thing ever to happen to post credit scenes and I would say to slightly lower your expectations on what it is if you've seen those audience reactions before seeing the film. I'd also advise to be careful about how closely you are reading the credits because the music section does spoil the final post credit scene for those eagle eyed viewers.

Thunderbolts* - 4 out of 5.

From left: Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell and David Harbour in ‘Thunderbolts*’ © Marvel Studios