The newest Marvel movie, “Thunderbolts*” had been an anticipated Marvel movie for quite some time, ever since its announcement back in the summer of 2022. Many people, including myself, when first hearing the concept, of “a team of antiheroes teaming up together to defeat a greater evil,” I had doubts about it, thinking it was merely a copy of DC’s film, “The Suicide Squad (2016).”
The cast of characters didn’t look so great either, with about three super soldier characters and three assassins, it seemed like an absolute downgrade compared to the original Thunderbolts team comic book counterparts, as they had a diverse set of different antiheroes and villains.
But after watching the movie, I was certainly blown away by the quality of the film. After being burnt out from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), especially during 2022 and 2023, where either “mid” to disappointing movies such as, “The Eternals”, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels,” it seems like Marvel has finally produced a movie, that, well, feels like a real movie. Especially a movie where the characters feel like they have chemistry together.
Like I mentioned in the intro, Thunderbolts seemed like a cheap copy of DC’s, “The Suicide Squad (2016).” But, unlike “The Suicide Squad,” it’s a breath of fresh air compared to some of Marvel’s other films throughout the years.
First off, I must applaud the choreography in this movie, as it’s not a jumbled mess and you can actually see the fighting scenes without having a million different cuts. I also mentioned the characters having chemistry with each other as a team earlier, with characters such as Ghost from “Antman and the Wasp (2018),”John Walker from “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021),” Yelena and The Red Guardian from “Black Widow (2021)” and Bucky/The Winter Soldier all working together to become an unlikely team to defeat the main villain. That villain, Sentry, the equivalent of a superhuman (or rather the Marvel version of Superman),who made his MCU debut in this film.
Despite having similar powers to Superman, Sentry is quite an intimidating villain and the VFX in this movie absolutely showcases that. The pacing and humor are well done too, especially with the humor, no more of that quippy/quirky Marvel Cinematic Universe dialogue.
Now, the main meat of this film is that it contains quite an emotional and needed message and theme, which is quite funny, considering May happens to be Mental Health Awareness Month. I was quite surprised that Thunderbolts, of all films, dives into these topics. The movie doesn’t spoon feed you or shove it down your throat, but instead introduces it through each character’s past and motivations. Each character gets a chance to shine throughout the film, and if you’re interested in morally grey characters who come together and confront their past with emotional beats and humor, then this movie is for you. Basically, it seems like Marvel is finally heading into the right direction.
