Thunderbolts: is Marvel back?
As always, The Average Dude stays away from actual reviews before I ever start tapping my keyboard. I want to keep it as honest and untainted as possible. That was a little bit difficult with Thunderbolts. Lots of pre-screenings and ‘insider reports’ to try and dodge. Overall, I think I did a good job. Other than seeing a few ‘cringey’ headlines, I went in clean and hopeful. Once again, it’s proved to be a good policy.
If I have to explain how her sister died, we can’t be friends
Thunderbolts stars a motley bunch of lesser known characters in the MCU. Half of them have their origins in the ScarJo Black Widow mythos (Yelena, Red Guardian, TaskMaster). Probably Bucky Barnes is the most well-known of the group. But make no mistake, Yelena Belova is the leader of this group. And the heart. Florence Pugh plays the surviving sister of Natasha Romanoff (well…adoptive sister in a not really legal way) who is searching for a better life than that of a throwaway assassin. It’s remniscent of Natasha’s own redemptive journey. I liked it.
There’ll always be only one Cap
Other MCU additions to the ‘team’ are John Walker, the replacement Captain America before the Sam Wilson replacement Captain America. He and Bucky had their own issues back in Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+). Walker is wrestling with his demons, as well. In fact, each one of the Thunderbolts is broken in various ways. Taskmaster was scarred and abused and experimented on. Ghost lived most of her life unable to even enjoy physical touch due to her ‘abilities’. Someone called them the Mental Health Avengers. That’s totally fair. Avengers with Issues, but that just gives them a whole roster full of stories to work with.
And don’t even get me started on Bob
Probably the most mentally fractured Thunderbolt is Bob. Not much else I can say here. I’m already dancing around spoilers. Suffice to say, literally, every one of the Thunderbolts has a haunted past. I mean when Bucky Barnes is the most stable member of the group, you know you’re in for a ride. And its good that they didn’t play it too seriously. That would have been a bad, bad choice. Much to the writer’s credit, they tread very adeptly on the whole dark past/emotional damage story. It needed a certain amount of delicacy. And to do it with this much humor was masterful.
I like this movie more the more I think about it
It probably doesn’t hurt that Thunderbolts is coming on the heels of one of the worst Marvel movies ever (in a long line of bad Marvel Movies). Captain Falcon Brave New World was a nearly total disaster. No way to sugarcoat that turd and make it digestible. Compared to BNW, Thunderbolts was bound to be a huge upgrade. And I think that only adds to the joy we, the viewing public, felt leaving the theater. That’s kind of unfair, because Thunderbolts is great on it’s own merits.
I guess you gotta lay in the bed you made
I can understand the hate that Disney is getting from people. For awhile now, they have injected politics into their product in an effort to influence society. And it eventually failed majestically. They had control of some of the greatest marketable IP in history and ran it into the ground. Star Wars. Indiana Jones. Marvel. And nearly all of their original characters and stories. Even after it was proven to be a financially bad direction, Disney stayed the course. And the loss of interests in their product is the result. I think there is a pathway back, but it’s not gonna be a quick fix. So I get it. I’m with you. You got a lot of ‘splainin’ to do.
What I don’t understand is the hate coming from some folks who have actually seen the movie. Were there some plot holes? Yep. One of them was pretty glaring. But we have overlooked plot holes in pretty much every sci-fi movie ever (and Marvel movies in particular). Suspending disbelief after the stub gets torn is a given. So the question is: was there enough good in the movie to overcome the shortcomings? For Mr and Mrs Average Dude (and tons of others, from what I’m hearing) the answer is a resounding ‘YES!’
Always save your receipts
So, why the hate? I can maybe understand that some folks feel so betrayed by Disney/Star Wars/Marvel that the synapses in their brains are now conditioned to see flaws. Receipt: calling Thunderbolts another ‘woke’ Disney movie. I didn’t see that. Show us, please. I’ll wait. Receipt: Yet another ‘girl-boss’ destroying a bunch of trained men twice her size’. Funny, I didn’t hear the ‘girl-boss’ outrage when ScarJo was doing it in Iron Man 2.
Here’s the thing: if you’re going to call yourself a movie reviewer, review the movie. Don’t look for flaws for the flaw’s sake. Because, as everyone knows, if you are looking for fault, you’ll usually find it. Likewise, if you are looking for the good, you can usually find that, too.
SO…it is with great enthusiasm that The Average Dude gives Thunderbolts a much-deserved 4.65/5. There are a couple of points knocked off. One was fair and one was personal*.
Even so, Thunderbolts was a genuinely good watch that will go into the annual watch list, no doubt. Spring for the large corn and ignore the nay-sayers. Is Marvel back? Too soon to tell. But you can enjoy Thunderbolts while we wait.
The Bed You Made 2.0
*I won’t name them here, but there was a character in this movie that I reckognized – sadly – from the worst movie I have ever seen in my life. A movie so bad it haunts me. I didn’t realize how much it haunted me until I saw them again in a movie that I was really enjoying. It immediately catapulted me from the fugue-state where the world outside is gone (as a good movie will do). And every time they appeared, it was a jolt. I don’t wish this person any ill, but for me, its the consequence of a really bad career choice. The bed you made, so to speak.
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