Thunderbolts

Thunderbolts

I genuinely liked this movie, and I wish it wasn’t such a rare occurrence in today’s MCU. 

Things I liked:

• Florence Pugh is phenomenal.  She delivers on all of the promise she flashed in Black Widow and Hawkeye, as Yelena is elevated to the headline of what’s essentially Black Widow 2.  She brings depth and emotion to a wonderfully realized character, to an extent that may not have been reached by any other MCU character.  (Maybe Scarlet Witch in WandaVision?)

• Some great action sequences.  Nothing that’s top tier, but the opening building jump, four-way incineration room fight, and futile Sentry confrontation were all well done.

• Shout out to the Bucky v Three Jeeps scene.  A great showcase for the guy who has somehow become a nostalgic fan favorite.  

• David Harbour’s bombastic Red Guardian is hit or miss for me, but he mostly hits here.  His humor works, and I laughed at the majority of it.  He also pulls off the heartfelt moments w/ Pugh.  Some serious acting that almost feels out of place in the MCU.

• Inching up the silo.

• I didn’t expect much from the Sentry, as I’m totally not a fan of him in the comic.  But Lewis Pullman does a fine job here.  His fight scene feels like a totally sanitized, watered-down Homelander scene, but still manages to show just how scary a Superman-level threat can be in the MCU.

• The Void vfx, both on the character and with his victim smearing, is fricking awesome.  Those pinpricks of light are terrifying as his eyes.

• Yelena constantly being embarrassed by her dad will always be funny.

• The Avengerz.  

• Loved both post-credits stings.  

• There’s a lot of legitimately troubling psychic trauma on display in this movie.  Tough to watch, but well executed.  

• I can not believe that the group hug ending actually worked for me.  The other instances I can think of are the “It’s not your fault” scene from Good Will Hunting and the finale of season six of Buffy.  I can’t stand either one.  It shouldn’t work here either, but the filmmakers did a surprisingly effective job of selling Yelena’s despair and her ability to fight through it, reach out, and make a human connection with a similarly lost soul.  

Things I didn’t like

• Julia Louis-Dreyfus just doesn’t fit in the MCU.  She’s plain annoying.

• I would have liked to see more of a payoff with Mel the assistant.

• I feel really bad for Olga Kurylenko.  Everyone else gets to come back and make more future Marvel money, while she’s unceremoniously disposed of.  

• It’s not Wyatt Russell’s fault, but John Walker’s a total tool, and I don’t need to see any more of him.

• Ghost has potential, but she’s nothing more than roster-filler here.

• The writers wimped out by bringing back everyone who died by Void smear.  

• Sad that Valentina didn’t get her comeuppance.  

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: Yes

Rating: Good

Updated MCU rankings

1. Avengers: Endgame

2. Captain America: Civil War

3. Captain America: Winter Soldier

4. Spider-Man: No Way Home

5. Avengers: Infinity War

6. Shang-Chi

7. Avengers: Age of Ultron

8. Ant-Man/Wasp

9. Avengers

10. Spider-Man: Homecoming

11. Captain America

12. Dr Strange 2

13. Thunderbolts

14. Thor: Love and Thunder

15. Spider-Man: Far From Home

16. Iron Man 2

17. Black Widow

18. Black Panther

19. Iron Man

20. Ant-Man

21. Dr Strange

22. Deadpool & Wolverine

23. Iron Man 3

24. Thor 3

25. Captain Marvel

26. Thor

27. Thor 2

28. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

29. Guardians of the Galaxy

30. Guardians of the Galaxy 2

31. Guardians of the Galaxy 3

32. Hulk

33. Eternals

34. Captain America: Brave New World

35. Ant-Man/Wasp: Quantumania