Take Fourteen: Thunderbolts*
Thunderbolts* is the 36th entry in the MCU Universe. With the Avengers no where in sight, it is up to this ragtag team of anti-heroes, mercenaries, and assassins that have to put aside their many differences to thwart an all-powerful lab experiment gone awry. Yelena Belova, a.k.a The Black Widow—- no, not that one (Florence Pugh) and Bucky “Winter Soldier” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) lead the the charge but what hope do they have against a foe that would give the Avengers a serious run for their money?
Prior to its release, I had almost zero interest in this movie. Being a fan of the original Thunderbolts from the comics, I could assure you, these charlatans were NOT the Thunderbolts. What’s more, this groups was composed of B-listers who had debuted over the course of the somewhat lackluster Phases Four and Five. Ghost, Taskkmaster, US Agent, and this Black Window and Red Guardian, the later two introduced in Black Widow, quite possibly my least favorite of all the MCU. Seeing them in the initial trailer had me very concerned that we would get a retread of the oddly unserious tone of that movie. I also found out that one of my least favorite characters EVER to appear in a Marvel Comic would also be featured is this one, so yeah, my hopes were pretty low. And yeah, I like Bucky, but would he be enough to save this one.
Although Winter Soldier did feature heavily in the story, it was Yelena really too center stage. To my surprise, she won me over from the first scene and never disappointed. Where I found Red Guradian to be an over the top stooge in Black Widow, Red Guardian worked as a comic relief here big time. John Walker, the US Agent had always been a jerk in the comics and man, is he one here, and it totally works. I was unimpressed by Ghost and Taskmaster in their debuts, but here—- you guessed it. They worked. And that character from the comics that I hated—- dare I say I actually kinda liked him and sympathized with him for the first time ever. And did I mentioned Julie Louise Dreyfuss as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. She was vile and slimy but man, did I enjoy every second of her on the screen.
This one has it all. As I said, the humor was great. Ever joke landed and most of them were pretty subtle. The action was awesome. There were some sequences that evoked the best moments from the first two Avengers. Most surprisingly however was the amount of heart in this film. Just about everyone in this film is a horrible person so you don’t expect any level of sincerity from any of them so when you get it, wow.
Yeah, I was wrong. Big time. Many have said it’s the best MCU since Infinity War/Endgame. I personally think No Way Home was up there too, and this one is right up there with them. I am not gonna lie, I haven’t loved many of the MCU’s offering since those. This however, is a return to form. This was course correction. With what looks to be a promising Fantastic Four movie on the horizon, I think it is fair to say the Marvel Universe is back.
My score: I have to do it, 10. It was everything I could have wanted and considering how low my expectations were, I have to give it up!
It would be criminal for you not to tell me what you think in the comments below.
Until next time…
