Thunderbolts* was one of this decade’s most severely underwhelming and incredibly dull Marvel films. The movie begins with Yelena (Florence Pugh) experiencing an existential crisis, consumed by grief over the loss of her sister, Black Widow. She is a product of child enslavement, primarily being raised as a weapon of destruction (an assassin), and doubts her ability to be helpful to the world. Despite the film not giving queer representation for Yelena, it was a delightful surprise to know she identifies as asexual as well.
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“People are consuming more content than food, like we’re stuck to our screens all day, so what am I consuming and what am I producing?”
We also quickly learn that she is also working for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the CIA Director (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who is on the brink of impeachment for running questionable, near-illegal projects.
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In case you haven’t seen Black Widow’s self-titled film, Thunderbolts*‘ two-hour and six-minute run time graciously provided plenty of exposition about Yelena’s life. While working for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Yelena realizes that she wants a public-facing role to give herself a purpose, potentially as an Avenger like her sister. However, she, John Walker/Captain America (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), and the Sentry (Lewis Pullman) discover that Allegra de Fontaine has fooled them into attempting to kill each other, and must now band together to take her down.
The movie picks up almost instantly, with fight sequences back-to-back between the antiheroes and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s soldiers. But what struck me is how unlikable the characters are—there’s a ton of cringeworthy dialogue in the group, tedious bickering, and fast-paced “bonding” scenes. It was unrealistic to see the deeply-reserved Yelena form a close attachment to Sentry after knowing him for less than 48 hours.
The movie provides a bit too much information about how “horrible” each character is, to the point of seemingly forgetting about the main focal point of the story. It was especially horrendous when the group found Valentina Allegra de Fontaine at the end and chased after her through a curtain to see the paparazzi awaiting an announcement. Allegra de Fontaine then selfishly declares the Thunderbolts* to be the new Avengers and takes credit for their work, leaving her indebted to them.
The movie wasn’t awful, but it was a snooze fest that lacked the joys of previous Marvel flicks, like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the excitement of potential sequels. But at least we got to see Bucky (Sebastian Stan), once again, to provide a familiar face and nostalgia for his deeply loveable yet traumatized character!
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