Honest Review- Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” (Some Possible Spoilers). Last night, we attended the D23 screening of Marvel’s Thunderbolts at Disney Springs. I find Marvel movies pretty entertaining, sometimes confusing, but I’m not a super fan per se. My hopes for Thunderbolts were pretty decent so I headed to Disney Springs with an open mind. Let’s get to it!
For those that don’t know, Thunderbolts are their own band of misfits, but in a good way. Each character is a bit complex and the film shows part of their backstories.. more about that later. Here’s the official plot description-
The Marvel movie, Thunderbolts, revolves around a group of antiheroes, recruited and coerced by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, to undertake dangerous missions. This team includes Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster, and John Walker. They must confront their pasts and decide whether to tear each other apart or find redemption and unite as something more.
The part of the antagonist, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, is played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Or as she will always be to me, Elaine Benes from Seinfeld. (No, she didn’t do the famous dance.) As someone not super familiar with every Marvel character, I was confused at first on whether she was a good guy or not. Soon I found out, she’s not! Watching previous Marvel films is helpful to know who’s who, but as the movie progresses you can figure it out, it doesn’t really hurt the story.
Each of the soon to be Thunderbolts was brought together under devious circumstances by Valentina. The characters are introduced around the same time, where they have to work together to stop impending doom. We also meet Bob, who looks like a regular guy, with a familiar face. Lewis Pullman plays Bob, and he’s the son of actor Bill Pullman. He truly resembles his dad! Anyway, I knew who Yelena was because of “Black Widow” played by Florence Pugh. She really carries this movie. I knew who her dad was, Red Guardian, played by David Harbour (Stranger Things). Also, Sebastian Stan returns as Bucky Barnes. The others were new to me. Wyatt Russell plays John Walker aka U.S Agent and Hannah John-Kamen plays Ava Starr aka Ghost. We also find out the humorous reason where the Thunderbolts got their name.
In true Marvel fashion, there of course is a major problem that needs to be addressed. The newly minted Thunderbolts take care of that. There are two scenes during the credits, one is funny, the other more important to future storytelling. Make sure you stay for that! Earlier I spoke about character backstories, this is where the movie gets serious and a pinch dark. SPOILERS COMING UP!
In everyone’s lives, we all have bad things happen as well as things we aren’t proud of. Sometimes we feel alone and a bit lost. That’s what we see with each character. Bob especially, as he comes from a background of mental health and drug addiction and getting to the other side of it. It’s a dark past, but thanks to Valentina, he turns into another character, Sentry. While as this extremely powerful character, Bob is still struggling with the dark parks of his life and in his mind. This confused me at first because I didn’t get the symbolism. I thought there were 2 Bobs, but it was two facets of his personality. One is the Void the other is Sentry.
The other characters have family issues, guilt with being an assassin, assignments they regret and struggle with flat out loneliness. Mental health is something so many of us struggle with, and this film takes a deep dive into the subject. While yes, this is a rough subject matter, I think it has a good message overall. It’s shows that hardships do happen, mistakes are made, but once you find your people you don’t have to feel so alone anymore. That was the silver lining after seeing things that get you stuck in your feelings.
In addition to action and deep subjects, there also is a lot of humor. I laughed quite a bit throughout the movie. The whole theater did. Thunderbolts is just over 2 hours long, but it went by fast. I wouldn’t have minded it to be a little longer. However, we do find out that the Thunderbolts aka the New Avengers will be back. I am looking forward to see what’s next.
In my opinion, Thunderbolts makes for a fun night out. Mind you, I’m not a Marvel expert, I know enough to get by. My husband is the ultimate Marvel guy, and he liked it but said it didn’t think it fit well with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A better stand alone film in his opinion. Regardless of how you look at it, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. So, go in without preconceived notions or expectations, just enjoy the ride. Don’t forget to stay put until the credits are over, there’s more fun on the horizon!
Marvel popcorn buckets at AMC Theaters!
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Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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