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Summary: After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, an unconventional team of antiheroes must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.

There will be spoilers about OTHER MCU projects as it might inform where the characters are coming from. But I won’t spoil anything from this movie that’s important information.

Obviously, there is a mid-credit scene and an end credit scene. 

I saw the movie in Real 3D 4DX, which was a great experience. The Real 3D was whatever, but I really enjoyed 4DX. 

Pros:

Cast and Characters. A lot of these characters we have seen in previous projects and some it’s been a long time since we’ve seen them.

• Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova. Yelena is the main character of the movie, and I was pleased to see the movie following her. She was trained in the Red Room as a Black Widow assassin. Yelena is still dealing with the trauma of Natasha dying in Endgame. Yelena is lost in this movie, she’s trying to figure out what she should do, where she should go and gets thrown into some situations that she’s equipped to handle but because of everything she has going on mentally and emotionally, things don’t go the way they could. Florence Pugh is a fantastic actress and she’s so good as Yelena, I think this is her best outing as this character so far. She’s funny, her timing, her delivery and she is sooo good at the emotional bits. I believe her and I feel for her. She is the heart and soul of the movie.
• Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes. I LOVE Bucky Barnes, and I was pleased to see him in this. But anyway. Bucky is an enhanced super solider with a cybernetic arm. There’s a ton of backstory for Bucky, but at this point, he’s come out on the other side of his trauma. He’s still dealing with it because that doesn’t just go away, but he’s also trying to figure out how to exist in this world that may still be trying to figure out what to do with him. But he’s been elected as Congressman and maybe he’s not great at it? He’s working to get evidence against Valentina and ends up falling into meeting up with the others. He sees a lot of himself in all of them and he kind of becomes the defacto leader. He’s funny when he needs to be and I like how he’s supportive to a couple of characters, and even ones he doesn’t even know. I love Sebastian Stan and he’s so very good as Bucky. He always has such sad eyes and is silent, but you can see him always reacting to what’s going on. I think he understands this character in such a way that it just pours out of him while on screen. 
• Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent. Introduced in The Falcon and the Winter Solider, he is an enhanced super soldier who was once given the title of ‘Captain America’ but lost that title after killing a man with the shield. In this, he reminds me of a former high school athlete who can’t let go of their glory days. He thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread and that due to his background that he’s the best at decision making. He’s also a jerk so that aids a lot of his decisions and reactions. But he also seems to still have some optimism in there. Wyatt Russell is good in the role. 
• Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr / Ghost. It’s been a long time since Ava has been around. She can phase through objects and can control her abilities a lot better than she could before. I liked her a lot and I’d like to see her more going forward. She’s funny and witty and I like how she uses her abilities to fight. Hannah John-Kamen is great in the role. I think she has great chemistry with everyone, and I liked her interactions with John and Yelena. She worked well with them. 
• Lewis Pullman as Robert “Bob” Reynolds. I can’t talk much about him without spoiling but we meet Bob randomly at the beginning and he doesn’t know how he got there or what he’s going to do but he ends up getting mixed up with the others. In the beginning, he makes a choice to help, and things get worse or better. I like Bob as a character, I liked his relationship with Yelena, and I hope we get to see more of it going forward. Lewis Pullman does a great job at being extremely vulnerable as Bob. I think that’s the best way I can put it, is that he’s vulnerable. He’s funny too. He also gets to be a little haunting in parts which he’s great at doing as well.
• David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian. We met him back in Black Widow. He is the Russian super solider counterpart to Captain America, and he was a father-figure to Yelena and Natasha. He really wants to continue being in Yelena’s life and we see that throughout the film, even if she continues to push him away at times. There’s a great scene with them after they feel defeated. Everyone is funny but I would consider him to be the comic relief. David Harbour is great in the role, he’s loud and boisterous when needed and he gets to be soft which is also great.
• Geraldine Viswanathan as Mel. Mel is Valentina’s assistant. We learn she was in high school when the Avengers first assembled. She clearly struggles with her role in this story because of her moral compass but she seems to enjoy working for Valentina. I think her character is very realistic in this kind of story. Geraldine Viswanathan is good in the role. I think you can easily tell with her chosen reactions what her character is thinking about what she wants to do or what she doesn’t want to do or what is the best thing to do.
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Valentina is the director of the CIA and she’s being investigated because of some choices she’s made. Valentina has good intentions but is going about it in a bad way. I can’t really go much into her without spoiling but she’s a fun character and Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a great choice for her. The smile that holds malice behind it, her comedic timing, but also a very powerful moment where we see deep inside of her in a moment, she’d never allow anyone to see. 

Emotional Impact. I was very surprised to see that the movie was tackling grief and other emotional aspects, that I don’t want to spoil. I thought they handled it well. With one character we see how they’re affected by a mental illness and how it affects others around them. The movie really focuses on this, mixed in with political aspects and superhero fight choreography. I think it balances everything really well. It’s a very powerful message in the end. 

Story Depth. I never really watched a trailer for this movie, so I didn’t know what it was about. I knew bits and pieces going in, but I think the overall story is handled well. The two writers for the film have a lot of great stories under their belts. Joanna Calo working on The Bear doesn’t surprise me considering how human that show can feel and how those characters are written. The characters in Thunderbolts feel like people, who are affected by things that’s happened to them and they compartmentalize. You have Yelena who is still emotionally traumatized from losing her sister and other anger she feels towards her “family”. John who wants to feel important because he comes from a background where he’s been in the forefront but realizes maybe he’s not as important as he thinks he is. Alexi who wants to relive his glory days. Bucky is in a world where he’s always atoning for his past but can look at it with a bit more humor now. It all just feels very human. I think it was a smart story to tell with a great human approach. 

Fight Choreography. I think the MCU always does really well with its fight choreography, and it’s gotten better over the years. Each character has their own style of fighting, and I think we get to see that each time they fight. Especially in their introduction sequence. There’s a scene in the second half of the film where they fight together against the villain, they go at them, one at a time and at other times working together. It’s cool. We get to see Bucky do his little knife drop thing lol. I giggled when it happened. I don’t think we see “new” things but that’s because these characters aren’t “new” to us. But we see that some of them have honed or “perfected” their craft more. I think it’s fun. 

Cons: I don’t think there is a ton “wrong” with the movie necessarily. I had a couple of things that were annoying but didn’t quite ding the movie for me. 

Character Development/Choices. I was really annoyed that one character was shown and then they just disappeared from the movie. I really think it would have been interesting to see their personality showcased and actually introduced to us. Plus, their abilities and tools would have been interesting to see mixed in with the others. I like Ava (Ghost), she was fun and funny but since it’s been so long since we first saw her in Ant-Man and the Wasp, I think we should have had a scene where we go to know her a little better. I think some of her decisions and actions are a little out of left field because why would she do any of it? The movie is 2 hours, and I don’t want to really say it needed another 10 minutes but maybe it did so we could get to know some of these characters again. 

Overall, I really liked Thunderbolts*. I think it was a surprising movie that some people may not give a fair shake because of how they feel like the MCU hasn’t delivered since Avengers: Endgame. I’ve been along for the ride this entire time and I feel like everything that’s come out, hasn’t disappointed me much. But Thunderbolts* feels fresh, with the approach of the story and the characters. Yelena is the main character, and I think that was a smart choice as Florence Pugh is so good in the role. All the characters are written and acted well. I think the story has an emotional depth that I found to be pleasant surprise. My only real issue is that I think there needed to be one more scene that helped solidify some of these characters and their personalities more because I felt some choices made were a little out of character because we don’t know who they are at all or anymore. I also think there was a character shown in the beginning who doesn’t show back up and I didn’t like that. In the end though, I think this was a great addition to the MCU and I hope viewers give it a chance.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. 

I recommend Thunderbolts*! Give it a chance and see it in theaters!

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