'Thunderbolts*' is Marvel as its most contemplative (review)

After the film’s initial announcement and its early trailers, I was a bit concerned Thunderbolts* would be far too esoteric for the average viewer. Its roster of undeserving heroes consisted of supporting or even ancillary figures in a couple of Marvel’s more ignominious titles. Luckily for us and for the studio, one of those figures is the insanely watchable Florence Pugh and another is basically the MCU’s last-standing OG, and most popular character in Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes. Focusing on Pugh’s Yelena Belova’s search for meaning in the repetitive world of assassination for hire is the perfect “in” for a directionless franchise badly in need of a North Star.

As you’ve no doubt seen in Thunderbolts*  trailers and such, the film follows Yelena as she has lost her lust for life after her sister Natasha’s death several years back. She’s fed up with the wetwork she does for CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, fully unleashed). Valentina is facing a House impeachment hearing for her nefarious and illegal activities with Junior Representative James Buchanan Barnes (Stan) as a major instigator. Val gives Yelena one final mission, and then she’s out and can do more public-facing good.

The trouble is, Val has given a similar mission to several of her operatives, including Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), John F. Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko). They all show up at a facility, each tasked with taking out one of the others. Soon realizing this has all been a set-up for Val to get rid of evidence, the four along with the mysterious Bob (Lewis Pullman) attempt to escape and go into hiding. Yelena’s father Alexei (David Harbour) shows up to help and Bucky eventually recruits them all to perhaps take down Val once and for all in Thunderbolts*. But other stuff, including Bob’s wild and unchecked powers, get in the way.

I was pleasantly surprised by how straightforward the narrative for Thunderbolts* is. It’s a much smaller, more character-focused film than I had figured, which I think is absolutely to its benefit. Director Jake Schreier’s previous work on TV series like Beef and indie movies like Robot & Frank translates to a movie that, for once, doesn’t have the glossy fakeness of a lot of recent MCU movies. Sure, we get the prerequisite potential world-ending crisis, but overall the action is more grounded, the scenes lit more realistically, and the story focusing on the feelings of isolation and unworthiness that plague Yelena and the others. These aren’t good people, but they’re all pretty tired of doing bad. Finding yourself without station in life is exceedingly relatable in these ever-worsening times.

Thunderbolts* is certainly not without quips and snark, but with a couple of exceptions, they fit the vibe of the movie. Good as the performances are in general, I grew very tired of Val’s spin-doctoring and especially of Alexei’s “I’m a loud Russian stereotype!” schtick. The more serious relationship moments between Yelena and Alexei are among the movie’s best scenes, but they’re fewer and further between than you’d hope. Pugh and Pullman really maintain the movie’s central battery, and it’s on them that the movie finds its heart, even amid the typical superhero fights.

I was not bowled over with joy watching Thunderbolts*, nor was I annoyed and overwhelmed by mess. This is not an MCU film like Brave New World that feels so reshot and stitched together as to be dizzying. I think it’s in the upper-half, maybe even top quarter, of Phase 4 and 5 movies. Five has certainly been stronger overall, it just happened to have two of the biggest stinkers. I like that we get a movie like Thunderbolts* that doesn’t feel like it only exists to check a box until the next big event. Its aspirations are to tell a story about side characters having to take the lead, and I very much vibed with that.

Putting character over spectacle helps Thunderbolts* achieve its goals nicely while never quite reaching for anything greater. But sometimes that’s enough.

Thunderbolts* ⭐ (3.5 of 5)

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.