‘Thunderbolts*’ (‘* The New Avengers’) 4K UHD Digital (review)

Disney / Buena Vista

Thunderbolts* is a breath of fresh air in the stale and stagnant atmosphere of superhero films.

I always say that the best “superhero” films are the ones that make the superhero secondary to telling a great story. The truly incredible superhero films and the ones that constantly rise to the top are the ones that can seamlessly integrate the superhero story into a brilliantly told film.

Thunderbolts* is one of these movies.

Thunderbolts* tells the story of a group of “not-quite-ready-for-prime-time” heroes. They must set aside personal problems and their issues working well with others to join together to battle an almost impossible antihero that can not be dispatched in the traditional way most baddies are.

Back of the box description would be “Six unconventional heroes have to get their sh*t together to combat an entity not easily defeated by conventional heroing”

The team consists of Yelena “Black Widow” Belova (Florence Pugh), Alexi “Red Guardian” Shostakova (David Harbour), John “Captain America” Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ava “Ghost” Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), Bucky “Winter Soldier” Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and newcomer Robert “Bob” Reynolds (Lewis Pullman).

They are all under the thumb of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her OXE Group. The mysterious organization is under scrutiny and possible treason charges from the congressional oversight committee that James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, now a congressman, is a part of.

These operatives Valentina has conscripted are now a “loose end” that could expose and put her away. At her most conniving, she devises a convoluted plan to set them against each other and ultimately provides them the catalyst to become an unlikely team.

Newcomer Lewis Pullman is wonderfully cast in this role. He convincingly brings to life this incarnation of the overpowered and slightly mentally compromised “Bob” and his alter ego. His performance gave that little extra oomph to the character, making him unpredictable and much more threatening. He and his eventual powers are truly unsettling.

I have always been a fan of the B-list, C-list, and D-list superheroes, whether DC or Marvel. They were always more interesting to me. Sure, Batman is cool in a daddy issues sort of way, and Superman has his charm, Cap is the Boy Scout, and Iron Man is the billionaire, genius philanthropist. But I always found that the castaways, The Bad News Bears of the superhero genre, have a much more interesting story to tell. They have to fight their way up from the bottom to be taken seriously or to matter. And I related to that on a personal level.

Being the fish out of water and always striving to “fit in” my entire life, at least in my head, I struggle and battle with it to this day. So when I saw the first trailer for Thunderbolts*, I was happy to see Marvel giving the “not-so-perfect” heroes their due in a film. I think that’s why I enjoy Thunderbolts*, but was “meh” on both incarnations of DCEU’s Suicide Squad films. The first one, more so than the second one. The second one was fun, at least. The filmmakers tried way too hard to make them “cool.” At least in the second Squad movie, Gunn gave the ensemble a similar treatment as he did with Guardians of the Galaxy, but it still fell short for me.

Thunderbolts* writers Eric Pearson (The Beef) and Joanna Calo (The Bear showrunner), and director Jake Schreier get it. They lean hard into the dysfunction and the ugly truth about being a “reject,” always trying to prove oneself. They aren’t interested in making the characters look “pretty” or perfect. They are vulnerable. Heroes who are emotionally compromised and have a lot of issues make for a much more interesting story. They need to work out their problems before they can ever think of being a part of any team.

Eventually, overcoming the fear of relying on another when they have never been able to trust someone before. It is scary and extremely powerful. As someone who has an extremely difficult time doing both of those things, I relate so much to the entire Thunderbolts team.

Not realizing that Joanna Calo was co-writer, and now knowing this, it makes complete sense to me why this film works so well. She is responsible for some of the most beautifully written dysfunction in television history. In the sublime TV show The Bear, in particular the two episodes, “Fishes” in season two and the follow-up resolution episode in season four, “Bears,” she created some of the most incredible family tension I have ever viewed. And it took two full seasons for the reconciliation. This is why the “family” aspect of all the personal conflict works especially well.

The team is entertaining to watch, both when in opposition and in unison. I think the actors played so well off each other, and at no point did I feel like any one of them didn’t shine. Having a particular love for Florence Pugh and her portrayal of Yelena, I think she was incredible and brought a special level of emotion and gravitas to the character. I could see how this could have easily been a Yelena Belova and the Thunderbolts* movie; however, the creative team balanced all the strengths and weaknesses of both the character and actors so well that they truly felt like a team.

There is a phrase I like to call “The Next Generation effect,” where in Star Trek: The Next Generation, there was this issue I always felt with that show, where it seemed like each actor had to have their “moment,” not the character, but the actor. So every episode, as well as the four movies, all felt like they had to have their Picard moment, Riker moment, Crusher moment, etc., and none of it ever felt like a cohesive whole. Here, Thunderbolts* is a team effort.

What we end up with is a truly fun experience full of emotion and heart. I very much recommend Thunderbolts* not just as a superhero film but as a fantastic film about mental health awareness and trauma recovery. I also love that it was originally released in the theaters at the very beginning of Mental Awareness Month back in May of this year. Kudos to everyone involved. It is refreshing to get something a little different from the conventional hero flick..

I enjoyed it 100 times more than the recent Captain America: Brave New World, which I wish they had kept as season two of Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But that is a review for another day.

Extras include audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.