'Thunderbolts' Review- Shockingly Good

The New Avengers

Thunderbolts is not The New Avengers, but another entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is directed by Jake Schreier and written by Eric Pearson. It is produced by Kevin Feige and released by Walt Disney Pictures.

CIA Director Valentina de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is facing impeachment over an experiment she was conducting. Realizing that she needs to do something, she sends Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), US Agent John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) to a death trap. They have a fight and discover a man named Bob (Lewis Pullman) in the room. They manage to escape, but Bob is captured, but they are rescued by Yelena’s father Alexei (David Harbour), and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), but soon discover the CIA is up to no good.

Okay, so this movie is not a Thunderbolts film as it features NO characters from the Marvel Comics, but it is also not an Avengers film despite the new marketing they are doing. It was a weird in-between MCU movie that does not adhere to the comics and relies too much on Disney Plus shows, but it is also strangely enjoyable.

Now, the movie is not perfect. Ghost was an afterthought who was clearly there to check a box. Bucky also needed way more screentime. He was the selling point to this feature, but he should have been the main character.

That being said, this was a pretty solid movie. They definitely improved on Yelena and made her more approachable as a character. While I do think Bucky should have been the lead, Yelena was done so well and given some pretty awesome scenes.

I also want to say that Walker was the best character. It shows his irreverent sense of humor while also allowing him to face the fallout of previous events. He was the best “new” hero in this film, and I am glad he got a chance to shine.

Not once was I bored or felt that the plot was moving too slowly or too quickly. It was well-placed, and I applaud Schreier for taking these relatively minor characters and giving them a solid plot that you can enjoy.

Does this mean that Marvel Studios is back? No. They still have a lot of work to do to win me back totally. That being said, I had a lot of fun with this movie and thought it put up a good effort to restore that MCU magic.

Bottom line, Thunderbolts is not perfect, but it was a solid movie that turned out to be shockingly good. Who knows? Maybe things have changed.

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Foul language, Violence, Disturbing images

FAVORITE QUOTE: Look, I've been where you are. The past doesn't go away. So you can either live with it forever, or do something about it.

Check out the trailer below:

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, anime, or novel you would like me to review.