A lot of people called this film the return of Marvel and I can absolutely understand that after watching this film. Thunderbolts is a lot of fun with a solid blend of humor and action. It also knew better than to have the heroes even be close to a match against a villain that they could never defeat. Ther was a lot of care that went into this one and it ends up being a strong film across the board.

The movie starts with Yelena completing another mission but feeling like her life is rather hollow right now. She asks her boss De Fontaine for something a little more heroic than all of these secret missions. De Fontaine agrees but first Yelena needs to complete one last mission. This will be her most dangerous mission yet as she runs into a former Captain America, the dangerous Taskmaster, the frightening Ghost, and Bob. Can Yelena survive this mission and find the purpose that she has been searching for?

One of the big themes of the film is that everyone here is dealing with some issues. Well, you could say that Taskmaster may be the big exception to this. She seems content enough with her mission and goes in guns blazing. Taskmaster looks a lot more impressive than you may have expected and the fact that she was able to keep up with Ghost 1 on 1 is impressive. Taskmaster grows more dangerous as the fight goes on since she can copy your moves. It was nice to see her here and in general the opening confrontation with all of the characters was a blast. I always like seeing these initial skirmishes as the characters size each other up before banding together.

Still, I’d say the theme is consistent outside of Taskmaster. Ultimately it’s going to be hard to really find a purpose for yourself if you’re a hitman. It’s not like being a hero will necessarily solve that issue but as Alexei points out, it does feel really good to have everyone cheering you on. Each of the characters have it rough and while Yelena is confident that she would win a battle of trauma dumping, I may have to give the edge to Ghost there. It depends how you interpret her backstory but it sounded to me like she cannot even keep herself stable anymore without the body suit. That seems like it would be constantly stressful and I’d always be worried about getting into any fights.

Now, it is fair to say that this film is a bit light on action compared to some other titles. There is a climax but it’s more of a subdued one with some action in the background. It’s more about banding together and finding out how to defeat the darkness without violence. So the film’s taking a subversive approach there. It ends up working and we still get a good fill of action from the first half but this would not have worked if the writing was not up to snuff. This is a perfect example of how good writing will elevate every part of the film.

The special effects are also solid as you’d expect. The film looks good so you should be absorbed pretty well. We are also back to the classic 2 post credit scenes setup. You’ve got the comedic one and then the serious one. They’re both pretty solid but the second one will probably land a lot harder if you’re a big fan of the characters represented by the stinger. I’ve never been the most impressed with these guys, but hey it’ll still be fun to see them.

Yelena is the main character of this film and gets a lot of development throughout. One of the main reasons why she is so likable is how she is actively trying to do the right thing from the start. When Bob first shows up, Yelena is the only one who really tries to defend him and make the guy feel secure. She points out that he is a civilian and stops Walker from attacking the guy on several occasions. She feels like Bob is out of his element here and as the film goes on, Yelena can understand that the guy has been through a lot.

It’s not to say that the rest of the characters were completely unfeeling, but Yelena is the only one who was really looking out for others beyond herself. Yelena has also been holding in a ton of darkness and isn’t letting it loose on the others. She does her best to push it all down and keep moving on. She has the right attributes to be a hero and is just really fun to follow. I’d also say that her sense of humor just tends to work and she has all of the funniest moments in the film.

Then we have Bucky who has a smaller role than the others but is trying to adjust to his new life as being part of the government. It’s all a bit much for him but the guy is trying. Bucky certainly feels more at home once he’s actually helping the others in combat. Ultimately it’s not like he is much stronger than the others though so he doesn’t make a big difference in the final battle. He’s a solid enough character though. The guy has a hard time connecting to his emotions which makes for a funny plot in itself.

Then we have Alexei who has absolutely no problem being emotional. He is always incredibly proud of Yelena with whatever she is doing. I always like to see that kind of support. He has her back no matter what and is good at removing the tension in a room. As a super soldier it would be nice to see him showing off that strength more but I suppose there weren’t many opportunities for that here. He adds onto the dynamic pretty well so I was glad that he’s around.

After that is Ghost who is around a lot but we don’t delve into her psyche as much. I suppose you can understand enough about her from the bits and pieces spread throughout the film. In general I would say Thunderbolts did a great job of not just spoon feeding you mountains of exposition the whole time. You’re able to just figure things out for yourself as it goes on. Ghost’s abilities are easily the most impressive which is why ever villain in the film has a homemade sound cannon. It’s her one weakness but it just shows up everywhere. In context it makes sense though since everyone knows about that weakness.

Walker is the biggest jerk of the group but that’s part of what makes him endearing. It’s easy to see why the guy is really upset at everyone. He had to deal with Falcon and Bucky gaslighting him throughout his first days as Captain America until he was fired. Then he murdered a terrorist and everyone started talking about innocents. Walker is just sick and tired of everyone being incredibly dense and it unfortunately spilled over into his home life.

It’s hard to believe that he was ever Captain America since he is really quick to go for the kill here and is provoked incredibly easy. By the end of the film he has finally started to calm down. I would consider him to be the biggest loose cannon on the team though and that’s saying something. Walker has skills and may be the best all around fighter on the group. He could probably beat all of the other members as long as he stays cool but the others all know how to get under his skin.

I’d say he’s a great example of how everyone adds something to the table. Yes, on the surface they are all the same kind of fighter who can shoot and throw punches but they can all do this at different levels. Then we have Bob who spends a lot of the time being really nervous and everything. That’s really what Bob is known for even in the comics until he finally matured. So it makes sense but I can see why he gets on all of the characters’ nerves.

Bob means well though and is always trying to help out. It would be nice if he was more in control of himself instead of being manipulated so easily though. The guy has a lot of inner demons to wrestle with and had a sad backstory. So it’s easier said than done but I look forward to seeing when this guy is more confident. He needs to be able to just master his abilities and be able to go toe to toe with anybody. The film uses his name as a fun joke and I’d say it works really well. Bob is just a fun name to say. I was also glad that he wasn’t oblivious and could tell that Walker was using his name as an insult for a while there.

Then we have De Fontaine who is a better villain than I was expecting. For a political type villain like her, the most important thing is making her actually be a clever person. If she was panicking and messing up all of her plans then that would be lame. Instead she is actually able to outmaneuver the characters throughout. She had a great scene in the old Avengers tower where she is the one pouring the drinks and making wisecracks instead of Ironman. She was in control throughout and her last scene ends up being her best one. You always want to see a character with incredible confidence like this.

Finally there is Mel and I have to say that I initially though she was Kate, the new Hawkeye. Until they mentioned her name, she just looked similar and I assumed it was just the time passing that made her seem older. She works well as the secretary though. I like how studious she is and Mel is constantly learning more and more how to use the right terms to describe all of Fontaine’s illegal activities. Mel has some doubts on what she is doing but ultimately gets on board and learns how to be a good foot soldier.

To address the elephant in the room though, this Thunderbolts team is probably going to need to add at least one big hitter to their team so they don’t get destroyed by every possible opponent. Right now assuming Bob can’t be in control of himself, they wouldn’t be able to get past almost any of the Phase 1 villains. Abomination, Destroyer, and Loki would crush them. I think they could end up beating the Iron Monger at least but yeah we need some power ups. The army was giving them a pretty good run for their money in the opening act. It’s not like power is something a team needs to have of course but if the Thunderbolts want to go by a new name at the end of the film…they’re going to need some additions.

Overall, Thunderbolts is a great title. This is one that could hold its own with the older Marvel films. I’d definitely recommend checking it out. It can be a little darker than some of the other Marvel titles but a lot of the darkness is off screen and implied rather than shown. So it doesn’t come across as being too extreme but if you are looking for a more light hearted adventure then that’s the one time I’d say to go for another one. Otherwise I really recommend this to all action fans. It will also be my new go to example on how you do a film about a bunch of villains. I feel like most titles (Suicide Squad) mess this up completely while this is a great example of how you can make them likable without softening them up. Yes, I consider these characters to all be villains who are now going to be in the light going forward. We’ll see if the praise of the masses will be enough to keep them on the right side.

Overall 8/10