The Avengers are done. Iron Man’s dead, Thor’s off-world, and the less said about Captain America: Brave New World, the better. In the wake of Thanos, Celestial attacks, and a rampaging red Harrison Ford (again, the less said about that, the better), it’s little wonder everyone’s feeling depressed.
Chief among the miserable is Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), emotionally adrift and doing odd jobs for dodgy politician Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Looking to make a change in her life, Yelena takes on one last mission, which brings her into violent conflict with disgraced Captain America John Walker (Wyatt Russell), matter-phasing Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and old frenemy Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). Then there’s Bob, played by Lewis Pullman. No one knows quite what his deal is, but it’s clear that he’s not all he seems to be…
Realising that they’ve all been played by Valentina, the group join forces to turn the tables, enlisting the help of Yelena’s dad (David Harbour) as they set out on a road to redemption and self-realisation. Oh, and there’s Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) too, who has his own reasons for going after Valentina.
Cobbling together peripheral characters from Black Widow, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Ant-Man and the Wasp, Marvel’s latest team-up movie is the most Homework Required assignment yet. Coming at the tail end of the franchise’s mostly underwhelming Phase 5, Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* is something of an underdog, especially given its reliance on the audience caring about characters like John Walker (an asshole), Ghost (no disrespect, but it’s been seven years) and Taskmaster (underdeveloped, but gets the film’s most shocking character arc here). Thankfully, there’s strong glue holding these tertiary characters together, with Pugh, Stan and Harbour being three of the strongest performers the MCU has on its books at this point.
And there’s a surprisingly strong emotional core at the heart of this team-up movie. In tackling its characters’ depression and trauma, it emerges as one of the darkest Marvel movies to date. In Yelena, Bob and, yes, even John Walker, the film finds unexpected depth, forgoing the constant quippery in favour of something a bit more sombre. It’s no Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (this is a bad thing), but nor is it Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (this is a good thing). This doesn’t extend to everyone (Bucky is surprisingly underutilised and Ghost remains a non-entity), but it’s a refreshing character-based approach to team building.
There’s an equally pared-back approach to the action, too. Dialling back the VFX in favour of a little grit and realism, it’s more in line with the old-fashioned fisticuffs of Captain America: The Winter Soldier than anything that’s come since. If the pacing is shaky at first, it picks up by the time the team comes together, featuring some charming interplay between Yelena and Bob, Yelena and Walker, Yelena and her dad, and… well, Yelena and everyone.
Florence Pugh proves to be the MCU’s strongest asset, but that isn’t to say that there’s not good work going on elsewhere. Harbour steals his every scene as he did in Black Widow, while Dreyfus finally makes good on the promise of a post-credit scene four years ago. Russell’s charisma (and his dad’s voice) rounds Walker out, making him one of the more enjoyable members of the line-up. Meanwhile, newcomers Lewis Pullman and Geraldine Viswanathan are strong additions to the universe. Elsewhere, Bucky gets a few cool Terminator 2 moments. Ghost? She is also there.
Thunderbolts* isn’t quite a return to form for the MCU, but it is a step in the right direction – a superhero sequel that’s full of heart and filled with surprises.
THUNDERBOLTS* is out in UK cinemas now.
