Thunderbolts*
For some people, saving the world is easier than going to therapy
Florence Pugh does some heavy lifting in this surprisingly touching film.
After the death of her sister and the destruction of the organization that controlled her life for decades, Yelena (Florence Pugh) feels adrift. Sure, she still does covert operations and assassinations for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), but there’s no spark or thrill to the tasks. She begins to wonder if maybe she should follow in her sister’s footsteps and try being a hero — anything to fill up the emptiness that plagues her.
What Yelena gets is one last assignment: to visit a black ops location and eliminate a traitor for Valentina. But when she arrives, it turns out that Valentina has sent all of her other assassins there to kill each other. Yelena is confronted with Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). After an initial battle, the remaining assassins are faced with a stalemate and the realization that Valentina has betrayed them all as a cover-up for her nefarious deeds.
Also at the black ops site is Bob (Lewis Pullman), who has no memory but is happy to make friends. Yelena decides they have to get out and get revenge on Valentina. So she gathers Walker, Ghost…and Bob for a vengeance mission.
When Valentina captures Bob, Yelena is devastated. The first nice person she’s met in years, and she failed to protect him. The group decides to get Bob back and finally take control of their lives.
…but does Bob need to be saved?
A funny and touching reflection on depression and feeling directionless, Thunderbolts* is oddly deep for this late stage of the MCU. Director Jake Schreier wisely taps into the general sense of malaise widely experienced by millennials and Gen Z. This feels like a movie meant to speak directly to those generations (who make up a large portion of the core Marvel audience). Schreier focuses on how losing your purpose, or never feeling you’ve found a purpose, can mess with your sense of self and worth.
Doing the heavy lifting in the movie is Pugh, who takes Yelena’s charm and spunk and dampens it as the mercenary realizes how listless she feels. Even though she’s lost, Yelena is always searching for something, trying to pull herself back up. She’s a fighter, and even when she doesn’t quite understand what she’s fighting.
The comic relief in the movie is largely given to Pullman as Bob, who does a great job of making a character that should be annoying utterly endearing. Bob is hapless and goofy, until he’s not. But the darkness in Bob is not evil, it’s mental illness. And while Disney’s had varying results, making mental trauma and generational turmoil the villains of their movie, Thunderbolts* succeeds in outlining just how badly these issues can plague us.
If you’re in the mood for some fun action, light comedy, and a reminder to schedule that therapist appointment, Thunderbolts* is a must-see.
Verdict: Marvel gets back on the right track with this interesting and fun flick.
Thunderbolts is rated PG-13 and available in theaters May 2
