Thunderbolts* Review
- Matt Hill
- May 3, 2025
- 2 min read
Runtime: 2h 6m Genre: Superhero/Adventure Release Date: 1st May 2025
Plot: After a group of mercenaries stumble into a trap, they decide to team up to tackle a greater threat.
Thoughts
Since Avengers: Endgame, Marvel has been on a bit of a quality rollercoaster, dropping new series and movies to middling results. Does Thunderbolts*, like Shang-Chi and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, deliver a good time? Or is this cobbled-together team-up another misfire?
Much like the Guardians of the Galaxy series started, Thunderbolts* is also a collection of Antihero rejects, this time collected from other Marvel projects you may have forgotten, like Yelena (Florence Pugh) and Red Guardian (David Harbour) of Black Widow, U.S Agent (Wyatt Russell) and Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as well as Ghost (Ava Starr), last seen in 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp.
It's probably not many Marvel fans' go-to choices for a new team, but together, these mercenaries form one compelling group. There's plenty of distrust between them, with conflict and jokes that help you warm to the crew rather quickly.
Yelena acts as the narrative's central anchor and makes for a compelling lead as she navigates her personal issues while trying to keep her team from tearing itself apart. New addition Bob (Lewis Pullman) is also an excellent character to throw into this story's unstable mix, alongside a Bucky channelling some of his best T2 action sequences. Red Guardian is a much-welcomed return, as he dishes out fatherly wisdom while trying to relive his glory days. As a result, ends up delivering many of the film's best jokes.
The film is well-paced, and the muted colour palette mirrors the film's themes. The action is solid, with well-choreographed fights and skirmishes. The film's finale leans into a more character-focused climax instead of defaulting back to the typical big spectacle showdown. It's an interesting switch-up, but given the film's themes and prior action, it's all the more entertaining for it.
Despite Yelena doing a great job acting as the film's core character, mirroring many of the group's thoughts and traumas, I still wish I'd got to see Ghost and U.S Agent's characters explored more. Although they're present enough, getting involved in their fair share of action, emotion and jokes. They still feel short-changed in the grand scheme of things, and you can tell from the character and subtle backstory that there's a lot of interesting stuff hiding back there.
In a Nutshell
Saying Thunderbolts* is Marvel's best film since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 feels like a disservice. This team-up of Marvel Antiheroes works surprisingly well, and it's a more emotionally wrought journey than many might expect. It delivers on everything you've come to love from the best of Marvel, with enticing fights, funny moments and great characters. Thunderbolts* casts the limelight on many of the MCU's forgotten members and shows us how great their characters can be when backed with a great story and the right company.
4/5
Comments