On May 1, another blockbuster from Marvel «Thunderbolts*», the second of three this year (the other two — the failed «Captain America: Brave New World» and the upcoming «Fantastic Four»). Being on paper something like Marvel’s «Suicide Squad», the film received extremely warm welcome from the audience and critics, who did not skimp on the enthusiastic epithets. But whether everything is really as smooth as numerous reviews assure us, we will find out in our review.
Genre superhero action, like a drama
Director Jake Schroeder
Starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Hanna-John Kamen, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Olga Kurylenko
Premiere movie theaters
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb, official website
CIA director, countess, and all-around wonder woman Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is facing impeachment, so the impudent aunt sets about rapidly destroying all evidence of her illegal activities, including those involving human experimentation. Meanwhile, Elena Belova, trying to drown out either the pain of losing her sister Natasha Romanoff or banal boredom, has become completely immersed in her work. She receives another assignment from de Fontaine, but is surprised to find that Captain America, a smoker named John Walker, is trying to kill her. Antonia Drajkov and Ava Starr have also arrived, if anyone else remembers who they are.
Perhaps, in some parallel universe, they would have killed each other and that would have been that. However, a meeting with the mysterious Bill, further communication with Bucky Barnes, and a new deadly danger forces the heroes to join forces and form a kind of team of losers, proudly called the «Thunderbolts*».
If someone tries to tell you that this movie is a breath of fresh air for Marvel, you should keep in mind that this freshness will smell like the artificial smell of a restroom freshener. The «Thunderbolts*» are not rebooting a creaky machine that is now slipping badly, they are not a lifesaver, and they are certainly not reinventing the genre. The secret to the film’s success is simple: Marvel’s craftsmen have accustomed us to consistently mediocre movies recently, and against their background, «Thunderbolts*» may seem almost like a genre revelation.
It must be said that there is indeed a more down-to-earth, even more human approach here compared to the soulless assembly line that was familiar to the last two phases of KIA, even if it included such successful titles as «Spider-Man: No Way Home» (2021), «Guardians of the Galaxy 3» (2023) or last year’s «Deadpool & Wolverine». And it’s very good that this time they’re not trying to sell us the tired multiverse trips or pile on another fanservice. Do Deadpool’s meta-playfulness sometimes pop up — «No Avengers will save us» and that’s it. Unfortunately, the authors have not much to offer in return.
The story begins quite lively: Florence Pugh literally takes the bread from Tom Cruise, elegantly jumping from the Merdeka 118 skyscraper, the second tallest building in the world, and without the use of a stunt double. It is not without reason that in her accompanying monologue, Olena Belova mentions the overwhelming feeling of emptiness, which is essentially the leitmotif of the entire film. But in a few moments, the narrative will rapidly lose momentum and move mostly into a dialogic and suffering direction. It’s sad, it’s overwhelming.
Actually, if someone was planning to go purely for a typical Marvel popcorn flick, to do the usual, they risk being surprised, because «Thunderbolts*» — is definitely not about action. The question is whether — is in a positive or negative way, and it’s up to you.
On the plus side, the air is noticeably fresher compared to stuffy studios with green or blue walls. There are a lot of dynamic fight scenes that are breathtaking, though there is a lot of lard in them. In one of them, Sebastian Stan’s character appears literally as the Terminator, and in the other, he says «God, what a bore». At the end of the hour-long runtime, the viewer may have similar thoughts.
Typical shooter games give way to a somewhat deeper, if you will, — more adult approach, that’s the truth. Plus, it’s diluted with really good humor, which is mainly the responsibility of the Red Guardian, who appropriately doesn’t pull the wool over his eyes. That is, this idea does not slip into outright clowning. And this balance, even if it is shaky, is still able to bribe. However, where an empathetic story capable of evoking a sincere response should have unfolded, indifference remains. The drama, stuffed with superficial metaphors, is unconvincing. Even the story of Rocket the raccoon in the third «Guardians» was more engaging than the tossing and turning of the local sufferers.
What we end up with is a movie about unhealed psychological traumas, about inner fears and depression, about the fact that sometimes it’s just useful to sit down and talk frankly. Finally, about the fact that teamwork and cohesion can work wonders, and these are more typical thoughts for the superhero genre. However, the representation of such narratives does not make «Thunderbolts*» qualitatively deeper or much more interesting.
The team itself is not equally exciting: while Florence Pugh is the central piece on the chessboard and can still be memorable, the presence of Hanna John-Kamen, for example, does not make you warm or chilly. Olga Kurylenko’s appearance is truly «outstanding» — it’s hard to remember such a blatant character drain. The tree Groot had more lines than the Berdyansk native.
David Harbour has a good time in the film, which is a pity that such a colorful guy belongs to the representatives of the swamps, who misses the parades on Red Square in the Brezhnev era. As for the pseudo-villain —, he’s a complete waste of space in every sense, except that his Neo stunt can bring a slight smile to your face.
And how can we not mention the post-credits scenes — there are two of them. And one of them has already been to cause outrage among Ukrainians on social media. We won’t spoil anything, but the episode does look kinky in today’s Ukrainian reality.
The authors of «Thunderbolts*» are honestly trying to shake up the Marvel cart that is moving along, but it turns out to be more pretentious than effective. Some people will like this change of vector, some will definitely not, but it seems that comic books have long since turned off in the wrong direction, if a slightly older audience perceives ordinary movies as almost sensational.
