‘Thunderbolts’ Blu-ray Review

Stars: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Written by Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo | Directed by Jake Schreier

Directed by Jake Schreier (who made Netflix’s Beef), Thunderbolts* (that asterisk is significant) is the 36th film in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and the final film in Phase Five. Loosely based on the comics of the same name, it centres on a group of anti-heroes-slash-supervillains, all of whom have been introduced in previous Marvel projects, most notably the Black Widow movie and the Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV show.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who had previously shown up in various post-credits stings, recruiting villains and anti-heroes. Initially intending to terminate her secret super-team project, she arranges for various characters to meet on a covert mission – including Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) and US Agent John Walker (Wyatt Russell) – in the full expectation that they will kill each other and sort out her problem for her.

However, when Bob (Lewis Pullman), an amnesiac victim of something called the Sentry Project, interrupts them, the group quickly realise Valentina’s duplicity and go on the run, picking up both Yelena’s father Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Avenger-turned-politician Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) along the way. Things quickly go from bad to worse when it transpires that Bob has incredible superpowers, so the de facto team – now calling themselves the Thunderbolts – have to stop Valentina from getting her hands on him and turning him into a super-weapon.

On a strictly surface level, this is business as usual for Marvel, delivering their tried-and-tested blend of super-powered action thrills, character-based humour and a dash of emotion. However, if you dig a little deeper, Thunderbolts is actually about something, which makes it immediately stand out when set against the majority of Marvel movies to date.

More specifically, the film explores issues of mental illness, depression, loneliness, self-worth and redemption, with powerfully emotional results. The key here is the each of the characters has been previously cast as a villain, so they each seeking to atone in their own ways, and wrestling with their own guilt over their previous actions. That becomes an unlikely, but effective bonding experience, and the sharply written script finds clever ways to make that resonate.

That said, Thunderbolts* wouldn’t work half as well as it does without Florence Pugh in the lead role. She is simply sensational as Yelena, delivering a phenomenal, fully-rounded and heartfelt performance that’s simultaneously super-cool, laugh-out-loud funny and powerfully moving. She also sparks wonderful chemistry with her co-stars, particularly David Harbour as Alexei / Red Guardian – the pair have one big emotional scene in particular that’s one of the highlights of the film.

Performance-wise, Pugh is the clear stand-out, but there’s excellent work from Pullman as Sentry, who gets to play three very different sides to the character, ranging from goofy to terrifying. Similarly, Stan is a lot of fun as Bucky (he gets the film’s best hero moment, certain to cause cheers in the cinema) while John-Kamen finds interesting new depths for Ghost (who was largely underwritten in her previous appearance in Ant-Man and the Wasp), and there are fun comic contributions from the likes of Geraldine Viswanathan, smartly cast as Valentina’s capable, but conscience-stricken assistant, Mel.

In addition, Schreier’s direction is impressive throughout, nailing the potentially tricky tone and striking the perfect balance between comedy, thrills and surprisingly resonant emotion. He also proves a dab hand when it comes to orchestrating an exciting action set-piece, delivering a couple of moments that are clever echoes of the first Avengers movie.

On top of that, the effects work is extremely good, and includes some excellent choices, most notably the way the film illustrates a particular superpower, deliberately designed to remind audiences of Thanos’ “dusting”, but without being a blatant rip-off.

In short, Thunderbolts* is a thoroughly enjoyable super-team adventure that represents something of a return to form for the MCU, as this is comfortably the best Marvel film since Avengers: Endgame. On that note, make sure you stick around for a surprisingly lengthy post-credits scene. The asterisk reveal is a lot of fun too.

Special Features:

• Around the World and Back Again – Dive into the film’s breathtaking opening with Florence Pugh in Kuala Lumpur
• Assembling a Team to Remember – Uncover how the misfit antiheroes become the Thunderbolts
• All About Bob, Sentry and the Void – Join Lewis Pullman and the creation of his three characters
• Gag Reel
• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentary

**** 4/5

Thunderbolts* is out now on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD.