Thunderbolts* (2025) Review
"Okay, that was really good."
-Yelena Belova
Spoilers Below! This is a tough movie to talk about without getting into spoilers, so I'll just say this movie is great and my favorite MCU movie since Avengers: Endgame. Spoilers Below!
What Works:
I don't know if anyone predicted that Thunderbolts* would be about depression, but I certainly didn't. That is the main theme of this movie. All of these characters have done bad things and have to live with that. They can either let it bring them down or they can try to do better, but a few of the characters are struggling to cope with the depression they feel about what they've done. And the villain of the movie, the Void (Lewis Pullman), is just depression personified. It's a really powerful and emotional story and I think anyone who has struggled with depression or other mental health issues are going to get a lot out of this movie.
Early on, people were comparing this movie to Suicide Squad, and while they do have similarities, this movie works really well, while Suicide Squad doesn't. Why is that? The team in Suicide Squad was mostly villains, while in Thunderbolts* they are antiheroes. That's a big distinction. These are all people who have done bad things, but that doesn't totally make them bad people. They didn't embrace those actions. They made mistakes in the heat of the moment or did what they had to do to survive and those actions eat at their conscience. That makes them a lot easier to connect with than the villains of Suicide Squad. We've all made mistakes and have regrets. Yes, the Thunderbolts* are probably more extreme than most of ours, but the emotional moments are what really makes this movie work. These characters are very well shaded in, especially compared to some of their previous appearances in the MCU. It's really refreshing to have such three-dimensional characters in a movie like this.
The cast does a phenomenal job across the board. Sebastian Stan always delivers in his appearances, but most of the rest of the cast come from MCU movies and shows that weren't super well liked. Most of them get more of a chance to shine and characters like the Red Guardian (David Harbour) are properly utilized this time around. I thought John Walker (Wyatt Russell) was the best part of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and while he's still a massive douche, he's still a really interesting character.
Florence Pugh was the best part of both Black Widow and Hawkeye. I really like Yelena as a character and she continues to do an amazing job here. I wasn't expecting Yelena to be the protagonist of this movie. I guess I thought it would be Bucky, but it's Yelena and I love her character arc. Her discussions with Bob (Lewis Pullman) about their depression and mental health is some of the best stuff in the movie.
We also get some fantastic villains. Julia Louis-Dreyfus gets plenty of scenery to chew and Bob/Sentry/Void, while an antagonist, isn't even a true villain. He's a guy who needs help and Pullman is perfect in role. He's an extremely sympathetic character and the 3rd act just being the Thunderbolts* trying to help Bob is really sweet and emotionally powerful. I wasn't expecting to cry during this movie, but that sequence really go to me.
What Sucks:
Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) was a massive disappointment in Black Widow. She was underutilized and underdeveloped. What should have been an interesting character ended up falling completely flat, especially with her backstory. It's even worse this time around. She's killed off almost immediately and is never actually part of the Thunderbolts*. I'm not saying the movie shouldn't have killed her off, but maybe wait until later and actually give the character some redemption from the disappointment of Black Widow. I really like Olga Kurylenko and it's disappointing that she was burned so badly by the MCU.
Verdict:
The trailers were right. I think this is the best MCU movies since Avengers: Endgame. It's a really emotional movie and it lets us live with those emotions without undercutting those moments with a joke, like the MCU usually does. The characters are well-written and well-acted and we get some awesome villains. I wish Taskmaster hadn't been done so dirty, but this was still an excellent and shockingly emotional theatrical experience and has absolutely got it going on.
9/10: Great
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