Thunderbolts*

The MCU is back! Well at least that's what everybody's saying. I'm getting tired of this back and forth of the masses only being able to think in black and white. Marvel Studios is just that, a movie studio. Sometimes it's gonna be good, sometimes bad, sometimes incredible, sometimes a CGI mess, but I think this flip flop between "we're so back" and "Marvel is shit" is just exhausting.

However, I do think in the case of Thunderbolts* that sentiment is actually pretty apt. Marvel is back, by that I mean this feels like a grounded, character focused movie from the studio that easily could've been a part of the line up of movies they made back at the start. With the state of the MCU as it is right now as well, that just might be the highest compliment.

Who would've thought that cementing a story around a character - or a few - shooting scenes with a little bit of thought behind them, having a cohesive story centred around themes and a script which wasn't hampered by reshoots, would result in a solid fun time.

The strength of this film is undoubtably Florence Pugh and what she does with Yelena. Without her this entire movie falls apart, so choosing to centre the story on, not only a thoroughly interesting character who has given depth and complexity, but also an actress who seems to care about this film and gives a performance which you would expect from someone as acclaimed as her, was really smart.

This isn't to say that the team around her are uninteresting or superfluous, well minus Taskmaster, but more so that the film needed a grounding presence, and this being Yelena and tying her character directly to the themes of the movie was brilliant.

I really applaud Marvel for trying something different here, opting to go for a film centred around the theme of mental illness, there's not many other Marvel movies I'm able to point to which actually have thematic depth. It doesn't always work, and I do think some of the conversations that are had surrounding these issues are clunky in places, but I would much rather enjoy watching a good attempt at complexity than some CGI slop.

Speaking of CGI slop, this is a far cry from the shitty cartoonish mess a lot of Marvel films have looked like as of recent. This looked stunning. It's nothing remarkable, but there was clear decision making put into how this film should look and for the most part it looks good, and it was shot with intention. Perhaps some of the best spatial awareness of cameras in a fight scene in a Marvel movie. The first fight scene in the bunker is genuinely brilliant.

I do like that this film was attempting to bring together multiple people from across the MCU and start to have some sort of connectivity, even if I don't think it fully works.

Yelena and Red Guardian really work. Their chemistry together is brilliant. David Harbour has some great comedic moments, and I'm shocked his comedy works as well as it does here. They are also given some great emotional moments as well. Similarly to John Walker, I thought Wyatt Russell gave a really interesting performance here which had a lot of depth, and it was clear his evolution from TFATWS.

Hannah John-Kamen and Sebastian Stan I enjoyed but I wish the movie was interested in their characters. The whole Bucky as a senator thing really isn't that interesting and feels like a way to get him into the movie. Weirdly, I really liked Ghost in this, she just isn't given enough.

I like the idea that this team isn't really a team, they're just forced together, and I think their dynamics as a whole works, it just needed a little bit more.

Instead of building out the team more though, we get Bob and I'm so glad we did. Lewis Pullman gives a wonderful performance as Bob, and I really enjoyed the idea that his character was a manifestation of mental illness. It makes for maybe the most interesting third act Marvel has made in a while.

It didn't have to result in a big battle, but actually a quiet more emotional resolution fits the wider themes of the movie. It wraps up quite neat, but I do love the idea that all it takes is a single person to make you feel ok.

Loved Julia Louis-Dreyfus and everything she had going on; I think she wonderfully toes the line of being funny and insane. If anything, I think they could've just done without the whole of New York being taken over.

Solid movie, feels like they're on the right path again and who knows maybe Marvel is back this time. It's a crazy idea but maybe the key to a good movie is having characters feel natural