Thunderbolts* Hits Well!

It seems the Marvel Cinematic Universe has learned a great deal from the Deadpool franchise.

Thunderbolts* is full of fun and snarky characters, has great action scenes, plus wild locations and events. 

But at it's core, it's about "found families" supporting each other, helping people overcome trauma and finding redemption. This group is some of the most broken individuals in the Marvel Universe. Going back to my frequent statement, Marvel has Characters, DC has Icons. However, this gang are at the furthest distance from the Icon-type Marvel characters. The main villain of the peice they face isn't a world conqueror, or city shattering powerhouse, though those do occur. It is really depression. This is all handled outstandingly well within the context of the story, and gives it much more weight than a typical superhero slug fest. 

I'm behind with reviews and more importantly I don't really care anymore, spoilers away!

I was sorry to lose more time with Taskmaster, since her fight scene was awesome and she would have fit really well into the redemption and self worth themes. However, I do understand the decision. With Yelena as the main focus character, even with unceremoniously bumping off Taskmaster early on, the story felt like Black Widow 2, and I know they wanted more of a team focus.

Yelena continued to be troubled yet fun from her other MCU appearances, and her resolutions and character development were a strong core for the main ideas of the film. She was the point character of the story and carried the film well. It's a shame we finally have decent "Black Widow" films going on after losing the original one. However, the character we have is also played by an outstanding performer.

The Red Guardian continued to be a hoot, with unbridled enthusiasm throughout. He was the character that exemplified the joys of doing good, which infected the rest of the team eventually. His interactions with Bucky were just as much fun, if not more so, than their excellent What If episode.

The Thunderbolts team aligns with the "Caps Cooky Quartet" era of the comic book Avengers, starting in issue 16 where Captain America was the only team member who was not a reformed villain. In this case, it was Bucky who took the role of leader and trusted "only sane man" individual. His own troubled past made him a perfect anchor for the squad. Actually, it may be closer to "Justice League Detroit" where the team of formerly world famous and high powered individuals were swapped out for unknown and "street level" characters, but who had a theoretically greater focus on the mission.

I'm really glad Ghost came back. There was a great deal of untapped potential there, in terms of both character development and creative use of the power set. Another excellent performance of someone trying to make up for desperate choices made in the past. 

John Walker is one of my least liked characters in my comic book collection. He went downhill when he took over for Captain America, and was even worse when the government stuck him on the West Coast Avengers team as US Agent. The TV and Movie version retains his unlikability, but there is progress and more room for improvement. His history is that of a committed serviceman, who actually faced combat situations and is suffering from PTSD, unlike the comic book version who did none of that. This and his current state of trying to repair his reputation and legacy, carries the story's theme. I feel like he'll end up being like Guy Gardner was in comics, where he evolved from a most despised character, to one I enjoy a great deal 

The Countess is an unnervingly real world villain. She's smart, manipulative, and slimy enough to work her way out of most situations. Her comeuppance was implied, but I'm hoping she finally gets what's coming to her big time in later installments. He ability to turn others "to the dark side" was quite impressive. Watching her turn Mel along the reverse path of the main characters was a well done, if tragic, arc. She is very good at her job, which means while I don't like her at all, she does move the narrative along well. She's an excellent foe, and her inevitable fall will be epic. 

Then there's Bob. 

In comics, the Sentry works differently. He's a Superman clone that everyone loved, but using his powers to do all kinds of incredible good deeds released the terrible power of the Void from within him. (Forcing the need for the world to forget him.) The movie version is even more Marvelish. That starts by the continued MCU streamlining of tying yet another origin to the quest of recreating the super soldier serum. In this tale, Bob has a horrible past, and a huge amount of emotional baggage. His ways of dealing with that were neither the most moral, or legal. It highlights that it is isn't Superman's powers that make him a hero. It's that Clark never makes the easy decision, ALWAYS chooses to do the right thing, and ALWAYS puts others before himself. Put those powers in someone without that level of moral code... and you get this movie. But the Sentry isn't an irredeemable monster. He's a flawed human, and this was the perfect team of other flawed humans to understand how to reach out to him and save the day, without just throwing punches.

There are more than enough superhero moments to make the overall film a fun ride. However, it's really the depths and development of the characters that make this outing rise above.