Thunderbolts* Review by Riley

When a team of murderous assassins and agents are sent to kill each other by they’re leader who unbenounced to the group, wants them all dead- they are forced to work together when they begin to unravel the mysterious “Sentry Program” while there once higher up, tries to get them killed. Oh- And featuring Bob. 

So- I’ve heard the numerous amazing reactions to Thunderbolts and I must say, it feels like a two hour trip down classic marvel lane. As much as it is such an amazing and original story, it feels so much like something we would have gotten from the peak of marvel, with almost childish squabbles in the team feelings so very reminiscent of the OG Avengers. With quite a lot of the time being everyone ganging up on Poundland Captain America John Walker/US Agent. It’s also got a really strong family feeling but it also mimics a father trying to get his daughter friends. Red Guardian has a really compelling arc where he finally gets to bond with what’s left of his family. John Walker tackles with the guilt and loss of respect that he had from the events of Falcon and the Winter Soldier while also trying to crawl out of the shadow of expectations that were left after Steve Rogers left the mantle. Ghost actually has a fun character to watch and a lot of what happens boils down to these characters actually repaying the trust that others give, with repeated times where you’d think any actual bad person would have ran- but for some reason these “criminals” would repeatedly save each other. This helps build up the idea of the Thunderbolts being more than just a team and quite close to a group of annoying disaster friends.

When I looked deeper into the film there is a very evident presence that the movie is trying to convey. The main Villain of the film, is a being called the Void who, for fans who don’t know, was Sentry’s other half. This alternate side of Sentry is shown through the film to be a culmination of every bad, shameful and guilty moment in Bob’s life, ranging from his Drug addiction, to the abuse that he experienced from his father as a child which was a side of Bob I did not expect to be shown in this film. Especially in the depth they showed as Bob is forced to recall moments from his past. But then I thought to myself, with Sentey being such a great character and one of the main focuses of the movie, what about the others? And I realised that, Whether or not it's intentional, each Thunderbolts member represents a different Mental Health issue that insures a higher chance that you’ll at least relate to one of these characters on one level or another. 

Throughout the film, Yelena is shown to tackle her inner feeling of emptiness and lack of purpose which she tries to tackle by focusing on work, representing that feeling of Purpose. Then John Walker, one of my personal favourite new MCU characters, spends the film being depicted as a fallen hero and a hero turned sour. The way he reacts is with anger and you can visibly tell, some form of sadness. He focuses on what he had done to lose his title as Captain America and this is an amazing representation of Guilt. Then, Red Guardian, the lost father figure of Yelena and once praised Soviet captain. Now with the fall of the Soviet Union, and a sudden fall in popularity nobody from the Western world knows of his existence. He falls into a Depression wishing he could have it all back. And Ghost was a bit tricky but I think she embodies the anger and frustration of someone who has been hurt by the world, now faced with the choice to help it- or run. Which she chooses at some point or another. Bucky who- Well we all know what Bucky’s done and to be honest, he doesn’t have much of an arc in this film but I think they still treat him well, and it’s because Bucky has already had so much time to evolve. And then of course- I spoke of Sentry and his literal “Void” and various other traumatic moments.

To be honest I think this was such a good movie and with all of these in depth characters, having it be a team film and superb practical effects, or atleast to my eye- I think this film lands on the great side of marvel movies and a high recommendation from me.