Jake Schreier
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Connections, in both directions
But Thunderbolts* isn’t really an action movie – it’s a character drama with a focus on healing what’s broken inside these individuals by making them part of something bigger than themselves, which calls to mind other Marvel teams like the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers.
Slapping together a few of Marvel’s more street-level mercenary types might’ve worked if they’d gone full Guardians of the Galaxy mode — a movie grounded in real heart that actually took creative swings, like featuring a talking tree and his wisecracking raccoon bestie.
“Guardians of the Galaxy” already succeeded in getting a group of misfits together and making them seem like soulmates who belong together.
In the spirit of Marvel’s past breakout hit Guardians of the Galaxy, Thunderbolts* miraculously fosters attachment to characters…
…it may have the same general vibe as Guardians of the Galaxy or The Suicide Squad…
Some of the best movies in the history of the MCU have thrived off bouncing interesting characters and performances off each other in projects like “The Avengers” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Conceived as the MCU’s answer to The Suicide Squad or a replacement for the Guardians of the Galaxy…
…which makes it look flat and desaturated compared to the punchy vibrance of the Suicide Squads that came before it…
…it may have the same general vibe as Guardians of the Galaxy or The Suicide Squad…
…in terms of ‘villains form a super-team’ stories it is a long draw behind James Gunn’s underrated The Suicide Squad (2021).
Taking a well-tested formula, where a ragtag group of misfits are thrown together and learn to become a team fighting for good, that made 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy and 2021’s The Suicide Squad hits, Schreier’s film manages to walk a delicate tightrope.
On paper, it sounds like Marvel’s take on The Suicide Squad, but Thunderbolts* earns its own identity…
Not unlike its DC counterpart the Suicide Squad…
Marvel is doing its best to alter its cinematic course by continuing its own "Suicide Squad"-esque entry with "Thunderbolts*."
Marvel finally assembles its own team of antiheroes, nearly a decade after DC's atrocious Suicide Squad…
There have already been comparisons to the Suicide Squad movies (including one in-movie quote)…
…making this lineup feel like Marvel’s answer to the Suicide Squad.
In other words, Marvel’s version of DC Comics’ “Suicide Squad.”
But Thunderbolts* isn’t really an action movie – it’s a character drama with a focus on healing what’s broken inside these individuals by making them part of something bigger than themselves, which calls to mind other Marvel teams like the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers.
It also feels like a mirror image of “The Avengers” (2012).
It’s a far cry from how mass audiences went into The Avengers (2012), coming off a run of successful solo movies that setup each of the characters assembling for a big pay-off.
…delivering a couple of moments that are clever echoes of the first Avengers movie…
Some of the best movies in the history of the MCU have thrived off bouncing interesting characters and performances off each other in projects like “The Avengers” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
It’s a welcome return to the boots-on-the-ground feel of The Avengers…
I'm still pissed about how Endgame insensitively used Thor's depression and PTSD to make fat jokes.
…the stagnant state of the Marvel Universe as a whole since Avengers: Endgame. Seemingly every momentous peak of triumph is matched—or often buried—by some form of grief management…
Let’s face it, the MCU’s track record since Avengers: Endgame has been spotty at best.
…one of the things I liked most about Thunderbolts* is actually one of the things I liked most about Infinity War and Endgame: Combinations of characters who’ve never met, but make for an interesting dynamic.
This might not be the best MCU movie since Avengers: Endgame (that’s still certainly Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)…
…or Thor’s depression in Avengers: Endgame…
Plus, Paper Towns (the title refers to an ancient practice of mapmakers to insert fake names in order to prevent plagiarism) has its own rhythms, somewhat reminiscent of past coming-of-age films like Stand By Me and Frank Perry’s classic Last Summer in which the main characters experience the last pangs of youthful security before heading out into uncharted territories alone in the cruel world.
Despite its somewhat novel romantic-mystery structure, “Paper Towns” borrows from a number of sources, including dipping its ladle into the John Hughes wellspring (elements of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and others) and mixing ingredients from various road-trip movies into its cauldron.
This ambitious teenpic begins in the vein of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, as a rebellious high school senior (Cara Delevingne) recruits the shy boy next door (Nat Wolff) to join her in a night of mischief around suburban Orlando.
Plus, Paper Towns (the title refers to an ancient practice of mapmakers to insert fake names in order to prevent plagiarism) has its own rhythms, somewhat reminiscent of past coming-of-age films like Stand By Me and Frank Perry’s classic Last Summer in which the main characters experience the last pangs of youthful security before heading out into uncharted territories alone in the cruel world.
If The Fault in Our Stars was young-adult author John Green's answer to the ne plus ultra of romantic weepies, 1970's Love Story, then Paper Towns is his variation on 1986's Stand by Me.
While he has passed the years hanging out with his best friends, the sensible Radar (Justice Smith) and the obnoxious Ben (Austin Abrams, channeling Anthony Michael Hall in Sixteen Candles), Margo has gained twin reputations as a maverick and a mystery, surrounded by friends but perpetually striking out on her own to do something unexpected and often even rash.
It’s up to Q and his “Sixteen Candles” sidekicks Radar (Justice Smith) and Ben (Austin Abrams) to find clues, solve the mystery and track her to whatever Paper Town she’s run for.
Abrams, meanwhile, does for this film what Anthony Michael Hall did for the geek in “Sixteen Candles,” bringing a note of pathos to what might have been an obnoxious stereotype of horniness.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Directed by James Cameron
influenced Thunderbolts* (2025)
Visuals Characters
There's a sequence in a stacked car-chase that samples Terminator 2, Mission: Impossible II and The Matrix too.
…there’s also a fun Terminator 2 style bike and car shoot ‘em up chase…
…channels shades of Terminator 2’s T-800 in a standout motorcycle sequence…
…not to mention some visually striking stunts à la Mission: Impossible…
Florence Pugh, who goes all Tom Cruise and does a pretty goddam incredible Mission: Impossible-level stunt herself at the start of the movie…
…a practical stunt that Marvel has marketed with all the chutzpah of a “Mission: Impossible” movie…
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Directed by Michel Gondry
influenced Thunderbolts* (2025)
Visuals Plot
…borrowing from the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Chronicle and Everything Everywhere All at Once playbooks…
The cinematic reference is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but instead of Jim Carrey scampering around his own psyche it’s Pugh and her bickering, ramshackle squad crashing in and out of Bob’s psychological misery.
The premise takes on an "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" angle that doesn't quite stick the landing but is a fun ride all the same.
Marvel is certainly trying to claim their space among postmodern superhero favorites like The Boys or Invincible…
…in a way that also reminded me of The Boys TV series, in how Valentina’s basically the architect of a terrible “Homelander”-style personality…
The Big Bad, the Void, feels like “Brightburn” (2019) meets “The Boys” though less profane and rapey.
We have the Homelander in the show The Boys, and Omniman in the animated series Invincible.
Thor: Love and Thunder, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, Deadpool & Wolverine…
They tried with Deadpool & Wolverine (dir. Shawn Levy, 2024), but no amount of CG blood can compete with elasti-dicks and gratuitous head bursting…
Marvel has had a light year on the silver screen in 2024, with just Deadpool & Wolverine releasing.
Aside from the highly anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine, fan enthusiasm has cooled…
…doesn’t skirt the supposed 16-cert outrages of Deadpool & Wolverine…
…other than last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine they refuse to show up as they used to…
The MCU first got traction by grounding its outsized storylines in something closer to reality, opting to kick off with Iron Man, a weapons manufacturer whose quest for redemption comes by way of creating his own power using technology.
…opting to kick off with Iron Man, a weapons manufacturer whose quest for redemption comes by way of creating his own power using technology…
Iron Man’s Tony Stark was a heel before he became a hero, and he had his caddish moments well after, too.
Marvel absolutely ruled the roost at the box-office for over a decade from Iron Man to Avengers: Endgame…
Thunderbolts* carries a lot of the same traits that the original Iron Man did in 2008.
She says something about this all starting when she was in high school, and she's not referencing Iron Man from 2008 but the Battle of New York when the Avengers Assembled four years after that.
…eschews the whole “pillars of light from the sky” routine in favor of ripping off “Being John Malkovich.”
…the film has the heroes navigate a winding maze of Yelena and Bob’s darkest memories in a cerebral jailbreak straight out of Being John Malkovich…
Thor: Love and Thunder, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, Deadpool & Wolverine…
…and similarly CGAF about The Marvels…
…its downs, like Nia DaCosta’s muddled The Marvels…
The last time Marvel introduced an ensemble to theaters, in 2023’s uninspiringly titled "The Marvels," the studio suffered its first box office bomb.
With a string of underwhelming box office results — including Eternals, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, and the recently disappointing Captain America: Brave New World…
Film entries such as The Marvels and Captain America: Brave New World have felt more like recap sessions than compelling stories…
The street-level action does resemble many of those MCU shows, an early corridor fight owes a debt to that part of the oldboy network.
The concept of a robot programmed to fulfill the role of dedicated helpmate to the human, no matter what, is reminiscent of Duncan Jones’ Moon.
The robot, never named, is voiced by Peter Sarsgaard in what we now know is The Most Perfect Role For Peter Sarsgaard Ever – like Kevin Spacey in Moon, it’s a worthy follow-up to HAL 9000 that nonetheless becomes the actor’s own thing.
The robot of the title is one such helper, a “healthcare aide” who looks like a children’s toy from the 1980s and speaks (as voiced by Peter Sarsgaard) in the recognizable soothing tones of movie robots from 2001: A Space Odyssey through Moon .
From the $7000 “Primer” to the $5 million “Moon,” their respective filmmakers managed to put forth some interesting ideas without being hindered creatively by their minimal budgets.
Borrowing from another creation down the hall at the Mouse House, Wreck-It Ralph comes to mind and his cameo-filled “BAD-ANON” group therapy session at the beginning of the 2012 animated movie.
Wreck-It Ralph comes to mind and his cameo-filled “BAD-ANON” group therapy session at the beginning of the 2012 animated movie…