Thunderbolts (2025)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on May 14, 2025 @ tonymacklin.net.

Anyone who is hesitant about going to see Thunderbolts, can relax. It's better than most people expected. It's not just Marvel been there done that.

It's fresh and entertaining.

Thunderbolts is the story of a group of fallible anti-heroes who come together to share their plights. They are not the first string.

They share alienation and depression. They are under attack, physically and psychologically.

Almost all films that are effective have humanity.

Thunderbolts, of course, has action sequences, but it also has heart.

After the film, a middle-aged man said to me, "when characters entered The Void, I cried." The film has sincere emotional appeal.

It also earns suspension of disbelief, which at times is necessary.

The tone of the film is effective. The director Jake Schreier and three writers effectively use humor. The squabbling and banter may be somewhat redundant, but it's different and often works.

By the way, the audience I saw the film with stayed through the credits. No one left. They were rewarded by a lengthy post-credit scene.

What is outstanding in the film is the performance by Florence Pugh, as the cool heroine whose strength is impactful. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is effective as a duplicitous villainess.

At one point in Thunderbolts, the Florence Pugh character says, "Oh, my God. We suck."

No, you don't.