Thunderbolts* (2024)

I got the chance to go to the sneak preview of the Thunderbolts in Denver. It was dirty and rough in the most amazing ways. It's not very often that I see a movie that I think was nearly perfect. 

The basic plot of the movie is that a whole bunch of characters are forced to join forces to both clear their names, save their sanity, and save the world. In a way it felt like The Losers (2010) in how it combined dark humor with a rag tag team that was also trying to clear their name and get their lives back (also a great movie I would recommend). Bucky is forced to get his hands dirty to try and break the corruption that is happening in the government in the form of Valentina, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who is willing to go to any length to "make America safe" again in the void left by the Avengers. She is so full of herself that she even buys Stark tower as an imaging ploy. Valentina in the Marvel universe is very much like Amanda Waller in the DC universe where you just want someone to kill them because of how evil they actually are even though they think they are doing the right thing.

The thing that really got me about this movie is how it covers mental health. Many of the characters in the film are fighting their own version of the "void." As someone that has struggled with mental health around the "void" how it was expressed and the struggle with it was beautifully conveyed. Even as a Bucky fangirl the standout performance in the film was Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova. The Oscars have a habit of missing the really good and meaningful performances, just look at what they did to Sebastian Stan, so I do not think that she will get the credit that she deserves for her performance. She brought a gritty pain to the character that showed how many people try to fill the void with work to hide the pain that they feel. After seeing this film I have such a stronger emotional connection to her character then what was ever built in all of the Marvel films for her sister Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow). What this film did with her character all of the previous writers/creators were not able to do with the Black Widow even given many more chances. I am not personally familiar with Florence Pugh's other work, but it makes me want to see more of what she can do.

Bucky is so awkward as a Senator, but answers questions about the same as the real ones, lol.

The rest of the cast was also great at what they did. David Harbour, Alexei Shostakov (AKA Red Guardian), was the perfect embarrassing dad. Have have not been a fan of his other work, like he killed Hellboy to the point that I don't know if the movie franchise can be saved, but here the character fits him. Also very amusing was Geraldine Viswanathan, also known from Miracle Workers, who played Valentina's right hand woman/secretary. This part could have been very much a side note, but they made her more complex. Her interactions with Bucky showed an intelligence that females in secretary rolls are normally stripped of. Then of course we had Bucky who they humanized in such funny ways. Everything from him cleaning his arm in the dishwasher (although wouldn't it get cleaned every time he took a shower...) to him wearing food on a pristine white shirt (that's the reason why I never wear white clothes, the world is just out to destroy them). 

When it comes to the end scenes the first one was a fail. We had already had our fill of Alexei Shostakov being awkward and the scene did nothing to either expand the on going storyline or develop a closer relationship to the character. The second one showed the conflict with the development of a new Avengers team and set up for the release of the Fantastic Four. The second one also was great in that it looked more at the character relationships, I was a little shocked in Sam's response to Bucky as told by Bucky, and it also answered the question, "What about Bob?"

I would highly recommend this movie. 5 stars out of 5 or an A+++++++++. All those pluses were not a mistake, they were fully earned.

Before the movie I also had a little time to get the Regal combo for the film, drink container and popcorn bucket. The worker was amazing and even dug through the box to find me the Bucky figure topper. I felt that compared to the other bucket offerings that I had seen on line that this combo was the best, not only in price, $21.99, but also in appearance. I had been wondering what kind of goods they would be having in the theaters and what the popcorn bucket designs would be. At first I thought a Bucky arm would be cool, but then I thought of how bad that could go. Just think of the Dune bucket and you'll have an idea. We would need the EMT TikTok dude to make a video saying no. I guess the marketing people went with safer designs, but I felt that they still fell flat. Dead Pool and Wolverine had so much better options. At the same time products for this movie has been super lacking. I've been seeing a few people most movie themed merchandise on TikTok that they have found, but the stores here in Colorado have not gotten anything of them in. Then just in general it seems like the marketing people have failed in releasing products in general for this film.  

I also want to say as well that this sneak peak was also one of the worst ones I have been to in Colorado. The theater that they used to use has shut down, but the only on Colorado is horrible for parking. Super limited parking and the garage has a lot of conflicting signs. Like the side that doesn't say VIP says a 2 hour limit, but movies are longer then 2 hours for the most part, so they really need to change the parking in this area. Plus the group that was running the preview were running super late. They let a whole bunch of people cut the line of assigned ticket holders/contest winners that had snuck up to the food area to get snacks. Even when told that the people were cutting and that others had been in line for over an hour they did not care and still continued to let people cut. Then instead of handing out the posters one per person that just left them out after the movie for people to grab, and people were taking whole stacks to the point where people stuck in the back got none. People that moved slow due to disabilities got none because they couldn't exit the theater as fast so the event itself would get a F- for ADA accessibility/accommodations. The group running the event really needs to be more mindful of how they do things so that they don't discriminate even unintentionally. I did send an email about this to the person that we got the ticket invite from so I will see if things get better. 

We got to see the film on the IMAX screen and I would recommend seeing it this way. Totally worth it for the visual effects.

One of the many movie posters around the theater.

Trying to do a selfie in the theater, but it was too dark to get a good shot, lol.

5/4/25 Update:

When I went to see a different movie at an AMC theater they had a cereal box display that had super funny 'nutritional' info on it.

This location, the AMC, also had the Funko figures in stock, but we got the last Bucky. They also had some of the keychains left over from opening day that they were giving out to anyone who wanted one.

Picture 2 From: https://ew.com/thunderbolts-trailer-florence-pugh-david-harbour-8716659

Picture 3 From: https://www.5mu.com.au/trending/movies/marvels-thunderbolts-looks-like-a-wild-ride-in-new-trailer/

Picture 4 From: https://www.facebook.com/MarvelUniverseAssemble/posts/new-look-at-sebastian-stan-as-bucky-barnes-in-thunderbolts/963108902648009/

Picture 5 From: https://in.mashable.com/entertainment/82878/thunderbolts-has-us-worried-for-bucky-barnes-and-heres-why-you-should-be-too

Picture 6 From: https://collider.com/thunderbolts-did-something-mcu-never-has-shocked-me-mental-health-representation/

Bottom Pictures: Taken at theater or after by Julia Bilderback

#thunderbolts #thethunderbolts #newavengers #thenewavengers