David’s reviews

My rating: Shazam!

This is one of the best if not the best Marvel has made in a long time.

Photo by Marvel Studios

I resonated with one or two characters, I feel like I understood them. All of these misfit characters, or villains from previous MCU shows or movies are given much more depth. The standout characters for me were: Yelena, Bob, and John Walker. The heart of the film was Yelena and Bob, and their friendship.

Yelena is much more delved into, her trauma as a Red Room assassin, and dealing with feelings of loneliness and depression. The core of the story was her development in dealing with those feelings. Pugh’s portrayal of Yelena was phenomenal, and she was able to drive the emotion home, and ultimately the victory over Yelena’s feelings.

Bob was amazing. Pullman portrays a broken man, who was never cherished or loved. He never learned how to deal with his mental illness, less with his problems, and Valentina takes advantage of it, and turns him into a superhero. As much as Yelena is learning to navigate her trauma, and emotions, Bob is too. And they both embark on their journey of self-healing. In every scene he was in, he stole it, his pain, his emotions carried through. Pullman was able to pull this role off *pun intended*.

John Walker was already known and established in the MCU due to his previous appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and he was delved into. He’s clearly not a stable man, he’s a firecracker, and a bit of jerk. But in the midst of his unconventional personality, it’s seen how his character has developed into now, he’s a soldier once more, and his “firecrackerness” had caused the falling apart of his marriage. Portrayed as the man who does not care about anything or anyone, he also has his own journey of self-improvement, and grows to care for Bob. Russell gave a great performance, much superior to John Walker’s portrayal in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He was a standout.

As far as the other characters, Ghost wasn’t given as much depth as the other characters. She was a plain, one-sided character. Regardless, I felt she was better portrayed than in Ant man and the Wasp, and that says something, since Ant man and the Wasp is a complete joke of a movie.

Red Guardian is the comedic relief, and he steps more into the father role he portrayed previously in Black Widow. He has one powerful scene with Yelena that drives the essence of the story, and although he is supporting the scene, he makes an impactful performance.

In spite of the awful portrayal of Taskmaster in this film I only have one word for her: useless.

Each character, receives their spotlight, and the movie helps you find a newfound love for them. Yes, including, John Walker. 

You find out towards the end why there’s an asterisk at the end of Thunderbolts. But that was spoiled already by Marvel…

This was truly one of the best Marvel films they have ever made. Definitely recommend it, and one of the best films of the year.

By: David Rivera