Thunderbolts is a surprisingly good time. After a rough patch of MCU output, this one finds its footing and does not let it go.
The premise is smart: a team of morally compromised, second-tier characters forced into an unlikely alliance. Florence Pugh leads the film and carries it completely. Her Yelena Belova is the emotional anchor throughout, and Pugh never lets you forget that this is a character with real psychological weight behind her. Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus — the ensemble all get their moments and the film earns them properly.
The action is clean and purposeful. The film is not trying to set up seventeen other things, which alone makes it a relief. Not every element lands — the villain is serviceable rather than memorable — but Thunderbolts is proof that the MCU still knows how to make a good character-driven film when it chooses to. Go see it.
