Thunderbolts

Eh, it wasn't bad. Thunderbolts has some great fight scenes and snappy dialogue. Beyond that, it doesn't offer much.

Going in, I thought it was going to be Marvel's version of the Suicide Squad. But while there are some similarities - the team is composed of former criminals, after all - it's really not the same kind of movie.

Spoilers:

Picking up the story right after Captain America: Brave New World, Elaine from Seinfeld is about to lose her job, so she tries to tie up all her loose ends at once. She gives each of her secret operatives a mission to watch one of the others, and sends them all to the same location so they can fight it out in a deathtrap. Then they figure it out, and team up to stop her.

But of course that's not all. Because another one of Elaine's scrapped projects wakes up and becomes super-powerful, and becomes the main villain of the movie.

My issues with the movie are thus:

First of all, I don't really like any of the characters. Most of them are Temu versions of older heroes. Yelena is Dollar Tree Black Widow, while Red Guardian, John Walker, and yes, even Bucky are all discount Captain America. I guess Ghost is pretty original, but she has no personality whatsoever. She needs a catchphrase or a personality quirk or something to stand out.

I'm also a little bothered by how much homework this movie requires. You'll want to watch the Falcon/Winter Soldier Disney Plus series to know more about John Walker. You'll have to watch Ant-Man 2 to know Ghost. Yelena, Red Guardian, and Taskmaster all came from the Black Widow movie, which several of my friends skipped. I'm really glad they brought back these secondary characters, especially since they spent so much time introducing them. But since Endgame, a lot of viewers are starting to skip movies that don't look good, so they might not know these characters yet.

But I guess my biggest problem with the movie was the humor. You either find Red Guardian funny or you don't, and the script banks heavily on his antics. I find him more annoying than funny, honestly, so a lot of the humor fell flat for me.

Bigger Spoilers:

The Taskmaster thing. If you've paid any attention to people online, you know what I'm talking about. One half of the fanbase was already annoyed because she isn't like the Taskmaster from the comics. The other half is now annoyed because she gets killed off early in Thunderbolts. Seems like that would make the first half happy, since it leaves room for a new Taskmaster in later films. But really all it proves is you can't please everyone.

Personally I'm with the half that hated to see her get killed off. She was brainwashed when she was a villain, so she really didn't deserve such a fate. But like Suicide Squad, they probably wanted to kill off one character early so the audience feels like anyone can die.

Biggest Spoilers: 

Following Brave New World, this is the second MCU film in a row where the final confrontation comes down to talking to the villain. In fact, the Thunderbolts literally save the day through the power of hugs. Personally I'm okay with this. It's nice to occasionally see a climax that doesn't involve punching each other to death. But people are going to complain about the Disneyfication of the MCU.

Captain America: Brave New World

So I finally got around to watching the new Captain America movie. I have to say, it's much better than I was led to believe. I kept hearing people call it a "hot mess" without really explaining why.

It has a pretty straightforward plot. General Ross is now president; he's trying to be a better person while also covering up the sins of his past. The Leader (who Ross had once kept prisoner and exploited) brainwashes a bunch of people to make Ross look bad. One of the Leader's machinations turns Ross into a red Hulk, leading to the climax.

I wish I could put spoiler tags in the above paragraph, but what's the point? The trailers spoiled everything this time. 

I like that there's bad guys on both sides, and that the villain has a good reason to be angry. The best villains were always the ones who had a point, like Magneto or Killmonger.

The action scenes were great, as were the special effects. It has plot holes, but it's a comic book movie. Show me one MCU film that doesn't have plot holes. I wish there was a little less exposition - sometimes there was a little too much time between action scenes.

Two movies are required viewing to fully prepare for Brave New World: The Incredible Hulk and The Eternals. This is sad because Incredible Hulk is 17 years old now, older than a lot of Brave New World's viewers, so some people might not remember who this "Samuel Sterns" guy is. And of course, The Eternals was a long, boring film that no one really wants to remember.

But I think the worst part is that Brave New World feels like a Hulk film. It 100% feels like a Hulk storyline, with Hulk characters galore. But no Hulk. Mark Ruffalo got cheated. Justice for Mark!

Some people complained about the Leader's design, but I think he looks great. And let's face it, he'd have looked ridiculous if they'd used his original comic book design. Other people complained that a non-powered hero like Sam shouldn't be able to go toe-to-toe with the red Hulk, and they're right. But those people didn't actually watch the movie, which addresses that.

This isn't the best Captain America movie, but that's a high bar, and it holds up with the others just fine. Honestly, I hate to throw the word "racism" around, but I do have to wonder about people who loved the first three Captain America movies and hated this one. No, it doesn't make you racist if you dislike Brave New World, but when people consistently only hate on the more diverse Marvel movies, it starts to paint a picture.

Has quality gone downhill since Endgame? Sure, overall, I guess. But there's still plenty to love in some of the recent movies, and I wish people would stop calling for the death of the MCU. Brave New World is proof that there's plenty of excitement still left in the series.

By the way, don't bother sticking around for the post-credits scene. There is one, but it's pointless.