this is a critique rant not a hate rant, ive been really excited to see it and liked the movie a lot i just felt like it needed something *extra*--ANYWAYS moving on
hi once again i am defrosting this blog from cryofreeze (winter soldier joke intended) to rant about winter soldier related things aka thunderbolts* this time (no this isnt just because i am a bucky stan)
also known as very sleep deprived english degree grad unleashing an analysis worm
OKAY sO-- i watched thunderbolts. it was good. the promos were better and whoever did them should get a hefty raise.
HOWEVER. despite the vibes of a great superhero action movie all being there, i think the main thing that this movie (and quite frankly most of marvel's recent new projects) is missing is good, solidly grounded characters and plot.
what do i mean by this? i mean characters who are fully immersed into the universes in which they operate, who interact with other people/elements of their world and face consequences and suffer collateral damage--either to themselves or loved ones/others--from the environment around them for their actions. in other words, despite being superhumans, i would like to see superhero protagonists who wrestle with push and pull factors from the solely "human" half of their universes, and their selves.
i said this was going to be a bucky post so it IS a bucky post, and i believe he's a prime example of a lack of groundedness in thunderbolts. ik a lot of people aren't sure how to feel about marvel's storyline decision to make him a congressman in CABNW, but i think one thing for sure is that they brought the congressman plotline elephant into the room and then proceeded to do everything in their power to ignore it. in the movie, he spends about 30 minutes within the system (the government) and then decides to up and leave it to go commit shenanigans with a bunch of outcast anti-hero renegades. and seemingly with little to no backlash or even response from the government that he's supposed to be working for. there's a moment where he decides not to bring in the rest of the thunderbolts as evidence to his congress friend (i forgot the dude's name) but aside from that there's no follow up between the government and bucky at all, not to ask for the evidence, nothing. not saying that the government in the movie is the "correct" party, based on valentina's character alone its obvious that the movie is deliberately trying to point out corruption, but to the eyes of the human public in the movie universe, the government still holds some kind of power (as can be seen at the end of the film where valentina is still able to leverage government power to cover up how the thunderbolts appeared in public.)
a pretty good contrast to how this movie handles the relationship between superheroes and real-world inspired human institutions (which superheroes either work for or against, or its complicated) would be how previous marvel movies handled similar situations, notably moments like natasha going to capitol hill at the end of CATWS and confronting the press/government officials. there's the idea of accountability being demanded for actions taken. while the first two avengers movies only briefly hint at human institutions attempting to control superheroes (nick fury and the world council), CACW brings it all to a head when the fight over the sokovia accords breaks out, precisely because the superheroes now have to wrestle with the collateral damage dealt to humanity as a result of their actions (which could be perceived as crimes. team iron man's pov in the movie is a good example of this consideration.) heck even later on, between TFATWS and CABNW, sam wilson constantly wrestles with the pressure of the government's influence upon his superhero identity as captain america. (side note but i really appreciate sam's character for this exact reason--his groundedness)
i'm not saying that superheroes need to be constantly reminded of their accountability to the institutions that are brought from the audience's reality into the film's--however, i believe there needs to be a balance--"groundedness"--for superhero films to remain appealing to the viewer. the concept of a superhero involves two parts: the super part, and the human part, and especially for the MCU, we find and relate to these characters because they look like us, and operate within a world that is like our own. unlike the case with fantasy-based movies like star wars, harry potter, or dystopian sci-fi worlds like that of the hunger games and divergent, viewers of superhero movies have a meta cognitive awareness that the world we see on the screen is our world, our present time--just with something extra added in. superheroes in the MCU are simply another element of everyday life, one that everyone is aware of and more or less accepts the existence of (for better or worse lol.) sometimes superheroes decide that they want to cooperate with real-world institutions, and sometimes maybe the lesson is that they should not, and should stand up against even that which is taught to be right because their morals guide them towards what they believe to be the greater good (team cap's pov in CACW.) whatever the case or conclusion might be, my point is that the very struggle of that decision is critical to make the superhero's story tangible and relatable to the viewer. as viewers, we want to see ourselves in superheroes, and we want to see part of their powers in ourselves as well, and to accomplish that aspect of the genre's appeal, it is necessary for the audience to see superheroes fighting our battles along with us.
in terms of how this movie DID address this well, i thought the greater themes of mental health portrayed through void/sentry's character were really powerful, conveying the scarily overpowering and crushing wave of darkness that can engulf us in our lower moments. the way the team managed to help bob defeat the void was a perfect combination of kick-ass action while also ultimately revealing that darkness isn't something that can be punched down (pun intended), but something that required a different kind of strength to defeat and heal. i think yelena was a good vessel to deliver this storyline since her character (unlike bucky and even walker) has no significant ties to "real world" issues in this film. but this just brings me back to how i wish we also saw more of the others' perspectives while they were in the void. that alone i feel would have contributed a greater aspect of groundedness to the team as a whole, to see them confront their most human and vulnerable moments.
anyways i might continue these thoughts in another post, im reaching like 21 hours awake at this point and my brain is slowing down to the point where i can't form more coherent thoughts let alone analytical ones so imma go sleep.
TLDR: someone needs to bring marvel characters back down from their space crises and remember that they're supposed to be protecting earth. you cant protect america if there is no america blah blah something friendly neighborhood spiderman :P
aight whoever reads this entire thing can lemme know what they think. good night
amandla
vaporwave
gummygunk
kianamaiart
blakekathryn
pixelskylines
discoholicmusic
2087
gracieabrams
