"Thunderbolts" Was A Solid Movie And Another Sign That Things Are Getting Better For The MCU (Spoiler-Free Review)

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Let me start things off by saying that when Thunderbolts got announced, I wasn't looking forward to it because I didn't love or even like most of the characters in it all that much. Bucky is cool, Yelena has her moments, and Red Guardian can make me laugh. To make matters worse, the MCU was in a middle of a losing streak after "Endgame" due to some misses, COVID fucking shooting up, and probably a bit of Marvel resting on their laurels (I have no clue what the hell of a laurel is but it's common knowledge you should never rest on them. I'd say it's either an achievement or a plastic chair with a crack in it). I always felt like Thunderbolts was the last big project that the MCU had before Bob Iger told them to cut the shit and start making hits again.

Then something funny happened. The trailers started coming out and they didn't suck. Some were even good! Even though I have been let down by countless movies that looked good in a 30 second trailer, I had hope for Thunderbolts at the very least wouldn't be painful to sit through. Then the reviews started coming in and they ranged from good to glowing, with not a rotten tomato in sight.

Now I have learned that it is outright stupid to listen to reviews because some people have different tastes in movies than I do not to mention some people have agendas to pump up or shit on a movie based on their agendas. However I can tell you that I personally liked Thunderbolts after going to a screening last night with my Basement Brother Robbie for reasons that I will break down in quick thoughts form because that's how I like writing and reading things here on Barstool.

- The chemistry between the actors is really good. Similar to Guardians and Suicide Squad, The Thunderbolts do a good job keeping things light and playing off each other. I'm not saying The Thunderbolts are anywhere near as entertaining as The Guardians Of The Galaxy or anything of the sort. But the characters clicked more than I thought they would and led to some legitimate funny moments that have been missing from some of the other recent MCU movies.

- The action scenes are good but not great, with one bad ass scene that I think stands above all the rest. I think that's fine for a movie like this where I can happily leave the theater with solid B's when it comes to action and humor, which this delivered as a solid popcorn movie.

- The mid credits and post credits scenes were getting a ton of love in the reviews I mentioned before, but I think they were wayyyyy too overhyped. I do think one of them is important for the future of the MCU but saying it was incredible or the biggest post credits scene in MCU history does no favors for people going into Thunderbolts expecting a HOLY SHIT moment after reading the names of a million strangers on screen.

- Robbie said Thunderbolts was solid, which I think is the perfect review for it. We've had a whole lot of debating between the G words like Great or good, but I think solid is jussssst below good, which is still so much more than I expected from this movie when it first came out. I don't think I'll go back and watch this movie very much, but it's another positive step for the MCU after Daredevil: Born Again gave Disney+ a win on TV and helped get the meh taste out of our mouths from Captain America: Brave New World. Hopefully everyone enjoys this movie as much if not more than I did. 

Make sure to subscribe to My Mom's Basement for our full review of Thunderbolts as soon as the movie is released on Thursday. In the meantime, you can check out our thoughts before and after the movie, which obviously do not include any spoilers.