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THUNDERBOLTS* MOVIE REVIEW
The final film of Marvel’s Phase 5 (is anyone keeping track anymore) follows a group of d-listers gathered together reluctantly because of forces arrayed against all of them. No, this isn’t The Suicide Squad, it’s Thunderbolts*. Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) is our central character and first point of contact, as we watch her take on a mission destroying a laboratory, with great ennui, at the behest of CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). She’s tired of being the new (sorta) Black Widow and taking on these shadow ops and wants to be more public facing. Valentina assures her that if she does just ONE more mission, then they can change her her job duties. Unfortunately for Yelena, Valentina is under impeachment proceedings because word is starting to leak out about her more clandestine and illegal activities and it’s time to burn the proof. Said proof includes Yelena, as she discovers when she shows up to her “last” assignment only to find out it’s a death trap, not only for her, but for John Walker/US Agent (Wyatt Russell), Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Oh, and also Bob (Lewis Pullman) a seemingly normal guy who no one, included Valentina, is sure how he got in there. After a near-death escape, the team, eventually with the help of Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) will have to survive Valentina’s desperate attempts to kill them before she gets busted, and to solve the mystery of Bob. Chris, Wright, Drew, and Frank decide how this places in the quality list of Marvel’s recent films and Chris realizes sometimes you can hate a character so much that it’s impossible to even have any appreciation for a good new take on them.
DIRECTED BY: Jake Schreier
STARRING: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Wendell Edward Pierce
YOUR REVIEWERS
Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Deliberations of Doom)
Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar and theater management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others).
Wright Sulek (The Other Boss, Trash in the Can, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)
Wright hails from the northern suburbs of Dallas, Texas. His passion for filmmaking brought him to Austin to study and make movies. Since then he’s had his hand in acting, writing, and directing his own short films with numerous like-minded film geeks he’s met along his journey. His newest interest has brought him into the podcasting world. He co-hosted a few different movie related podcasts such as ‘And Now This’ and ‘The Match Cut’. He currently co-hosts with longtime friend, Eric Samaniego, where they talk shop about the grimiest, trashiest, lost gems of movies on their show, ‘Trash in the Can’. Wright also guests and hosts reviews on Screener Squad and Highly Suspect Reviews as well as co-hosts Digital Noise with Chris Cox. As of 2024, Wright has now been inducted into the Austin Film Critics Association as well as co-owns the One of Us network with Chris Cox.
Frank Calvillo (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, What Ever Happened to Bette & Joan?)
Born and raised in South Texas, Frank currently lives in Austin and has been in love with movies ever since his father showed him some Three Stooges shorts when he was five years old. Today he loves all kinds of film, regardless of era, country, budget or genre. He believes every film has an audience and is at least one person’s favorite movie. After writing for Sight & Sound and Slackerwood, he now writes for Cinapse where his increasingly random taste in all flavors of cinema (from Rashomon to Mars Attacks!) continues to thrive. His ultimate goal is to write a script for his boyhood crush, Michelle Pfeiffer.
Drew Tinnin (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews, Deliberations of Doom)
Drew Tinnin is a Rondo Award nominated interviewer and critic who has worked at SiriusXM’s Fangoria Radio and Fangoria magazine in NYC, as well as the London-based Dazed Digital. Currently a regular contributor to the Dread Central Network, he’s excited to join up with some old friends and other film fans on One of Us as a new contributor to Screener Squad.
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