THUNDER FORCE (2021)

THUNDER FORCE (2021)

Tagline: Newly Super. Almost Heroes.

(Adventure, Comedy, Action) [PG-13]

You know, killing people's, not a recognized hobby!

In this one, we are introduced to a world where supervillains called Miscreants are becoming a huge nuisance in Chicago. There are no superheroes until Emily Stanton spurred by the work of her parents discovers a way to give regular humans superpowers. Her friend Lydia ends up accidentally taking part of one of the serums that Emily was going to use, so now the powers must be split between Emily and Lydia, but will it be enough?

First off this movie is a light-hearted take on the superhero genre. In spite of some of the reviews you read out there, it is not really a “spoof”. It’s actually well done and a lot of effort is put into the sets and design work for some of the concepts introduced. It is done in the vein of something like ZOOM only less creative. 

There are several cool things to point out about this movie. The cast is actually pretty great. I find that Melissa McCarthy who plays Lydia (one of the members of Thunder Force) is very hit and miss, but she crushes this role a lot like she did her role in GHOSTBUSTERS. She stars with Octavia Spencer who is most famous for THE SHACK but has also been real-life friends with Melissa McCarthy for 20 years, so the chemistry between the two is fantastic. We also get a brief acting outing from Mellissa McCarthy’s real-life daughter Vivian Falcone who plays the younger version of her mom’s character Lydia in the movie. This is actually the second movie where Falcone has done this, THE BOSS was the first. 

There are some other commendable roles in this. Bobby Cannavale best known for the ANT-MAN series is great as a bad guy named The King. I also thought the Taylor Mosby was solid in this. She plays Emily Stanton’s daughter. I wasn’t crazy about Jason Bateman who plays a character called “The Crab”. It was cool that Pom Klementieff was in this. She is most famous for playing Mantis in the MCU, but she wasn’t given much screen time in this and wasn’t required to show any acting range.

If there is a knock on this movie I can say that it might be that we are getting a bunch of actors and actresses doing what they typically do. This movie doesn’t ask anyone to do a lot of stretching in the acting department. However, that is what I actually liked about it. It’s not overly serious or pretentious in any way. It also doesn’t feel “PC” at all which is a relief in a world where suddenly everything has to fit some ever-changing social score enforcement. 

The cinematography and soundtrack are interesting and fun. There is even a metal song called “Thunder Force” made just for this movie. 

Overall this movie is entertaining, but it’s not really new. We’ve seen several movies now that kind of play off the superhero movie craze that’s been headlined by the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Cinematic Universe. We also get some really crazy and uncalled-for quarks that come with Lydia’s transition from new to having a superpower. By the way, if you watch this thing, just keep in mind the “raw chicken” anyone is eating is all actually made from sliced pears treated with citric acid and food coloring. That might allow you to sit through a few of the crazy scenes in this.

This one lands at a 4 out of 7. It’s cool and a nice change of pace from more serious fare, but not something I feel the need to own. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF MARC PLATT PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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