Thunder Force movie review 2021

MOVIE TITLE: THUNDER FORCE

Available now on Netflix (April 9, 2021)

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 46 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

Yep, it’s been 5 minutes so that means it’s time for another superhero movie. But wait, this one is different. The idea behind this Netflix story is decent, but the execution is, sadly, lacking. Melissa McCarthy is married to the writer/director, Ben Falcone, who admitted this was the fastest he had ever written a film…and it shows. He exclaimed that he loves comics and superheroes, so it’s a shame that he couldn’t spend more time creating an actual decent script. You’re going to laugh a couple of times during the action-comedy, but you’ll also roll your eyes in the many cringe-worthy moments of this disappointing movie…

THINGS I LIKED:

Melissa McCarthy is hilarious and I really love her, but whenever she stars in movies that her husband writes and directs, the films tend to bomb. In this movie, she shines doing her classic physical humor but the script is a big mess.
Some have speculated why Academy Award-winning Octavia Spencer would agree to this role; however, she and Melissa McCarthy have been friends in real life for 20 years. I’m assuming she just wanted to try something very different and lend her high-status name to the production. She and Melissa McCarthy also both showcase their daughters in this film. Melissa also featured her daughter, Vivian Falcone, in the movie The Boss.
Melissa Leo also won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2011, but has a very small role in this film.
Some of the banter is pretty entertaining.
Jason Bateman is always funny, although his character in this film is pretty bizarre. I thought he and Melissa McCarthy were pretty magical together in the movie Identity Thief.
I don’t think I had ever seen French actress Pom Klementieff without her green makeup and antennae as Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy (Theatrical), (I LOVE that franchise!), so it took me a minute to realize she was the one playing the character Laser.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

- I had done a trailer reaction for this film a while ago and thought the trailer looked pretty funny with some potential. Of course, knowing a little bit about the film’s writer/director made me worry just a bit, so I had my fingers crossed. Unfortunately, my concerns were justified. The film is just completely disappointing on so many levels.
- You don’t need X-ray vision to see what’s going to happen next.
- The villains and their powers are pretty lame.
- A lot of the humor doesn’t land at all and is extremely juvenile. A lot of it is improvisation, which simply didn’t work, nor entertain.
- The character development isn’t well defined.
- The first half of the movie takes way too much time to show us how Melissa McCarthy gets superpowers and we wonder if there is going to be anything more to the schtick. She kind of plays the same character in every movie, so this character just felt worn out much of the time.
- So much exposition.
- There are some super-gross moments regarding raw chicken when people eat it. It’s supposed to be funny, but it’s not. Even worse is that it goes on and on forever. The good news is that the actors were NOT actually eating raw chicken, but a carefully camouflaged Asian pear. Whew! Rumor has it that even knowing it was pieces of Asian pear, the actors still had a hard time eating it in their scenes. Yuck.
- As much as I like Octavia Spencer, she seemed like a real fish out of water in this comedy and, at times, seemed to be phoning in it. At the end of the movie, there is a celebration scene where she just kind of stands there, not even knowing what to do.
- The movie actually looks low-budget.
- The special effects are not very good.
- Sadly, I doubt this merchandise will ever hit it big like that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: