“Thunderbolts*”, the latest product from Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), attempts to bring more fun and excitement to its franchise, and that succeeds to some degree. While this is basically a very familiar mix between “The Avengers” (2012) and “Suicide Squad” (2016), it is thankfully buoyed by the game efforts from the cast members, and I was entertained enough that despite being more aware of my growing numbness to superhero flicks.

At first, we meet Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), a Russian superspy who was previously introduced in “Black Widow” (2021). While still depressed about the loss of her older sister, she keeps working as demanded by CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and the opening scene shows how swiftly and efficiently she accomplishes her latest mission alone by herself in Malaysia.

Anyway, getting more tired about how her life and career have been going, Belova eventually decides to quit working for her employer, but de Fontaine has one last assignment to hand to Belova. There is a big storage place hidden from the world outside, and Belova must handle a possible security breach caused by a certain figure.

That figure turns out to be Ava Starr / Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who was previously introduced in “Ant-Man and the Wasp” (2018). It soon turns out that there are also several other figures in that secret facility, and, after a lot of physical clashes among everyone at the spot, it becomes quite clear to everyone that they are trapped and then will soon get eliminated as planned by de Fontaine.

Of course, Belova and the others except Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), who unfortunately got killed in the middle of the aforementioned fight, literally stick together for surviving together, though they turn out to be not so reliable as they continue to clash with each other in one way or another. In the end, they manage to get out of the facility, but then they get into a bigger problem thanks to Robert “Bob” Reynolds (Lewis Pullman). He does not have any idea on how he ends up in the facility, but what do you know, he turns out to be a very successful case of one of those top-secret human experiments behind de Fontaine’s back, and de Fontaine is quite determined to get Reynolds under her control as much as possible.

Meanwhile, she is also quite busy with handling a congress hearing on her impeachment, and that is how Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) enters the picture. Although he left his superhero career for becoming a congressman, he eventually decides to be back in action for stopping de Fontaine, and then he finds himself getting involved with Belova and her fellow rogues.

While things get more serious as Reynolds is groomed as a new superhero to emerge under de Fontaine, the movie shows some sense of humor as Belova and several other main characters keep clashing with each other as before. Needless to say, they eventually learn how to stick and work together just like the main characters of “The Avengers” did, and they are certainly ready when the movie subsequently throws a lot of action into the screen as expected.

However, the climactic action sequence of the movie is rather deficient as feeling like a cheaper version of whatever we saw from “The Avengers”. Although I did not like “The Avengers” much, it spent its huge production budget enough on its climactic part at least, and I sort of appreciate that while still remembering a certain moment which takes me back to (*gasp*) “The Human Centipede (The First Sequence)” (2009). In case of “Thunderbolts*”, there is not anything particularly impressive or memorable for us in terms of scale and intensity, and that reminds me again of how much we get accustomed to the big spectacles of superhero flicks these days.

At least, the movie keeps focusing on its main characters even when it is mired in a lot of action during its climactic part, which eventually feels like a hybrid between “Being John Malkovich” (1999) and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022). Rather than fighting more, Belova and her comrade try a bit of talk and solidarity for solving the big trouble in front of them, and there is a little poignancy in how Belova shows more heart after confronting her old childhood pain.

The main cast members are solid as often generating enough comic/dramatic chemistry among them. While Florence Pugh injects some genuine gravitas to the story as required, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, and Lewis Pullman have each own moment to stand out, and David Harbour, who plays Belova’s estranged father, surely has a lot of fun as he did in “Black Widow”. In contrast, Sebastian Stan seems to be rather bored with his familiar character, and Olga Kurylenko, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are mostly limited by their thankless supporting parts.

On the whole, “Thunderbolts*”, directed by Jake Schreier is enjoyable enough for recommendation besides being much better than “Captain America: Brave New World” (2025). I am sort of glad that MCU is still capable of entertaining us enough even though it seems to pass its prime after “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), and I can only hope that its upcoming next products will actually excite and surprise me.