Thunderbolts*

"It doesn’t always land, but it dares to be different"

"If it ultimately works, it’s all due to Pugh."

"It is a shame the project feels flimsier than the average TV-show pilot..."

"All the assembled parts here, including an especially high-quality cast (even Wendell Pierce!) work together seamlessly in a way that Marvel hasn’t in some time."

"Fortunately, and shockingly the whole thing works because it is so explicitly rooted in character, not twists."

"In the end the most radical element of this revamped Marvel entry is its suggestion that the problems of the world can’t be solved by a super-powered punch to the face, but by a heartfelt group hug."

"Notably gritty (as in dirt under one’s nails), messy and real-feeling. And that’s good."

"Despite its notionally spiky tone, moroseness is the film’s root chord."

"A rough-edged, big-hearted spy thriller about lovably clueless anti-heroes."

"Reminds us of how vital and relatable the MCU still is when it wants to be..."

"Thunderbolts* comes within an inch of being the Barbie of the MCU."

"An odd duck of a superhero flick..."

"If this simple and relatively spirited return to basics is definitely a step in the right direction for the MCU, that direction is still “backwards.”"

"Faced with oblivion, our third- and fourth-string MCU characters choose life..."

"What works here is the uneasy tension within a team that comes together out of necessity..."

"Don’t call it a return to form so much as a much-needed, extremely welcome return to a winning formula."

"Between meals at fine restaurants there are also gas station sandwiches, and they aren’t so bad."

"There’s a disarming freshness to this first-time assembly, not to mention something even more unexpected: heart."