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During a normal, pre-COVID summer, nearly every weekend seemed to mark the release of a new superhero movie—the flashy, action-packed stories of young, daring, and impossibly good-looking people saving the world. But Netflix’s superhero comedy Thunder Force leaves the world-saving to a different kind of hero.
Thunder Force is set in a world where, decades ago, cosmic rays genetically transformed sociopaths into supervillains known as Miscreants. As a child, Emily Stanton (Octavia Spencer) lost her parents to Miscreants—so she’s devoted her life to bringing them to justice. After years of hard work and research, she’s finally figured out how to give powers to normal people. But then her childhood friend, Lydia (Melissa McCarthy), accidentally gets a dose of the treatment meant for Emily, and the pair ends up working together to train their powers and take on the city’s bad guys.
As it turns out, being a superhero isn’t easy. As the women continue their treatments, they need to hone their skills while preparing themselves for battle. While most films may have skipped over this part or showed it using inspirational music and a montage of clips, writer/director Ben Falcone chooses to focus an extended period of time on the character’s preparation and training—much more time than necessary.
Still, the concept is refreshing: a lighthearted superhero movie with a twist. These aren’t the typical young, fit heroes. They’re determined middle-aged women: a brilliant scientist and her outspoken friend. And, really, if anyone could handle the pressures and responsibilities of taking on bad guys and saving the world, it’s middle-aged women. It’s a story that holds a whole lot of potential for action, drama, and laughs.
Unfortunately, though, the comedy falls flat. Falcone fills the film with gags that just aren’t funny—and that go on much longer than they should. And instead of giving the costars the opportunity to be strong and smart and funny, he simply falls back on wife McCarthy’s awkward mugging for laughs. We’ve seen that these two stars have the ability to be show strength and intellect—and depth, too—while still keeping things light. But while these two talented women could have been used to tell a story about strong older women working together to save the world, they end up resorting to lengthy impressions of Jodie Foster and awkward jokes about shellfish romance instead.
The idea behind Thunder Force is a great one: strong 40-something women stepping up to take on the bad guys. But instead of a fun and maybe even inspiring action movie, it’s mostly just an awkward comedy.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
