Thunder Force (2021) Review

With the Coronavirus pandemic shutting Cinemas worldwide it seems like Netflix have become a force in terms of gaining the rights to films with big stars in it and Thunder Force is no different and I watched it today and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees two former friends both get superpowers and attempt to save Chicago from other superpowered beings. 

Main Character

Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer play the two leads here and its weird, I think both of them are pretty bad in this film but there is no denying they seems to be having fun together and it actually added a bit of energy and life to this pretty generic film. But on their own it doesn't work, Spencer isn't an actress that does comedy much and it clearly shows as she is quite stiff and rigid in her performance which is clearer due to the over the top performance by McCarthy. Now I know Melissa McCarthy can be funny, I have seen her do good work such as Spy and Can you ever forgive me? She just isn't funny here and she needs the right director and project to get that out of her and this film was not it. 

Supporting Characters

Jason Bateman. That is it the best part of this film is Bateman, he plays a half man half crab and he is actually pretty funny. He just adds some quirkiness and ridiculousness of the right kind that really fits and it is just a shame that the others in the film just can't get the same quality out if them. There are some other decent actors such as Bobby Cannavale, Melissa Leo and Pom Klementieff but they are such dull characters and for me it is just a real waste of the talent that the film has and sometimes I wonder why bother casting these big name performers if you aren't going to give them interesting and funny material to work with. 

Story 

The story is absurd, but it doesn't embrace it enough. I want to see more superpowered beings for Thunder Force to go up against and it feels like the film either didn't have the budget or weren't creative enough to do that. The film tries to make you care about the characters but I really couldn't as apart from Bateman I just didn't care about the characters or their whole story because the film does nothing to make me care. This film also has something that happens in the last act that really annoyed me because it didn't feel earned and even though this is a comedy I feel like things should at least feel like they fit in the film we are watching. 

Script

The one job of a comedy, make me laugh and this film really failed at that. I maybe smirked a few times but I never laughed as they is no clever comedy here, it is just the most basic of basic attempts to make you laugh and you can easily see right through it. Also the drama doesn't work, it has all been done before and this film isn't good enough for it to get me invested. 

Style 

When the action is happening there is no doubt that it can be fun to watch and fitting for a spoof of Superhero films. But I checked and the first time Thunder Force go on a mission is 45 mins into the film, that is unacceptable and by that point I had already clocked out of what the film was trying to achieve. 

Overall 

Overall, Thunder Force is a bad comedy. McCarthy is in another comedy stinker and I just think this film lacks any of the qualities that a good comedy needs and unless you love the two leads this is one to avoid. 

Rating - 3/10