Thunder Force (2021)

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Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy, husband and wife, have been making movies together since the former began his filmmaking career. Literally, every film directed, written, and/or produced by Falcone has the famous actress in the lead role, all exploring subgenres of comedy. From romance (Superintelligence) to crime (The Happytime Murders), without forgetting a road trip (Tammy), now comes the time for Thunder Force, a dive into the highly profitable superhero circle. However, I don't believe the couple's real goal is to deliver a globally liked movie. Actually, I firmly defend that their purpose is to provide the most nonsensical piece of storytelling possible, hoping that viewers find it entertaining enough.

Directors, screenwriters, actors, and every other crew member... a vast majority aspire to deliver a groundbreaking masterpiece. A film recognized by everyone as "remarkable cinema". Something worthy of many Oscars, Golden Globes, and much more. Movies like Thunder Force aren't made to receive regular nominations, but instead, to try and be present at the Razzies - both Falcone and McCarthy have been quite successful in this achievement. While the actress continuously shows her undeniable talent that would be better employed in other films - such as Can You Ever Forgive Me? And Bridesmaids - the writer-director continues to put together awfully dull movies.

To be completely honest, the first act of Thunder Force is surprisingly decent. The setup to the main narrative is interesting enough, and the comedy peak is reached during the first half-hour. The massive problem is that this peak offers no more than a couple of chuckles occasionally. From the start of the second act until the very end, Falcone embarrassingly fails to offer genuine laughs. The tone is ridiculously out-of-balance, with almost every scene being a forced attempt at humor, even when the moment doesn't ask for it. Incredibly flat - and some disgusting - jokes are repeated throughout the film, which ends up dragging an already stretched out runtime.

The superhero plot is as generic and predictable as it could be in a movie that makes no effort in trying to do something remotely different than what viewers have seen for the last couple of decades. The VFX look like they came from an amateur studio as if Netflix didn't even care about its own product. Story-wise, there's not even a proper way of analyzing such a silly screenplay. In one moment, it seems to be taking a specific scene seriously, but a couple of minutes later, everything is back to the annoyingly dumb environment. Don't get me wrong: if there's a type of humor I absolutely adore is absurd comedy, but it needs to be done properly, with the right people and the right story.

In the end, I usually tend to have a light hand in films like this. Thunder Force is just another addition to the never-ending list of "forgettable movies", which isn't something that really bothers me. It's exactly what everyone expects it to be, which can work as a compliment if people want to. The most frustrating aspect of all of this is watching McCarthy and Octavia Spencer - two outstanding actresses with five Oscar nominations combined, including a win for the latter in The Help - working on hopeless projects such as this one. It begs the famous question: why?

Thunder Force is yet another piece of pointless, absurd storytelling from Ben Falcone, featuring unbearably dry, forced humor, besides a forgettable story. A film that cross-checks every requirement for a Razzies contender, something quite familiar for the writer-director and his wife, Melissa McCarthy, who keeps doing favors. Despite an admittedly decent first act, the rest of the film goes downhill concerning its entertainment value. Honestly, I don't know what's worse: witnessing McCarthy and Octavia Spencer waste her exceptional talent in nonsensical movies or seeing major studios continue to give opportunities to filmmakers that have nothing important to say while necessary, significant voices are still out there waiting desperately for their shot. The best compliment I can give this Netflix product is that it doesn't mislead anyone: it's precisely what viewers expect it to be, whether that's nice or horrible.

Rating: D

That was crap!

the cast in this deserved better.

This movie was scheduled to release in early 2020 but due to the pandemic it was pushed back a year and I think due to its late release, there was just a lack of attention to mastering its release. Although this was considered a comedy, they producers attempted to create a somewhat heartfelt storyline that was just a complete miss. The most confusing issue I had with this movie was its target audience. Most “jokes” were for mature adults but the slapstick vibe the movie portrayed was just messy. Unfortunately, it appeared both main actresses just gave about 50% of their effort. This movie lacked personality, an entertainment factor, and a good storyline.

This movie made me laugh at a time when I needed to laugh. Wgat’s wrong with that?

I think a lot of viewers, and not just paid critics who have to watch everything, started watching Thunder Force knowing they would hate it. Then they watched a few minutes of it and quickly slapped a low rating on it. I don’t think it is a 10 star movie, or even close, but I rated it that way for the same reason some people gave it a 1: because I can - Nyah-Nyah. But seriously, I wanted to offered at least one of the throwaway one-star ratings.

This is not a serious superhero movie; it is not a plot-driven, thoughtful satire. It is a zany romp, a rollicking slice of slapstick. It is replete with physical humor, which is Melissa McCarthy’s forte, our 21st century Lucille Ball channeling Harold Lloyd.

For the predominantly young men who totally trashed this, superheroing is serious business. Well, Marvel, DC universes, welcome to the Comedy Universe. We are sorry this film offends you, as we were regretful that My Spy offended the serious Bond or LeCarre fan - or maybe we aren’t sorry.

I just watched the preview again and laughed where I laughed the first time.

Life can be grim and like I said, sometimes you need a laugh. Hmm, is this still on Netflix?

Let me say upfront that I am a 'Melissa McCarthy' fan, and that is probably because I enjoy her brand of humor. I expect there are some who would not agree with me but I am entitled to my opinion. Having said that, I was not disappointed with the storyboard for Thunder Force. The humor may have been geared to an older audience, but the combination of Octavia and Melissa was a good match. I found the 'woke' inserts about the two dads and the little girl, combined with the grandmother suggesting they would make a great couple to be offensive and unnecessary to tell this story. But that is Hollywood for you, take every opportunity to brainwash the audience. If you could get past those instances, Thunder Force was both entertaining and funny. ⭐⭐⭐⭐