[FILM REVIEW] THUNDER FORCE Review (2021)

August 19, 2021 Dave Ben Falcone, Bobby Cannavale, Brendan Jennngs, Bria Danielle Singleton, David Griffiths, David Storrs, Georgette Falcone, Isaac Hughes, Jackson Dippel, Jason Bateman, Kevin Dunn, Marc Alsfeld, Marcella Lowery, Melissa Leo, Melissa McCarthy, Melissa Ponzio, Mia Kaplan, Octavia Spencer, Pom Klementieff, Sarah Baker, Shawn Ray Cartel, Steve Mallory, Tai Leshaun, Taylor Mosby, Thunder Force, Trevor Larcom, Tyrel Jackson Williams, Vivian Falcone

Summary:
In a world where supervillains are commonplace, two estranged childhood best friends reunite after one devises a treatment that gives them powers to protect their city.

Year: 2021

Cinema Release Dates: NA

VOD Release Dates: 9th April 2021 (Australia), 9th April 2021 (Thailand), 9th April 2021 (UK), 9th April 2021 (USA)

Country: USA

Director: Ben Falcone

Screenwriter: Ben Falcone

Cast: Marc Alsfeld (Marty), Sarah Baker (Sarah (Security Guard)), Jason Bateman (The Crab), Bobby Cannavale (The King), Shawn Ray Cartel (Officer Connors), Jackson Dippel (Young Wayne), Kevin Dunn (Frank), Ben Falcone (Kenny), Georgette Falcone (Evelyn), Vivian Falcone (Young Lydia), Isaac Hughes (Tony (Boxing Instructor)), Brendan Jennings (Clyde), Mia Kaplan (Teen Lydia), Pom Klementieff (Laser), Trevor Larcom (Young Clyde), Melissa Leo (Allie), Tai Leshaun (Teen Emily), Marcella Lowery (Grandma Norma), Steve Mallory (Mr. Emerson), Melissa McCarthy (Lydia Berman), Taylor Mosby (Tracy), Melissa Ponzio (Rachel Gonzales), Bria Danielle Singleton (Young Emily), Octavia Spencer (Emily Stanton), David Storrs (Andrew – Robber 2), Tyrel Jackson Williams (Jessie)

Running Time: 106 mins

Classification: M (Australia), 12 (UK), PG-13 (USA)

OUR THUNDER FORCE REVIEWS

David Griffiths’ Thunder Force Review:

With cinemas currently closed in Phuket luckily film fans can turn to streaming services for some entertainment. Once again worldwide we have seen Netflix get the jump on cinema chains due to the pandemic and they are proudly showing the brand new Melissa McCarthy (Brides Maids) film Thunder Force.

Written and directed by McCarthy’s real-life husband Ben Falcone (Superintelligence) Thunder Force sees her play Lydia – a dock worker who has always regretted the argument that ended her friendship with her former friend in high school Emily Stanton (Octavia Spencer – The Help). The fight itself was over Emily never wanting to have fun – instead she wanted to spend all her time studying so that she could one day develop a way to destroy the mutants that plague society and killed her parents.

In the present day Emily is now the owner of one of the biggest scientific firms in the world and the world is still plagued by these mutants which include the deadly Laser (Pom Klementieff – Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2) and the just plain strange The Crab (Jason Bateman – Juno). Determined to make things right between them again Lydia reaches out to Emily on the night of their High School reunion and the disastrous result sees the pair become super-heroes.

Now the world finally has a duo that can stand up to the mutants but that also suddenly sees the new-found heroes thrust into the middle of a political election that sees the larger than life celebrity know as The King (Bobby Cannavale – Superintelligence) take on the mild-mannered and serious Rachel Gonzalez (Melissa Ponzio – The Walking Dead).

For fans of super-hero movies there was no way that Thunder Force was ever going to stack up against anything that Marvel or DC could ever deliver but for fans of comedy – well you might be in for a little bit of a surprising treat.

To Ben Falcone’s credit he doesn’t try to make Thunder Force anything it isn’t. From the get go he would have wanted this film to be mentioned alongside films like Galaxy Quest. While Thunder Force is not exactly a parody of a Marvel film it is the next best thing. It is loud and it is dumb, but at the end day it does what it is designed to do – and that is makes its audience laugh.

The key to whether or not you not you enjoy this film all comes down whether or not you normally like the comedy styling of Melissa McCarthy. McCarthy doesn’t do anything different here to what she has been doing for the last decade in cinema. Once again she plays a character who sees herself as a ‘loser’. There are jokes about her looks, joke about her weight, lots of slap-stick comedy and once again her character has to do things she never ever thought she was capable of. Yep, if you’ve seen a majority of McCarthy’s films you’ll know exactly what to expect. But hey, if what she does works, why should she change it?

Aside from McCarthy the rest of the actors and actresses here also seem to have a hell of a lot of fun. Bobby Cannavale seems to be his element playing an over-the-top rogue while Octavia Spencer seems to relish one of the lighter roles of her career. Then there is Jason Bateman who once again re-creates the comedy magic that he had with McCarthy in Identity Thief.

Thunder Force is your typical Melissa McCarthy shtick. You are either going to watch it and laugh along or you’ll be wondering why on earth everybody around is laughing at a film that you find unfunny.

Dave’s rating Out Of 5

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You can read our Thunder Force review for The Phuket News right here – https://www.thephuketnews.com/melissa-mccarthy-true-to-formula-in-thunder-force-79851.php

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