There are people who have not the slightest interest in the stories of Superheros, but that does not mean that these characters have been the great stars of Hollywood for many years now. Of course, they have also found their place on Netflix with titles such as ‘Daredevil’, ‘The Umbrella Academy’, ‘Secret origins’ or ‘The old guard’. The platform has no reason to put them aside and this Friday, April 9, we have proof that it will continue to empower them with the premiere of ‘Thunder Patrol’.
In fact, the fact of being a superhero movie was on paper the big difference between ‘Thunder Patrol’ compared to ‘Tammy’, ‘It’s the boss’, ‘The life of the party’ and ‘Superintelligence’, the previous four filmmaker collaborations Ben Falcone with the actress Melissa McCarthy, as it so happens that both have been married for more than 15 years in real life. For my part, I have never been particularly interested in his previous works and I am very afraid that there is not much to celebrate in the film that we are dealing with now.
Low-flying superheroines
‘Thunder Patrol’ part of the reunion between two childhood friends who had lost contact many years ago, with an accident causing the character played by McCarthy to acquire superpowers that should have been of Octavia Spencer. In this way, instead of a superhero with a lot of strength and the ability to become invisible, we have McCarthy with the first power and Spencer with the second.
There you can see that Falcone, who for the first time in his career signed the script for one of his films alone, cares a lot about how credible the situations he raises are – it is alarming how little one believes Spencer’s anger in the face of something that has broken the dream for which he has been working for many years-, betting -almost- on humor. Not necessarily a bad betBut when it works, which is rarely, it is due more to how the actors approach it than to the fact that what happens or is said is funny in itself.
It is true that we are facing what is still a hobby for McCarthy to shine, but even there it gives the feeling of not wanting to try too hard. The film knows that she is funny and believes that this will be enough to put forward a half-cooked script, which has some nice idea -this inability of the villain to remember the name of his hitmen-, but always feeling like something to which the necessary attention has not been paid to be able to build a film.
From the fact that Spencer seems for a long time more of a McCarthy troupe than the co-star of the role to the mission they face feels more like an episodic, almost filler plot from some television series. Then you have three elements to hold on to to make the spectator have a good time, the visual spectacle, the comedy and the chemistry between its protagonists.
Mediocre
In the first section, do not expect anything at the level of a Marvel or DC movie, since here the show is an addition, something necessary due to the particularities of the story but to which not much attention is paid. In the best of cases, it can be said that it is functional at that point, being mostly a complement to its comic side instead of giving us some noteworthy action scene. Without more, but it is not that I expected more on that side.
In the comic one tends to the simplicity, subordinating everything to the talent of a McCarthy somewhat more restrained than on other occasions but who would have appreciated having better material to be able to shine as for example she did in ‘My best friend’s wedding’. It is fair to recognize that in ‘Thunder Patrol’ it is clear that he has much more chemistry with Jason Bateman no matter how far-fetched it may be, everything that arises between its characters than with a Spencer who never seems to be entirely comfortable on screen, bringing uprightness.
Beyond that, the one who is most dedicated to the cause is Bobby Cannavale like the wicked mayor of the city. He really conveys that he is having a good time with his character and that enlivens the show in almost all of his appearances. Be careful, it is not that it is anything especially memorable – it is all so basic in ‘Thunder Patrol’ in all its facets that it is given for more – but at least there the film does fulfill its objective of entertaining the viewer.
In short
In the end, what remains is an action comedy that is not very funny and that never becomes exciting – it is not what I try often, but there is some of that in the final section. Come on, one of those movies that you see and that you will most likely forget in a short time how mediocre it is in general lines. Well, If you are a big fan of McCarthy, maybe it will be enough for you with her at half throttle, but for the rest I find few reasons to recommend it, not even for so long that you don’t feel like racking your brains too much.