Untitled Melissa McCarthy Superhero Project

 

“Untitled Melissa McCarthy Superhero Project”

A Review of Thunder Force by Nick Olszyk

 

Distribution: Netflix

MPAA Rating, PG-13

USCCB Rating, NR

Reel Rating, One Reel

 

            There is a running gag in Thunder Force where an unnamed male tries to tell a knock-knock” joke to the main character, thinking it will be so good that women will fall for him. Each time, he completely botches the line causing her to awkwardly leave. It is rare moment of insight that describes the picture’s vain attempt to entertain an audience that is far smarter than it believes. Comedienne extraordinaire Melissa McCarthy? Oscar winner Octavia Spencer? A superhero comedy? What else could you want? Good dialogue, a sensible narrative structure, likable characters, and less progressive preaching: that’s what we want.

            Thunder Force begins with a silly plot necessity created to justify the central characters’ existence. In the late 80s, an otherworldly meteorite hits the Earth and expels a magical substance that gives people superpowers, but only if the individuals are psychopaths. These murderous villains become known as Miscreants. At the same time, overachiever Emily (Octavia Spencer) and fat but loveable slob Lydia (Melissa McCarthy) are best friends trying to survive middle school. When Emily’s parents are killed by Miscreants, she distances herself from Lydia’s “party hard” lifestyle with the goal of creating a formula to turn ordinary humans into superheroes and fight back.

            Years later, Emily reconnects with Lydia and shows off her company’s new facility. Ignoring the advice of every parent, she leaves Lydia alone with all the expensive equipment. She accidently injects herself with only one of two vials of the super soldier serum superhero formula, developing otherworldly strength and durability. Emily takes the other and receives invisibility, which is not much when crime fighting so she also has an excessively strong taser. Together, they are THUNDER FORCE ˗ defending the innocent, stopping bad guys, and throwing out a thousand PG-13 quips a minute.

            Thunder Force features an ensemble of talented actors, but this is clearly McCarthy’s film; everyone else serves as a foil for her humor. She gives the same performance that audiences have seen many times over (Bridesmaids, Tammy, The Heat, Spy): an overweight, adorkable loser with a foul mouth and quick wit whose heart of gold wins the day…and occasionally the more attractive man. McCarthy is far more skilled than many critics believe; Mike and Molly was not only funny but often quite moving. Yet she continues to play this role again and again because it works. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Charlie Chaplin did it a century ago. Yet he found new ways to keep the character fresh, while this one is tired, redundant, and – ultimately – unfunny.

            The lazy humor, however, is not even close to this film’s worst faults. Rarely have I seen such blatant and awkward virtue signaling. Bill Maher said it best in his commentary on this year’s Oscar picks: “We used to say ‘look at the great pictures we’ve made,’ now it’s ‘look at what good people we are.’” There are dozens of unnecessary gay background characters, like a stranded kid calling for his “dads.” Of course, none of the main characters are gay because that would alienate audiences too much. Yet it is now impossible for two women to be close friends without some suggestion of lesbianism. Emily’s mother laments their lack of romance; she even made a topper for their future wedding cake. The main villain is also a Republican mayoral candidate and secret Miscreant. He hates Thunder Force for many reasons but especially because “without fear, the people don’t need me.” His Democratic opponent? A kind Hispanic middle-aged woman who is, not serendipitously, a splitting image of AOC. She wins, he gets caught, Thunder Force saves the day. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

            There are a few genuine laughs in Thunder Force, but it’s mostly comprised of cheap japs at conservatives and gross-out humor, including four separate jokes about eating raw chicken. Along with Tammy, this is probably McCarthy’s worst film. Yet, McCarthy’s fans are legion, and there will surely be more fare in the future. Judging from my wife and mother-in-law’s reaction, I’ll probably be seeing those too.