One must be a total Marvel Cinematic Universe geek in order to recognize these second- and third-tier characters, let alone recall their back-stories.
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| This story's rag-tag, sorta-kinda superheroes — from left, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Bob (Lewis Pullman), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Red Guardian (David Harbour) Yelena (Florence Pugh) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) — grimly realize that they're facing another nasty problem. |
Pearson and Calo also tried to inject the snarky humor delivered so well in the first two Guardians of the Galaxy entries ... with only marginal success. Most of this film ranges from ho-hum to just plain dumb, and director Jake Schreier brings absolutely nothing to the party.
The story begins as Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) — adopted sister of the late and much lamented Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), both of them skilled Black Widow assassins — infiltrates and destroys a Malaysian laboratory, having been sent by corrupt CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, gleefully evil).
Back in D.C., de Fontaine is being grilled by a committee chaired by Congressman Gary (Wendell Pierce, recognized from TV’s Elsbeth), who can’t wait to have her impeached and arrested for high treason. Fully aware of her vulnerability, de Fontaine has been clandestinely “cleaning house” by having her pet mercenaries destroy all traces of the illegal O.X.E. Group’s “Sentry” superhuman project; Yelena’s recent action was one such mission.
Gary is assisted by his star witness: junior Congressman Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), aka The Winter Solder, a crucial part of numerous MCU films, notably alongside the original Captain America.
Times are grim. The Avengers have disbanded; Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is dead; Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has left for Europe, after seeing his beloved S.H.I.E.L.D. destroyed following a HYDRA takeover; other heroes are occupied with their own stuff; and the world recently watched in horror, as the U.S. President morphed into Red Hulk (in Captain America: Brave New World, a few months ago).
People are afraid of supers ... and de Fontaine cheerfully exploits this paranoia.
As the final self-protective measure, she orchestrates a mission involving all of her mercenaries: Yelena; Ava Starr, aka Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen); Antonia Dreykov, aka Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), also a Black Widow; and disgraced former Captain America John F. Walker (Wyatt Russell), now dubbed U.S. Agent. But it’s a sham; each has been ordered to kill one of the others, supposedly for betrayal, and — as an added touch — the O.X.E. setting also is a death trap.
To make matters stranger, their initially hostile fracas is interrupted by the sudden appearance of a pajama-clad civilian who identifies himself simply as Bob (Lewis Pullman). He hasn’t the faintest idea why he’s there, or where he came from.
Yelena, realizing that they’ve been played, defuses the situation; they must work together, in order to survive and escape. That’s easier said than done, since they all mistrust each other; Walker, always a heartbeat away from lashing out, is by far the worst.
But they do eventually escape and are “rescued,” after a fashion, by Alexei Shostakov, aka Red Guardian (David Harbour), the Russian super-soldier counterpart to the original Captain America. They’re soon joined by Bucky Barnes, who becomes the rag-tag group’s unofficial leader.
Their new goal: to expose and take down de Fontaine. Not an easy task, particularly since our “heroes” still don’t entirely trust each other, and also recognize full well that they’re all ... well ... losers.
(Happily, the squabbling, petulance and boorish behavior settles down in the film’s second half.)
Things get even trickier, when it turns out that Bob isn’t nearly as “normal” as his timid, easygoing manner suggests.
Harbour is the only actor who successfully handles the light-hearted touches. His Red Guardian is hilariously gung-ho, radiating heroic zeal, and always totally serious, no matter how absurd his behavior. Harbour also has fun with his faux Russian accent.
That said, Pugh is this film’s saving grace and strongest asset. Yelena gives the story its emotional heft; she’s bereft of anything approaching family ties, and burdened by angst, despair and regret, still not having fully processed the truth of Natasha’s death (as revealed in 2021’s superb Hawkeye TV miniseries). Pugh’s persuasive misery, when Yelena is at lowest ebb, is heartbreaking.
What’s missing, Alexei understands — he’s the closest thing Yelena has, to a father figure — is the public adulation that comes from saving people.
Russell makes the most of Walker’s fleeting back-story moment, which reveals — but doesn’t really explain — why he’s such an arrogant, macho jerk. Stan’s Bucky is appropriately resourceful and heroic, but John-Kamen never gets a chance to give the under-written Ghost more than minimal personality.
Geraldine Viswanathan has the most intriguing role as Mel, de Fontaine’s ever-present assistant, whose loyalty becomes strained as her boss’ behavior turns increasingly questionable. Mel epitomizes the starry-eyed optimism of one who entered politics in an effort to “do good” ... although we do wonder what’ll it eventually take, to make this apparently intelligent young woman come to her senses.
All of this melodrama fitfully plays out against the usual onslaught of MCU melees, with hundreds of nameless and faceless opponents bashed, pummeled, shot, slashed and otherwise disposed of. Yes, the stunt work is impressive ... to a point. Matters devolve into a head-scratching psychological CGI nightmare in the third act, with a finale that stretches contrivance well past the breaking point.
Two cut-scenes interrupt the end credits. The first is a stupid joke, but the second — which expands upon the asterisk in this film’s title — also foreshadows this summer’s major MCU blockbuster: the first entry in the ongoing series’ “Phase Six,” eventually leading to 2027’s Avengers: Secrets Wars.
Let’s hope things improve, between now and then.
2 comments:
This is the most even-handed review I’ve read for this film. It isn’t great. It isn’t awful. It just… is. Thanks for another incisive review (and for steering me toward watching The Friend)!
Thanks.
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