I love comedians, and I love superheroes, so my thought process when I saw the trailer for Thunderforce went like this: “Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer together, in super suits? Say no more.” 

I was expecting a lighthearted comedy with raunchy humour, overdone gags, and some shockingly nice sentiments slipped in, and I was not disappointed. (If 90/10 doesn’t seem acceptable for the cringiness/nice sentiment ratio, I humbly suggest that you look elsewhere for your comedy needs.) 

If you’re here for some nausea-inducing moments, a storyline that leaves a lot to be desired, and plenty of fart jokes, welcome to the party! 

Plot Summary

In 1983, a blast of interstellar cosmic rays hit Earth. Fortunately, this did not cause the end of the world. Unfortunately, it did cause genetic mutation in a select few, which resulted in them gaining superpowers. Pretty cool, right?

Wrong. Everyone that got superpowers was predisposed to be a sociopath, which equaled supervillains, who have become known as Miscreants.

This is the world that Emily (Octavia Spencer) and Lydia (Melissa McCarthy) live in. Emily’s parents were killed by Miscreants when she was young, and she has vowed to stop these dastardly beings from doing evil and taking anyone else’s parents away. Lydia mostly loves Emily and wants to have fun. Due to their very different priorities, the two grow apart, only to be pushed back together years later when they become an unlikely superteam — Thunder Force. 

The team starts small, gunning for a Miscreant known as The Crab (who is played by Jason Bateman, and has claws for arms. It’s a little weird). They’re quickly catapulted into a much bigger game of proverbial chess when mayoral candidate The King (Bobby Cannavale) shows up at their doorstep. He brings such threats as “work with me or you’re going to get killed,” and Thunder Force can’t just let that go unchecked! They set out to take down The King and the Miscreant named Laser (Pom Klementieff), who likes killing people and wearing chunky heels with black leather and is working with The King.

Shenanigans ensue.

Why It’s Not Great

The story isn’t particularly compelling. Character development, motivations, and all those fun things were okay, but left quite a bit to be desired. And don’t even get me started on how freaking weird some of it is. (I’m looking at you, Crab Man.) 

Why It’s Watchable

But the banter! The witty remarks! The moments of friendship and forgiveness! The weak plot and iffy jokes are excusable when you look at them in the light of how heartwarming Lydia and Emily’s bond is. I chalk this up to McCarthy and Spencer, the geniuses. Their little asides to one another in the midst of battle are fantastic. And even though Bateman’s character is a strange duck (why does he need crab arms? Why?), his performance was excellent.

(Also, the super suits are objectively awesome.)

To Watch Or Not to Watch

Thunder Force was fun, but there wasn’t a lot of substance. If you’re okay with that, then watch away!