Thunder Force on Netflix Wasn't the Thunderous Force They Intended It to Be
– April 09, 2021
After my bike ride today, I figured I’d chill out, shower, and put something on Netflix while I enjoyed the rest of my morning. A few scrolls in, I landed on Thunder Force. I thought, “What the hell, why not?” I like Melissa McCarthy—she was funny on Mike & Molly, she was great with Sandra Bullock, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Octavia Spencer in anything I thought was trash. So at the very least, I figured this movie would be funny.
Quick warning: if you haven’t seen the movie, some mild spoilers are coming.
The Setup
The movie opens with Octavia Spencer narrating how her parents died, how she became friends with Melissa McCarthy, and how she dedicated her life to figuring out how to make normal people superhuman. Why? Because her parents were killed by “Miscreants,” which is basically the movie’s fancy name for assholes with powers.
Spencer and McCarthy fall out as teens, and then we jump to the present where McCarthy is working construction and her life is… not together. With their high school reunion coming up, she goes to visit her old friend and discovers she’s rich, successful, and running a whole shiny new building.
In classic McCarthy fashion, she clumsies her way through the lab and accidentally ends up injected with the super-strength serum Spencer’s been working on. Spencer decides to take the invisibility capsules herself, they argue, make up, train, fight the villain, and boom—the movie ends.
Yes, I sped through that on purpose. You’ll survive.
Where the Movie Falls Apart
I won’t say Thunder Force was terrible… but I also wouldn’t call it good. It felt like it didn’t know what it wanted to be. Was it supposed to be a comedy? An action movie? Both? You can blend genres, sure—but you still need a center of gravity.
This movie had none.
The comedy wasn’t very funny, and the action wasn’t very action-y. I laughed a couple times, but not once can I remember why.
Issue #1: Tone Confusion
If it’s going to be a comedy with action moments, commit to that. If it’s going to be an action movie with jokes sprinkled in, commit to that. Thunder Force tried to split the difference and ended up in the Forgettable Middle Zone.
It felt like everyone involved assumed Melissa McCarthy being Melissa McCarthy would carry the whole thing.
Issue #2: The Writing Was Weak
Some plot points and jokes were so predictable I could see them coming from a mile away. The biggest offender? “The Crab.” Yes, the villain literally named The Crab, who goes on a date with McCarthy’s character.
She asks him how he got his powers, and instantly I knew the answer was going to involve a radioactive crab biting his junk. And sure enough—that’s exactly what they went with.
Not only was it predictable, but it wasn’t even funny. If you’re going for stupid-funny, commit to stupid-funny. If not, give the man a more creative origin. Maybe he ate a mutant crab on his honeymoon. Maybe he fell into a vat of crab DNA. Anything but the most obvious punchline in the world.
Final Thoughts
It wasn’t the worst thing Netflix has ever produced, but it definitely wasn’t the best. If you’re bored and want something new to watch, go ahead and throw it on and see if your tastes match mine.
But personally? It feels like some of these Netflix originals only exist because someone attached big names to the project. Netflix does have some quality content, but this one feels like a “push it out and pray” situation.
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