Thunder Force

 Thunder Force
Starring Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Bobby Cannavale, Pom Klementieff
Directed by Ben Falcone

The superhero subgenre of film has been all the rage for a few decades now, and it seems that every idea for a unique superhero film has already been done - but that doesn't stop some from trying their hand at crafting something different. Enter Ben Falcone, who not just directed but wrote "Thunder Force," as he tries to create something new - but ultimately fails to bring anything new to the table that's worthwhile, resulting in a film that's easily forgettable due to its by-the-books story.

The married couple of Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy have dominated the comedic cinematic landscape for some time, but with very little success. Some of McCarthy's weakest outings were ones that her husband directed - "Tammy," "The Boss," "Life of the Party," "Superintelligence," and now "Thunder Force," while those that Falcone didn't direct was met with wide acclaim and success (such as "The Heat," "Spy," and "Bridesmaids," which McCarthy earned an Oscar nomination for). Whoever decides that its a good idea to allow these two to keep making films needs to re-evaluate their life's purpose, because time and again it just doesn't pan out.

In 1983, a meteorite crashed into earth, leaving certain people with superpowers - but only those who have the mind of a sociopath, creating a new breed of villains known as Miscreants. With no good superheroes out there, the villains run amok while the general populous can do little to stop them. 

Lydia Berman (Melissa McCarthy) and Emily Stanton (Octavia Spencer) have been friends since childhood, but had a falling-out in high school, leaving them estranged for many years. Lydia was always the brawn, the brash, and the impulsive, while Emily was always the brains, the thinker, but also more invisible. During their high school reunion, Lydia decides to visit Emily - who now is the founding CEO of a genetics laboratory, and who is crafting a way to give ordinary people superpowers so she can fight the Miscreants. On accident, Lydia injects herself with the first serum, giving her super strength. Emily is angered by Lydia's impulsiveness, but agrees to train Lydia to make her a superhero, while she herself undergoes another transformation to make herself invisible.

Throughout their training the two former friends re-bond, and form their own superhero fighting force - Thunder Force - to stop the villainous Laser (Pom Klementieff) and The King (Bobby Cannavale) from destroying the city. As they learn their new powers, their friendship gets tested again and again, leaving the two wondering if they're better off going at it alone or together, and if the power of friendship can overcome any obstacle.

The overall concept for the film was unique when you look at it through an overall lens: superpowers are given only to those who are evil, while the good guys are left to fend for themselves. It could've possibly worked in different hands, but Falcone managed to destroy the concept with his inept writing (coincidentally, Jason Bateman stars in the film as a man named "The Crab" who is part...well...crab...and it was a suitable metaphor for how poorly the script was written, like it was done with crab claws instead of hands). The film doesn't rise above a traditional made-for-TV movie in the sense that the story is entirely predictable, devoid of any true humor, and cookie cutter in the way of crafting a superhero origin story (with way too much time given to the traditional "training montage" segment).

There's no doubt that Melissa McCarthy is an acclaimed actress, having earned two Academy Award nominations and a slew of big-screen hits, but when she misses the mark, she really misses the mark. Here, she falls into her generic role of the overweight, gruff, no-nonsense, act-first-think-later character, which doesn't allow for her to really branch out and try something unique (if you ever saw her in her Oscar-nominated role in "Can You Ever Forgive Me," you'll be forgiven if you think its two different actresses). Here, again, she mindlessly breezes through her performance with very little emotion, much like anyone who's ever worked in the same profession for decades who's never moved up in the company and keeps doing the same mundane tasks day in and day out.

McCarthy's only really shining moments in comedies like these is when she's paired with another strong female lead, such as her work in "The Heat" with Sandra Bullock. Here, she's alongside longtime real-life friend Octavia Spencer (who has been nominated several times at the Academy Awards and winning one for her role in "The Help"), and the moments between the two are the small highlight of the film. They worked off each other extremely well, due to the obvious opposites that the characters provide: Lydia is impulsive, while Emily thinks everything through, and it shows in the powers that they wield: Lydia has super strength, which is often helpful in tight situations, while Emily goes invisible, giving her time to hide and think of a plan of attack. Spencer pours herself into any role she's given, even if its one that's as mind-numbingly simple as this, and its the pairing of these two that makes this at least watchable, for the most part.

The story, as expressed earlier, is incredibly generic and oddly doesn't make a lot of sense if you put two brain cells together. The two women form their superhero team to battle the bad guys, but the main bad guy is one hiding in plain sight: Bobby Cannavale's (who is a longtime Falcone/McCarthy collaborator) The King, who is running for mayor of Chicago while secretly hiding his evil intentions - even to the audience, as even we don't know why he's doing the things he does. He confronts the superheroes, but they never tell anyone that the possible mayor is a bad guy, which doesn't make a lot of sense. Then again, I probably thought about it more than Falcone did in writing it. The remainder of the film is them battling the evil Laser (played hilariously by Pom Klementieff, who also plays superhero Mantis in the MCU) and a shoe-horned, super strange love story between Lydia and The Crab (Bateman once again brings his deadpan humor and since he's frequently worked with McCarthy in the past, at least their chemistry is there). There's other moments in the film that doesn't make sense either, with red herrings and obvious cues that not everything is as it seems, something that even a kindergartner could pick up on.

With any superhero movie, you need big action set pieces, and once again "Thunder Force" fails to deliver. There's a few fight sequences spread throughout, but the majority of the film is spent with Lydia training to become super strong, in a thirty-three dose injection cycle that's slightly humorous at first but gets less and less funny as it keeps going on. When the two women do finally fight, it's what you expect: disastrous at first, resulting in the two getting into a heated argument, breaking up, then coming back together stronger than before. We've seen this all before, and done a lot more intelligently than this.

Offering yet another forgettable film, the pairing of Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy turns "Thunder Force" into a farce of itself, spreading itself out too thin and providing very little humor or action for a superhero buddy cop comedy film - but at least the chemistry between McCarthy and Octavia Spencer saves it from becoming wholly unwatchable.

The Score: D