Daily Recco, May 12: Thunder Force of unusual superhero besties

We live in an age when it is beginning to feel like Hollywood is not even trying to give us anything but superhero movies. A vast majority of them are the same old-same old with similar plotlines and stories. That is why Thunder Force stands out. 

The film released on April 9 on Netflix and has generally seen a negative response. But perhaps that was to be expected when the superheroes it is about are two 40-something and portly women. But that is exactly where the film shines. Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer play two women who were the thickest of friends in high school and have gone their separate ways since.

Most superhero stories feature the title character suddenly finding himself or herself with new powers. That does not happen in Thunder Force. The overnight power has happened to a bunch of people known as the Miscreants. They are the baddies. Our superheroes give themselves powers through science and research.

McCarthy is a comedic genius of US television, perhaps best known for her work on Saturday Night Live. And the bulk of the moments the film shines in, flow straight out of her madness. Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer plays the saner of the friends, but is able to match McCarthy toe-to-toe when required. 

This isn't a conventional superhero movie. There is no massive, high-budget fight sequence that will ruin half of New York City (why is it almost always New York City?). The whole thing attempts to stay in the realm of plausibility. And that is maybe what didn't land with the audience.

On the whole, Thunder Force is worth a watch. Only one of the reasons is that it is acutely different from the superhero formula films that Hollywood keeps churning out. And yeah, also watch it to see McCarthy and Spencer poke fun of other superhero films in the subtlest of ways.

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