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Thunder Force(Netflix)

Starring  Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Bobby Cannavale, Pom Klementieff, Taylor Mosby, with Melissa Leo, and Jason Bateman

Directed by  Ben Falcone

Rating: ***

Warning:  Do not go by the  reviews which  have  been judging the  film negatively  just because  it is  directed by  one  of  the film’s two leading ladies’ husband.

 I have a confession to make. I  am an unabashed fan of Melissa McCarthy. Her collaborations with her director-husband Ben Falcone have  always  entertained me. It’s simple. I find MM entertaining no matter what she  does, whether  it  is burping belching or worse… she can carry off bodily noises with  the greatest  aplomb.And  MM’s comic timing is incompable.

 Yup, she is  one of her kind.When they put Melissa with Ovtavia Spencer  , another over-sized  powerhouse actress the result has to be combustive laugh riot.

 To a  large extent  Thunder Force doesn’t  disappoint. The writing is clearly meant to showcase  wo leading ladies’ considerable talent for improvisation. And  to that extend some of  the writing could have been  less stilted. Why not let the joint charms  of  McCarthy and Spencer take  over the show  completely?Whenever they are  left to their own devices , Thunder Force rocks.

  The lines are  glibly clever and the situations…well, you can’t judge  a film about two Size XX superheroes by its  cover! On the surface  the ladies are let loose  to have themselves a riot that’s contagious.McCarthy and Spencer   play childhood friends who  grow apart because ..well Lydia(McCarthy)  has a way of messing up things whenever she is  around.

 Emily (Octavia Spencer) is  in search of  a better world. Lydia  couldn’t care less.As  long as her  beer is  chilled, so  is  she.

Some of  the writing that turns them  into  a super-hero combo is downright clunky.  Not being a fan of the super-hero fan I am  just happy seeing the genre  not being taken  seriously.These are two  ultra-talented actresses having a  ball with the genre. What is  the problem  with that.The villains named  The King and  the Crab are  risible in their ambitions of  conquering the world. Thunder Force has  no such ambitions.It is goofy silly  giggly fun all the way with the two leading ladies in the  mood to have a swinging time. There are some interesting little cameos ,  like Melissa Leo as  Octavia Sepencer’s  starchy  assistant  whom Melissa brings down a peg or two by  calling her ‘Jodie Foster’. My favourite cameo is that  by Marcella Lowery as  Octavia’s grandmother who insists Octavia and McCarthy are a lesbian pair,and dares them to disappoint her  by saying they are not.

Yes, I  was laughing at  the sheer absurdity  of  it all. Sometimes  we just need to  loosen up and  flow with the  glow. And Melissa McCarthy sharing raw chicken with  the Crab (Jason Bateman)  is  the best pitch for vegetarianism I’ve ever seen.