Review - The Thundermans Return (2024)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Last night, I watched the new movie The Thundermans Return on Nickelodeon, and I have a few thoughts on it. For those who don't know what The Thundermans was, it was a Nickelodeon sitcom that ran from 2013 through 2018, and focused on a family of superheroes known as, well, the Thundermans. The show was okay, at least the episodes I happened to catch when it was on, but after seeing a lot of the advertising for this movie, I was genuinely tempted to check it out. So, here's my review of the new Nickelodeon movie The Thundermans Return. 

         So, the movie starts off with the Thunderman family, who since the end of the series have moved to the city of Metroburg, and are fighting crime as the superhero team the T-Force. And, something worth noting is that the family has aged in real time, so we see that Phoebe and Max are now adults, Nora and Billy are high schoolers, and Chloe is a middle schooler. Unfortunately, after a mission gone awry due to interference from a new super team, the V-Team, the Thundermans are dismissed from doing superhero work, and are evicted from their home in Metroburg, forcing them to return to their house in Hiddenville. 

          So, now forced back into an ordinary life, the elder Thunderman siblings are struggling to adjust to no longer being superheroes, parents Hank and Barb get used to a quiet life at home, and the three younger siblings easily get along with their peers, as Chloe is able to make friends in middle school, whilst both Nora and Billy get a lot of their schoolmates attention with the use of their superpowers. And, unfortunately, Hank and Barb wind up being, quite literally, helicopter parents as they borrow a helicopter from Cousin Blobbin to spy on Chloe, who is spending the afternoon with classmates at a local skate park. 

           Unfortunately, it turns out that the V-Team are, in actuality, villains, and the children of Hank's three greatest enemies: Dark Mayhem, King Crab, and Strongdor. The V-Team's plan? Well, it's not to free their fathers and get revenge. Nope, it's to retrieve a rare plant, the Power Plant, to create an army of supervillains. And the custodian of the Power Plant is, unsurprisingly, Hank. So, the V-Team nabs Phoebe and Max, and attempts to use them to get what the Power Plant from Hank. However, the evil trio leaves a small piece behind, and the Thundermans use it to turn some local citizens in Hiddenville into superheroes to help break an energy dome surrounding the town. The Thundermans rescue Phoebe and Max, and the family works together to stop the V-Team, and the freed Dark Mayhem, King Crab, and Strongdor, from creating an evil army. 

           Now, this movie was made for television and streaming, so the quality of the film is very much television quality. In fact, the overall quality is on par with the original series in terms of both cinematography and special effects. But, I will admit that I thoroughly enjoyed both the production design and the costume design. The superhero costumes, which are held over from the original series, still look really good, although it's pretty clear that newer versions were made to be tailored to the three younger members of the Thunderman family, as they definitely outgrew the original ones in the time since the series ended and this movie started production. Also, we do see newer, more tactical superhero suits at the beginning of the movie, which look really good. 

          The trio of Addison Riecke, Diego Velazquez, and Maya Le Clarke as Nora, Billy, and Chloe were all three really fun, and definitely combine what made their characters enjoyable from the series with the situations that go with their current ages. Both Chris Tallman and Rosa Blasi are exceptionally hilarious as Hank and Barb, and it's really funny seeing them go through the process many parents go through as their children grow up and spend more time away from the house. And, it was great getting the returns of Paul F. Tompkins as King Crab, Jamieson Price as Dark Mayhem, and Michael Foster as Strongdor, all three of whom were hilarious while getting schooled in evil by their children, all of whom were pretty funny. 

        But, the main focus of the movie is on Kira Kosarin as Phoebe and Jack Griffo as Max. Seeing the two eldest Thunderman siblings still squabbling, and seeing them learn that their constant need to one-up each other is causing a rift between them and the rest of their family is really well done, and I really liked how they finally began to work as a proper duo by the end of the movie. Phoebe and Max are truly the heart and soul of the movie, and I gotta give major props to both Kira Kosarin and Jack Griffo for their performances in this movie. 

        However, the idea of using an herb to create an army of supervillains is something that has been explored before in other superhero fare. While the concept of the Power Plant having two colored herbs, blue for heroes and red for villains, was a neat one, I have seen other movies and series in the superhero genre go through something similar, so it's really not exploring anything new or original. Although, it is doing something familiar in a way that's not been done before, so I'll give the filmmakers that, at least. 

       Overall, this was a fun movie to watch. If you didn't get a chance to catch it on Nickelodeon, it is streaming on Paramount+, and is available to check out there. I'm giving The Thundermans Return a rating of 4.45/5. 

      Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll be back on Sunday to break down the Academy Awards.