The script is not just overrun with tropes and laborious pacing, but also doesn’t make any sense at points.
Thunder Force is based on an original script by Ben Falcone, and while the film clearly didn’t have a massive budget that would allow it to fully explore its baseline supervillain idea, but what’s inexcusable is how scattershot the story is, and how many clichés are utilized (and poorly). It takes forever to actually get going, first layering on all of the exposition and then moving through the interminable training sequence, and then when it does finally go fishing for a plot it winds up reeling in a boot. Surprise, surprise, the aggressively charismatic mayor is a power-hungry asshole who has the miscreants doing his bidding, and it’s just so tired that it’s impossible to engage with. Even worse, the movie makes some absolutely confounding moves to try and keep it interesting – such as the mayor revealing his evil plot to the heroes after breaking into Emily’s lab … and then for some reason Lydia and Emily just decide to not tell anybody about it.
