Well, I didn't think I'd be making comparative references against the third Avengers get-together until at least this time next year, but a conversation at the weekend raised the point that for the more, ahem, civilian viewer, there are two superhero movies out at the moment. Inevitably, some casual cinema-goers are going to be standing in the foyer deciding which one they want to watch*1.
Because for a lot of people, the choice will be between a pair of Marvel flicks starring a partially-CGI'd Josh Brolin as a bad-ass with a time-slider*2. But that's not really an accurate comparison, is it? Or is it? Infinity War and Deadpool 2 are very different products, albeit for partly the same audience*3. The merc-with-the=mouth has come armed with the fuckbombs, but it's Earth's Mightiest Heroes who carry the weightier story.
And yet in the weeks since my first two passes, I'd forgotten how funny Infinity War is, especially given its consistently escalating death-toll. Although obviously it's very different from that other movie, tonally. Avengers' humour is very much the Private Eye to Deadpool's Viz. Both are great institutions which can't replace each other, and don't try.
So, watching Infinity War again after a few weeks, I'm pretty much of the opinion that any deaths which occurred before the Infinity Gauntlet was fully operational (only four, remember) will be permanent. The amount of build-up, screen-time or dramatic weight allocated to each one seems fairly irreversible, and the film's legacy would be cheapened if these characters managed to find themselves magically resurrected by the end of Avengers 4.
Conversely, the casting-losses which occur once Thanos snaps his fingers (the other twelve*4) are, to put it mildly, suspiciously rapid given their narrative stature. The heroes that flutter out of existence leave behind an intriguingly-thinned (and deliberately 'classic') team for next May's concluding chapter, but the ultimate resolution lies in the knowledge that Spider-Man 2, Black Panther 2 and Guardians 3 have already been commissioned.
But hey, I've previously joined the chorus bemoaning Marvel's reluctance to apply a little consequence to their continuity, and it's still by no means certain who will survive into Phase 4. At a rate of three cinematic entries a year, the MCU is now dense enough to give classic heroes the rest they've earned, while still maintaining forward momentum. Maybe, as a man from another galaxy once said, "it's time to let old things die".
Because we all know this isn't the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning...*5
Avengers films.
it is.
It is.
2019 will tell, I guess.
Not likely, since you'll love it as well. Right?.
There is, layered in when Ebony Maw goes for a space-walk.
*1 And of course that's perhaps not the way things should work. But let's not forget I sat in a Saturday night screening of A Ghost Story and watched people walk out mid-way, almost certain that they'd made their choice on a whim since Annabelle: Creation was playing two screens down and was likely the choice on the other side of their coin. Not all moviegoers are as disciplined or as informed as us, dear reader. And that's why I'm here; to help. Or maybe to lecture. Either/or. Okay, it's probably the second one. [ BACK ]
*2 Okay, Thanos-related plot question. When Thor is on the Milano, he tells the Guardians that Thanos "stole the stone and slaughtered half my people". So... where are the survivors, exactly? Because everyone on-screen looked pretty much floaty-in-space-dead to me, the Asgardian ship looked completely mullered, and the Guardians of The Galaxy (the only responders to the distress-call) didn't pick up anyone else from the wreckage.
It had previously struck me that there's not much of a big deal made of Thor being the last Asgardian now, especially as the whole point of Ragnarok was that the refugees fleeing the planet were the symbol of endurance and hope. But yeah, maybe half of that film's survivors are pootling off on the B-Ark somewhere, right? [ BACK ]
*3 For the record, there are currently Deadpool 2 cup-toppers on sale in the foyer. I expect that for the 12A certificate hero-flicks aimed at family audiences, but this is a hard 15. T-shirts absolutely, popcorn buckets at a push, but cup-toppers? Maybe it's meant to be ironic. Although I'm pretty sure the money that Fox are making from the products looks the same either way...
[ BACK ]
*4 Yes, of course I made a list. And no, I'm not going to reproduce it here. I know I marked the review 'spoilers' but I'm not a complete animal... [ BACK ]
*5 Yeah, I went there. I'll be wearing a plastic Union Jack bowler hat and writing angry letters to local newspapers, next. [ BACK ]
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Avengers: Infinity War (2D / second-pass / Thematic Spoilers)
Cert: 12A / 149 mins / Dir. Joe Russo & Anthony Russo / Trailer
Well, this is awkward. My second-pass review of a movie (particularly one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe variety) is usually an opportunity for me to unpack the contents a little; to try and break down everything which overwhelmed me the first time I watched it; to begin to focus on the cool details without being pulled back into the overriding plot.
But I watched Avengers: Infinity War for the second time on Friday evening, and as I finally write this the following Wednesday I find I don't have too much to add to my initial reactions (hence the five-day procrastination). And it's not that the film bored me - far from it. I gave the Russos team-effort full marks the first time and I stand by that*1. If anything, I probably got slightly more from the second-pass as I was able to enjoy what foreshadowing the relentless pacing allows, running alongside some of our heroes as they hurtle unknowingly to their doom*2. But other than a couple of minor 'how did he get there?' plot-points, the writing and execution is tight enough that it appears I caught pretty much everything at the Midnight-screening. Which, with a character-list of this size, is a gold-plated compliment, not a criticism.
The directorial brothers are adept (and proven so) at handling the in-universe politics, mixed with frantic action and character-appropriate quippery. Luckily, our chief antagonist - the mighty Thanos - is given enough ponderous depth to just about paper over one of the most slapdash Evil Plans ever to grace a cinema screen*3, and he's certainly got more personality than is normally granted to someone of his narrative status.
Infinity War is a precision-engineered rollercoaster of a movie, where every nut, bolt and rail is exactly where it's needed. The film is outstanding.
It's just that… well, as much as I was looking forward to this, and as much as I absolutely loved it - I just wasn't Excited™ before I first watched Infinity War, and my faith in Marvel Studios is such that it didn't surpass my comfortably-high expectations. MCU flicks used to be event-movies. I still remember (precisely a decade ago) grinning like an idiot at the end of Iron Man, when Tony Stark returned to his apartment to find Nick Fury had let himself in, announcing the gameplan from that very first chapter. This was A Thing. Slowly, the pieces came together, and even though Avengers Assemble was little more than a two-hour fight scene, it felt like the culmination of everything we'd watched up to that point. An event.
And sure, Infinity War is the beginning of the payoff for the last ten years of interconnected adventures, and really feels like it. But the paint isn't dry on Black Panther yet, and before this movie has been out a week, Marvel are already starting the promo-push for this Summer's Ant-Man & The Wasp*4.
The bottom line is, when you're putting out three movies per year in the same series, that's not event-cinema, no matter how consistently high the quality (or perhaps because of that consistency). Gone are the days when we could pore at our leisure over each scene looking for Easter Eggs, safe in the knowledge that the DVD/Blu-ray would be out to help us before we could ramp up the excitement for the next chapter. And even if you're only particularly bothered about the MCU strain of superhero, it can still feel a little… well, relentless.
Can you have too much of a good thing? There's only one way to find out*5. The cinematic sausage-machine is now in full production mode, and Marvel sure hope you like sausages…
Well for the purposes of this question, the other MCU movies.
It is.
All of, yes.
Best is debatable, but this will be a high water-mark.
No, because you'll agree with me.
One of my esteemed colleagues tells me there could be one at the moment when Ebony Maw goes hull-diving. That's not a plot-spoiler, I haven't told you how get gets on. Future passes will confirm of course, but by all means post below if you heard it too.
*1 I know it's by no means unusual for me to award MCU flicks either a 6 or 7 out of 7, but still. Infinity War really is amazing stuff. [ BACK ]
*2 Because I've marked this review 'thematic' spoilers, I'm not going to name the casualties at this point. Needless to say, I did make a point of compiling a list, as much to see if there was any hidden meaning in their order of exit, as anything else. And you've got to feel sorry for poor old [REDACTED], who got to buy the farm twice… [ BACK ]
*3 I don't mean to be ungrateful - really I don't - because the last time we had a big purple Marvel villain trying to take out a huge cast of heroes, his only motivation was to smash shit up for the sake of it, and quite frankly it was boring as hell. But Thanos' plan of "bring balance by killing half the planet" stands up to precisely zero scrutiny. As greater minds than mine have pointed out, over-population isn't the root of the problem mate, that'd be the arseholes in charge. Especially if the killing is as random and indiscriminate as you're claiming. But hey, since when did a flawed supervillain have to have an un-flawed plan, right? We're not supposed to agree with him. I imagine this genius-scheme is what happens when you spend a lot of time sitting in a rock-throne on an asteroid with nothing but Jeremy Kyle and Homes Under The Hammer to watch. Although after that, killing half of humanity seems quite lenient, frankly… [ BACK ]
*4 Which, at the time of writing, is due to open in the US on July 6th, and in the UK on August the 3rd. A month later. The word on the street is that Marvel don't want to compete for viewings with the World Cup. Now, I understand that in the Venn Diagram of entertainment-pursuits, of course there will be some crossover between football and superhero movies, and lord knows that the recent entitled, tantrum-throwing to Star Wars releases have demonstrated that I'm not the petition-signing type. But this kind of bullshit can fuck right off. Either delay the movie globally or not at all, Marvel. And good luck trying to get the casual, less-disciplined audience into the cinema in August when the movie's already been on Sh*wbox for three weeks. Of course I'll be waiting for August, and of course I'll encourage everyone else to do the same. But do I support the month-long lag? Do I fuck.
And yeah, that's how annoyed I get when I have to think about The Sports... [ BACK ]
*5 And no, I'm not giving up on Marvel, and yes, I'll be seeing Infinity War again. But I'm probably going to let the dust settle for a week or two and see how it plays after that. [ BACK ]
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Avengers: Infinity War (3D / first-pass / SPOILER-FREE)
Cert: 12A / 149 mins / Dir. Joe Russo & Anthony Russo / Trailer
Short and sweet; no spoilers; only broad opinions; you know the drill.
Ten years. Nineteen movies. Good lord. Even in this age of media-saturation, the combination of consistent quality and sheer volume that Marvel have achieved with their Cinematic Universe is otherwise unheard of. Even the weaker entries are better than most of their rivals can produce. But have the comic connoisseurs set a bar that only they can reach, or made a vibranium rod for their own backs?
Following directly on from Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War is the culmination of a decade's worth of interconnected storytelling - and the third 'crossover' entry whereby the heroes and villains get together for an almighty two-hour-plus fight scene. This is also the third saga-entry directed by the Russo brothers, Joe and Anthony, after helming Captain America's second and third outings (the latter of which was basically an Avengers movie anyway, to be fair).
So, things come to a head when Thanos finally makes a play to collect all six infinity stones - the reality-bending gems which have been our MacGuffins throughout the story so far. Crossing the galaxy and causing various factions of our favourite heroes to cross paths in the process, alliances are forged, bonds are tested and lines are crossed. This is the supergroup to end all supergroups.
Now it's no spoiler to say that with a run-time of 'only' two and a half hours, there's a lot of plate spinning going on, here. By necessity, Infinity War is a series of separated vignettes, pulling towards a connected conclusion (although again, that's what the whole series has been). The Russos hold things together well and keep everything focused, but the story is - and I mean this in the nicest possible way - absolute mayhem. Other than bursts of reminder-exposition in the first act, there's little in the way of spoon-feeding, and the film relies on its audience being up to speed with the state of the MCU. Every frame of every scene matters, nothing is wasted, and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely's screenplay deftly combines action, humour and genuine emotion, all soundtracked by Alan Silvestri's majestic score.
The writers' decision to spread events across the cosmos is a wise (and fitting) one, and means that even at its most chaotic, the viewer never loses sight of who's in a scene and why. Little that happens here will necessarily cast a new light on the old movies, but characteristics and relationships we've previously seen are built upon, not just wheeled out for the sake of audience recognition.
And most importantly of all, there is a sense of consequence and finality in this movie. Maybe not all of it, but that's the nature of the beast*1. Crucially, this feels like some questions finally being answered, rather than another episode in a super-soap opera. The MCU can - and will - continue to expand after this, but the ramifications of Thanos will be felt for years to come...
Best bit: "WE WILL DEEP FRY YOUR KEBAB."
The business-end (not spoilers, but highlight-to-read anyway):
Is there a Wilhelm Scream?If there is, it's not obvious. Is there a Stan Lee cameo?There is a one, yes. Is there a mid-credits scene?There isn't a one, no. Is there a post-credits scene?Yes, there is. Stay for this.
*1 Because Marvel Studios' announced scheduling-plans are out there for all to see, and I defy anyone to not have a rough idea of that list in the back of their minds while watching Infinity War. [ BACK ]
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
