So, here it is, after a full decade of waiting it’s the
great big superhero mashup everyone’s been waiting for. The one that’s probably
made the GDP of a small country in box office profit while I’ve typed this
sentence. The one that involves every brightly costumed champion, talking
animal, and vegetable to appear in the previous Marvel Cinematic universe films
that have in turn made the GDP of a slightly smaller country. Yes, it’s
Infinity War, and no doubt if you’re reading this, your facebook feed is already
full of memes and reactions and silly little gifs. So, what do I think?
The setup is what you know already—galactic overlord Thanos,
who looks like he has bacon strips for a chin, is seeking out decorations for
his big fancy new glove, with which to achieve omnipotence, and everyone else
has to stop him. If you haven’t seen any MCU films beforehand or aren’t at
least having a cursory familiarity with them, the film is pretty much
gibberish, but that’s not really an issue for most at this point. As such, it
takes the threads of Iron Man, Thor, Spiderman, the Guardians of the Galaxy,
and all the rest, and has the story jump between them as we go from big huge
epic CGI fight scene to big huge epic CGI fight scene.
Does it work? For the most part it gets the job done—some of
the story threads are weaker than others. Thor teaming up with Rocket Racoon is
amusing enough, but it does feel like padding to make sure they can only rejoin
the great big punch up at just the right moment. There’s fun to be had with
Tony Stark meeting Peter Quill (though the latter, Star Lord, is made out here
not so much as a loveable idiot, but just a plain idiot), as well as Spiderman,
all of whom are wearing fancy new costumes and action figure gear that can be
totally yours for $7.99. The real juicy plot arcs go to Gamora, played
admirably here by Zoe Saldana, and surprisingly, Thanos.
Yes! They did it! After such a long time, the MCU has
finally delivered a nice, real, presence-imparting, villain. Oh sure, there’s
Loki, and some previous ones were fun to watch, like Red Skull. Or they were
interesting on paper, like Killmonger, but didn’t have just the right amount of
screentime to truly make an impact for my liking. Not so here—Thanos looms over
most of the film, and it takes the time to truly explore his motivations and
his own emotional arcs. He does succeed in coming off as someone who really
considers himself the hero of his own story. And though the film does change
his backstory from the comics, where he was quite literally in love with Death,
you can argue it helps keep things straightforward here. This real emotional
grasp on the antagonist is what counts.
So that to me is what kept me invested in the film—otherwise,
well, the fights are entertaining and all, but let’s face it, at this point,
heroes being mashed together like this isn’t a novelty any more, and there’s so
much bouncy CG battles I can take. And there are a lot of them, so if that’s what
you like, you’re sure as hell going to get your money’s worth.
There wouldn’t be much point talking about all that above without
going into spoilers—but without giving away too much, let’s also just say that
the ending is what got me real interested. Everybody was abuzz with hubbub as
the credits rolled, and left the theater with a different feeling that you may
expect.
Still, that’s I suppose the real draw of a film like
this—the experience. See it now, and the cinema is guaranteed to be packed. As with
Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings, and all the others, it’s something that you’ll
be discussing with friends for a while. That’s why I feel something will be
lost if you watch it on streaming or on DVD or what have you—take away the
shared cultural impact from a decade of building up and excitement, and I’m not
sure just how well it’d hold up.
Overall, I enjoyed it, despite it not being completely even,
and I’m waiting out for part 2. I’m still not honestly sure where they can go
from here—that’s kind of the downside of such a big epic bonanza, there’s not
much interest whatever sequels and even more titles the next phase can offer
me. If this was meant to be a grand finale or a great capstone on the whole
MCU, it’d make it even greater, but maybe it’s just me, but the existence of a whole
new upcoming phase saps a little bit of the impact.
On the other hand, Marvel made a talking racoon and a tree work,
so despite everything, I’m vaguely interested still to see what the future
holds once the dust settles from this two parter. One thing is certain—as long
as he lives, Stan Lee will always be there. In every living room, bus, and
outer space, always making you question if we really must be worried about
Thanos…
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