Happily, Avengers: Infinity War succeeds beyond the wildest dreams of most fans, crafting the greatest villain in any of the Marvel movies in Thanos - giving him depth and meaning and a ethical code of his own (though a twisted one), and setting him up as a nearly-unstoppable opponent.
Then you have the Avengers, fractured and divided by past events, struggling to assemble as the nature of the menace becomes clear. Add in almost every other cinematic hero to the mix, give them all good bits of business to pursue (all playing to the strengths of each character), and you have a high-energy collision of stunning proportions.
Not to worry, there are no spoilers here (I was very happy to see the film with only one plot point spoiled for me - not bad, considering the speed of social media and the overwhelming number of sites and people who are all too happy to spoil away!
On the most basic level, it's a joy to see characters such as Spider-Man, Dr. Strange and Iron Man interact - two colossal egos and one local kid made good - I couldn't stop smiling!
The mix of characters feels natural and gives everyone a chance to shine. Thor being rescued by an awed and intimidated Guardians of the Galaxy. The Black Panther meeting Captain America's squad of "Secret" Avengers.
The scale of the movie raises cosmic to a new level, moving from world to world, fighting on a scale and power level never seen before.
I admit it, there were scenes that made me gasp aloud. There are lots of laughs, but never to the detriment of the story. There are wonderful, heroic moments that got cheers from the crowd in the theatre.
And there's so much heart - characters forced to make terrible choices, tender moments of love and kindness, surprise declarations... and some scenes at the end that will tear your heart out (not literally, of course).
To say more is to spoil the joys that are waiting for you.
I can't recommend it highly enough. Wiser folks have declared it's the Empire Strikes Back of comic book-based movies. (Which means the first Avengers movie was A New Hope, right?)
They're not wrong.
Grade: A+
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3 comments:
Well said, Chuck.
The time and care spent getting to know Thanos from his perspective really made the character deeper and richer. He is, after all, the hero in his mind.
The House of Ideas comics haven't thrilled me much these past few years. But, as for the movies, Make Mine Marvel!
--Bret
I like what Nerdist had to say, which was basically, if Thanos had all that power, why did he make the choice he did to solve what he perceived was the big problem?
Bret, I have to agree!
Dwayne, it's a good point, but I think we have to remember that they call him the Mad Titan - for whatever reason (perhaps his grief over the destruction of his own race?), he's become convinced that his way is the only solution. He's wrong, of course, but it's difficult to change the mind of a madman.
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