Good-looking, brash, man of privilege suffers from excessive pride. Suddenly, an unfortunate life changing event due to his own hubris. But he overcomes the trial and evolves into the making of a hero. But egads! A villain emerges and defeats our new hero. With the help of his plucky sidekick(s), Mr Hero learns a lesson in humility and to trust others, which lets him toughen and finally defeat the bad guy! He's stronger than he ever was before! The world is his burrito! Fade to credits.
I mean, some of the particulars change, but this pretty much describes Thor, Dr Strange, and Iron Man. Not that any of those movies were bad (well, the original Thor was kinda weak), but that one Hollywood Script Workshop I attended back at ACAD has really lead me to recognizing some familiar patterns and archetypes, so I end up feeling like I've seen some of these films more times than I already have. But if you can check your brain at the door and enjoy the good quips, clever visuals, and impressive fight scenes, hey - you're in for a fun flick. They're not bad movies, but the genre as a whole is quickly becoming saturated. And don't even get me started on DC's mess.
That all being said, after some prompting from a friend I decided I'd see Infinity War in theatre. Given my general state of Superhero Fatigue, I haven't seen the new Spiderman, Ant Man, the second Thor, or Black Panther. But last week I watched Thor: Ragnarok in anticipation, mainly to figure out what was going on with the One-Eyed Pirate Sparky Viking Man. Again, it was a decent flick. The use of Immigrant Song was a brilliant and inspired choice, but it wrote cheques that sadly the rest of the soundtrack could not cash.
A few days later, we went to Infinity War. It was fun! A good movie. It was very, very impressive how they managed to balance so many characters and plotlines into one cohesive story. Truly, those screen writers deserve some HUGE credit. That being said... the underlying structure poked through in places and I had a few little beefs:
- It was really, painfully obvious that Dr. Strange and Iron Man are the same character (structurally speaking). With such a huge cast, it's not surprising that multiples of the archetype are going to have to pair up at some point. But damn, I wasn't expecting it to be so obvious.
- I'm getting kinda tired of The Hulk having problems switching between his different states. It's feeling like a bit of an overused crutch to give him a basic character arch.
- Why did Thor have to get his eyeball back? Felt like such a step backwards for his character development - leaving him with the eyepatch was such a great symbol that the character has some literal battlescars and is evolving. But, hey, gotta keep them heroes in pristine marketable condition, am I right?
- The fight scene editing sucks. Why does everything have to be so quick and spastic? Can't we just enjoy some choreography and characters doing cool things instead of "HEY GUYS I HEAR YOU LIKE ACTION SO LOOK AT ALL THE ACTION ACTION ACTION! WE HAD TO CRAM FIVE INDISCERNIBLE CUTS WITHIN TWO SECONDS TO FIT IN ALL THE ACTION! SO MUCH ACTION!"
- The latest Iron Man suit is lame. Yeah, I get it, they want the character to keep evolving and being more badass than the last time. But something something nanotechnology and now he's just an armoured shape shifter. Kinda defeats the appeal of the original character for me when he can grow massive legs and shields at his every whim, instead of being bound by the human tools he's brought to the fight.
- Green screens. Green screens and CGI characters everywhere, doing green screen and CGI character things. I know it's due to the pursuit of making every movie more visually impressive and crazy than the last... But at this point I'm starting to feel like it's all just fluff without any heft or concequence. I mean, yeah, the quality is good and groundbreaking and all that, but it makes me wonder how the visuals will compare ten years from now... Will it feel like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow?
- Soundtrack. What sound track? There was a glimmer of life when the Guardians of the Galaxy crew appeared, and then that was it. Rather disappointing. I think Christopher Nolan/Hans Zimmer has spoiled me as to what I expect from a blockbuster.
- So many taboo semi-secret romances between co-workers! Again, on it's own its fine. But when you put all these franchises next to each other, it makes you raise your eyebrows at how... similar many of them are.
And then... There was the ending. Fair warning, we are going knee deep in a vat of gooey purple spoiler marmalade here, so back out if that kind of thing smells too gooey for your tastes.
I wish, I hope that the writers have the balls to stick by their decision. But they don't. Okay, so, many characters are killed off with a literal snap of the finger. Those moments when they die were really well written and acted... Spiderman being afraid and apologizing as he blew away? So, so good. Too bad that none of it matters.
Okay, so they thoroughly established that Dr. Strange is not going to mess around with the Infinity Stone in his care, and what we know from his movie, he's willing to undergo an endless assault of death and pain to do what he has to. So we automatically know that he wouldn't just hand it over to save the Mighty Morphin' Iron Man. Therefore, he gave it over because this was the only scenario where they could stop Thanos. Which means all of these deaths are going to be undone, and it's so painfully obvious that it hurts. Most likely Thanos will rewind time to get Gomorrah back, or the Avengers will find a way to get the stone and rewind time themselves.
Looking at the list of upcoming Marvel movies in preproduction, the theory is pretty much confirmed. All the major characters that die are slated for more movies.
So the comic book wheel of "OMG DRASTIC IRREVERSIBLE CHANGES/THE STATUS-QUO HAS BEEN RESTORED!" spins on. It's all just so... Capitalistic. Gotta sell them movie tickets and merch, yo. It's funny when Creating Value for Shareholders turns out to be a spoiler in and of itself. It's all just kinda disappointing from a storytelling perspective. It especially frustrates me how this ending was used as a cliffhanger when it's so damn obvious that the deaths don't really matter because it'll be reversed. Lame.
Alright, so, predictions:
Iron Man's obviously gonna die. The talk of starting a family, continually abandoning Pepper to do Nanobot Man Things, his previous Jesus moments, the fact that RDJ has been doing this character for so long... Yeah, his number's up. Maybe Thor and Cap Amurka and Black Widow will join him too. I almost wonder if they were all spared by Thanos' finger snappage dust flakes so that we can give them a proper sendoff before they get more heroic deaths. Afterall, they do need to make room for Captain Marvel and whoever else to refresh the lineup. Maybe we'll see a Lady Thor and Lady Iron Odo Man if those franchises are too profitable to just throw away.
If most of these characters don't even die and just get a happy ending retirement, I'll be supremely impressed at how gutless the writers (and/or studio execs) are.
So just to recap: Infinity War (and all the other Marvel flicks) are not bad movies. But when you put all the elements next to each other, it becomes apparent how they're using/abusing the same storytelling conventions over and over and over again. It all starts to feel too familiar, and I'm kinda burnt out on the genre. I'm not really emotionally invested in any of the characters, and part of me just wants to see how it ends and have the fad over with.
That being said, there were two things in the movie that stood out to me as being rather intriguing.
First was Thanos. They get points for making a somewhat empathetic villain with motivations aside from greed and/or ultimate power for its own sake. Dude's legit trying to save the universe (albeit through some fairly flawed logic), just like the Avengers are. He respects his enemies and loves his 'family'. I really, really want him to have a change of heart and reverse time and undo everything just to satisfy an unquenchable sense of grief. But he won't - that doesn't make for good action sequences that you can put into trailers.
The second thing I really, really liked was Thor. In particular I was intruiged by his thirty-second monologue near the beginning of the movie where he speaks of how he can't be killed because of his destiny. I'm oddly fixated by the concept of this strong, formidable warrior king who's a knowing slave to his own malevolent fate. I want to see a weary, tired, disillusioned, battle-scarred Thor, his civilization long since perished, plowing through enemy after enemy with increasing reckless abandon. I want to see a Thor that is obsessed with finding the one enemy that's meant to kill him so he can finally stop fighting.
I know, that's kinda dark. Too dark for the Marvel brand, probably. But the concept is oddly fascinating to me, and offers a bit of a diversion from the expected structure/flow of these movies and character arcs.
Anyways, it's safe to say that I'll be seeing the next Infinity War movie. It'll be interesting to see how right/wrong I am about my predictions, and I hope that I'll be pleasantly surprised by something. If not, hey, it'll make for a good watch-and-forget flick.
-Cril
I wish, I hope that the writers have the balls to stick by their decision. But they don't. Okay, so, many characters are killed off with a literal snap of the finger. Those moments when they die were really well written and acted... Spiderman being afraid and apologizing as he blew away? So, so good. Too bad that none of it matters.
Okay, so they thoroughly established that Dr. Strange is not going to mess around with the Infinity Stone in his care, and what we know from his movie, he's willing to undergo an endless assault of death and pain to do what he has to. So we automatically know that he wouldn't just hand it over to save the Mighty Morphin' Iron Man. Therefore, he gave it over because this was the only scenario where they could stop Thanos. Which means all of these deaths are going to be undone, and it's so painfully obvious that it hurts. Most likely Thanos will rewind time to get Gomorrah back, or the Avengers will find a way to get the stone and rewind time themselves.
Looking at the list of upcoming Marvel movies in preproduction, the theory is pretty much confirmed. All the major characters that die are slated for more movies.
So the comic book wheel of "OMG DRASTIC IRREVERSIBLE CHANGES/THE STATUS-QUO HAS BEEN RESTORED!" spins on. It's all just so... Capitalistic. Gotta sell them movie tickets and merch, yo. It's funny when Creating Value for Shareholders turns out to be a spoiler in and of itself. It's all just kinda disappointing from a storytelling perspective. It especially frustrates me how this ending was used as a cliffhanger when it's so damn obvious that the deaths don't really matter because it'll be reversed. Lame.
Alright, so, predictions:
Iron Man's obviously gonna die. The talk of starting a family, continually abandoning Pepper to do Nanobot Man Things, his previous Jesus moments, the fact that RDJ has been doing this character for so long... Yeah, his number's up. Maybe Thor and Cap Amurka and Black Widow will join him too. I almost wonder if they were all spared by Thanos' finger snappage dust flakes so that we can give them a proper sendoff before they get more heroic deaths. Afterall, they do need to make room for Captain Marvel and whoever else to refresh the lineup. Maybe we'll see a Lady Thor and Lady Iron Odo Man if those franchises are too profitable to just throw away.
If most of these characters don't even die and just get a happy ending retirement, I'll be supremely impressed at how gutless the writers (and/or studio execs) are.
So just to recap: Infinity War (and all the other Marvel flicks) are not bad movies. But when you put all the elements next to each other, it becomes apparent how they're using/abusing the same storytelling conventions over and over and over again. It all starts to feel too familiar, and I'm kinda burnt out on the genre. I'm not really emotionally invested in any of the characters, and part of me just wants to see how it ends and have the fad over with.
That being said, there were two things in the movie that stood out to me as being rather intriguing.
First was Thanos. They get points for making a somewhat empathetic villain with motivations aside from greed and/or ultimate power for its own sake. Dude's legit trying to save the universe (albeit through some fairly flawed logic), just like the Avengers are. He respects his enemies and loves his 'family'. I really, really want him to have a change of heart and reverse time and undo everything just to satisfy an unquenchable sense of grief. But he won't - that doesn't make for good action sequences that you can put into trailers.
The second thing I really, really liked was Thor. In particular I was intruiged by his thirty-second monologue near the beginning of the movie where he speaks of how he can't be killed because of his destiny. I'm oddly fixated by the concept of this strong, formidable warrior king who's a knowing slave to his own malevolent fate. I want to see a weary, tired, disillusioned, battle-scarred Thor, his civilization long since perished, plowing through enemy after enemy with increasing reckless abandon. I want to see a Thor that is obsessed with finding the one enemy that's meant to kill him so he can finally stop fighting.
I know, that's kinda dark. Too dark for the Marvel brand, probably. But the concept is oddly fascinating to me, and offers a bit of a diversion from the expected structure/flow of these movies and character arcs.
Anyways, it's safe to say that I'll be seeing the next Infinity War movie. It'll be interesting to see how right/wrong I am about my predictions, and I hope that I'll be pleasantly surprised by something. If not, hey, it'll make for a good watch-and-forget flick.
-Cril
1 comment:
You are not allowed to watch anymore superhero movies. But first, go watch the Spiderman movie. It's good. Michael Keaton is good in it. Spiderman is good in it.
So here's what's going to happen after you watch Spiderman: you're going to watch nothing but The Walking Dead and The Handmaid's Tale. And when you get out of therapy as a result of all that depressing tv, then you can come back and watch superhero movies and be thankful.
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