Avengers: Infinity War
Superman has been regarded by many as the first superhero in popular culture. His comic
book dates back to the 1930’s, and the first television program hit screens in
the 1950’s. But the turning point for the character was in 1978’s “Superman:
The Movie” which brought the Man of Steel to the big screen. What many people
don’t know, is Superman and its stellar sequel, “Superman 2” were actually
filmed back-to-back to begin with. The original plan was to release the two
films within a few months of each other, but production held up the release of
the first film, so filming on the sequel was put on hold, and picked up again
the following year.
Given this was the first two-film venture to be produced
back-to-back, it didn’t succeed like planned, but surely the generations of
movie makers to follow learnt how to do it better, and over the decades,
filming two sequels of a series back to back became more common. It was most
notably done well in the late 80s with parts 2 and 3 of the “Back to the Future”
series. But everything changed in 1999, when a small-time director from New Zealand
took on the mammoth task of filming three films back to back over a period of
18 months; giving us “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and making movie history.
As the art of filming more than one film of a series or
franchise simultaneously saved money, made more money and got films out quicker,
more of the world’s biggest franchises took on this approach. Quentin Tarantino
brought us “Kill Bill” Volumes 1 and 2 (although that was one long film split
into two parts apparently). “Pirates of the Caribbean”, parts 2 and 3 filmed its
instalments back to back and released them a year apart. And “Harry Potter” did
it even better with “The Deathly Hallows” Parts 1 and 2, although many would say
the first part was a bit of a drag, but the climatic finale was worth the
splitting of the one book into two movies.
So with this track record in the film industry of filming
two sequels back to back, with it’s fair share of hits and misses, the
foundation had been set to finally get it almost perfect. And what better
series of films to get the double-whammy treatment than The Avengers.
Ten years in the making. Twenty films later, and well over
70 characters to smash their way onto the screen, and we’ve reached the
beginning of the end. “Avengers: Infinity War” is the first of two parts in the
telling of a story that has been brewing under the surface, reached boiling point,
and now ready to explode. And at the centre of it all, is Thanos. A God-like
alien determined to destroy half the universe with the snap of a finger, not
because he is a madman; to the Avengers he is certainly is, but Thanos’ plans
for destruction on a universal scale are well-justified. To him, it’s all about
keeping the balance.
Many of the previous films in the series have made mention of
the six infinity stones, with many of them having been featured as central
parts of the plot. Six stones, six different sources of power, but once
combined, have the collective power to end all life in the hands of their user.
The six stones are; the Space Stone, the Mind Stone, the Reality Stone, the
Power Stone, the Time Stone and the Soul Stone. See the image below for their
corresponding colours and which Avengers films they appear in. Thanos has
waited patiently in the shadows of space for his chance to don the glove to
hold the stones, and after his servants failed to deliver them, he decides to
get them himself. And like a tsunami of destruction headed for land, Thanos
moves through space with total disregard for any life form that crosses his
path, and his final destination is
Earth.
Our heroes are scattered around the world, and space, as we
pick up where we left them off in their respective films before Infinity War. The
Guardians of the Galaxy cruise through space, still listening to music and
talking trash to each other. Captain America, Black Widow and Falcon are on the
run, after Cap busted them out of their jail cells at the end of “Civil War”.
And Tony Stark is walking through the park in New York, Pepper Potts at his
side and trying to enjoy his life. All these characters become aware of the
mission of Thanos, who will try to retrieve all six stones at any cost. And the
film wastes no time with proceedings once the set up has been established,
which also happens quickly.
This is a big film. Epic and grand in every sense of the
word, and with so many characters and a story that takes place across the far
reaches of space and across our planet, you might have gone into this film the
first time wondering how they were going to include it all. With a two- and
half-hour running time, each character is given enough screen time to bring us the
best of them and add a new dimension to their character. And watching characters
meet and work together for the first time makes for both humorous and thrilling
moments. Tony Stark and Doctor Strange are two head-strong men who don’t see
eye-to-eye initially but are forced to work together. Likewise, Tony Stark and
Peter Quill compete for leadership as they plan the battle to fight Thanos, and
it’s this interaction which brings many of the laughs to the film.
With such high stakes in place, driven by The Avengers
fighting to protect the Universe, and a new assortment of aliens with immense
power and malice, the actions scenes are spectacular. Bringing all these
characters and their respective powers together was always going to be a wonder
to behold, and the talent behind the camera balance it to perfection. No hero is
singled out as the star of the story, with each being given a moment to shine. It’s
this respect for every character in the Marvel Universe, brought together here
as one team, that makes Infinity War an incredibly entertaining film. And with
each plot twist and turn, you can never be sure where it’s headed, or who will survive.
Assuming you’ve seen the film, I can go ahead and talk about
THAT ending. If you haven’t yet, then beware, Spoilers Ahead. but seriously go
and watch the film.
Once Thanos has each stone in his position, arming his
golden gauntlet with all the power he could ever want, our heroes scramble desperately
to stop him. But he’s just too bloody big, strong and determined to have things
go his way. With the snap of his finger, many of the heroes you’ve watched and
loved over the past decade start to disappear right in front of your eyes. Watching
them fade into dust was both shocking and sad, and seeing this unfold the first
time, I was quite surprised to see who faded to dust and who didn’t. Once this ending
affected every audience member who saw it, speculations hit the net as to the
reason why those who survived did, and why those who didn’t survive,
disappeared. No one has pinned it down as to who got the bad hand and why, because
the selection of the characters did not come from any previous comic book in
the Marvel Universe.
At this point in the game, the writers of our Avengers
movies are merely borrowing elements from the comic books but taking the story
in the direction they want to. And wherever
it’s going to end up, you can rest assured no one has that figured out, but the
creative collective behind the movies themselves. I think they are storytelling
and marketing geniuses to be honest with you, bringing us trailers to their
films that really hook and reel you in, then delivering a story that’s what
you’ve come to expect, and more.
Infinity War was that, plus more, as traditionally in
movies, the bad guy doesn’t win. But
Thanos was a villain of depth and meaning, and his quest made sense on some level. It’s true that our
world, and perhaps many others out there we haven’t discovered, have a problem
with balance. It’s either too many people for the world to support, or a small portion
of the population getting more than the rest. Thanos makes it his mission to
bring balance to the universe, by the most brutal and efficient method
available; slaughtering half the population of everywhere he goes. And after a history
of doing this to one planet after another, he has nowhere left to conquer except
the universe itself.
And on this occasion, he succeeds. Half the population
remain, and after the dust of their fading friends has settled to the ground, Earth’s
Mightiest Heroes will have to brush off the dust, pick themselves back up again
and figure out a way to undo what Thanos has done.
And this brings us to the set up of “Avengers; Endgame”. If
you’re reading this review upon the time of it’s posting to the net, the new
film has just been released in cinemas. I wrote this review with much
anticipation and curiosity as to how the Avengers will in fact stop Thanos. I suppose
we can all expect they will succeed
this time, but at what cost? The world is about to stop what it’s doing and
flock to the theatres in the millions to find out, and I’ll be there to
experience it for myself.
I will return to this blog with a review of “Avengers:
Endgame” soon, firstly a non-spoiler review, followed a few days later by a
detailed spoiler review, as there will be much to talk about I’m sure.
But in honour of the 21 movies that have led us to this
point, watch this brilliant montage video, that brings each character back. Watch
it, be moved, inspired and entertained while you wait for the Endgame.
Thanks for reading!
Post Credit
scenes – stick around to the very end of the credits for the only post-credit
scene to follow Avengers: Infinity War. In this quick but very important scene,
Agent Nick Fury and Agent Maria Hill are driving through a city, trying to
establish contact with Tony Stark. All of a sudden, cars crash, helicopters
fall from the sky and people begin to fade to dust. Agent Hill is first to disappear,
and Fury races for his bag, pulls out a device, and manages to press it before
he turns to dust. The device hits the ground, and it appears to be a pager,
that has the words SENDING on the screen, then finally, an image appear on the
small screen. It’s the emblem for Captain Marvel, and if you go all the way
back to the second film covered in this series of reviews, you will know it’s
the pager Carol Danvers gave to Fury, offering that as his means to contact her
anytime Earth needed help. Fury managed to send the message just in time before
vanishing into thin air, and we hope Captain Marvel got the message (we know from
having seen Captain Marvel and the trailers for Avengers: Endgame, she does
indeed get the message and will surely play one of the most important roles in
defeating Thanos)
Continue with "Avengers: Endgame" review coming soon...
or...
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