Emery... what do you got there?
You playing with Thanos and Iron Man?
Wait a minute... be careful with that Infinity Gauntlet!
Oh boy... your mother is gonna kill me.
This is Movie Night!
This is movie night.
Hello, and welcome to this special opening-weekend edition of Movie Night - I'm your host, Jonathan
Paula.
You didn't actually think I was gonna miss this one, did you?
Tonight I'll be reviewing "Avengers: Infinity War", and "Avengers: Endgame".
As always, both my reviews will be free of major spoilers, but if you haven't seen the
former, maybe don't watch my review for the latter.
And honestly, the marketing for "Endgame" shared so little that even my generalized
comments will still inevitably reveal some things.
So, proceed at your own risk.
With that in mind, let's talk "Infinity War".
Going all in.
Released worldwide on April 27, 2018 – the 19th entry in the massively successful Marvel
Cinematic Universe quickly became the fourth highest grossing film ever made, earning just
over two billion in ticket sales.
The 150-minute superhero adventure, penned by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely,
pits Earth's mightiest heroes against their toughest adversary yet, the all-powerful Thanos,
a being capable of erasing half of all life in the universe – if he can obtain all six
Infinity Stones, that is.
To call this third Avengers film "ambitious" would be the understatement of the decade.
The culmination of 18 previous movies, and the direct sequel to at least five of them–
this is quite possibly the most impressive motion picture ever created; at least from
a logistical perspective.
If the higher-end estimation is accurate, Infinity War's nearly $400 million dollar
budget makes it the single most expensive movie ever made.
A cost that translates to more than $44,000 dollars per second – an amount of money
approximately the same as the median salary for the average American.
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo somehow managed to 'assemble' actors from literally every
previous installment – yes, even "The Incredible Hulk" – into an absolutely insane action-adventure.
The PG-13-rated epic boasts what is quite easily the largest cast of "big name" talent
in history.
That mammoth ensemble includes, well, all of these people.
By now, we're all familiar with their strengths and weaknesses – so I'll only say that Chris
Hemsworth's emotional monologue about loss and purpose was a real highlight in the acting-category.
Seeing familiar characters from previously disconnected films meet for the first time
and exchange playful banter should be a treat for all comic book fans.
Chris Pratt's bravado posturing upon meeting his gorgeous Norse God counterpart is easily
my favorite of these meetings.
The real scene stealer though is Josh Brolin as the Mad Titan himself, Thanos – a formidable
but soft-spoken villain that lives up to his unstoppably powerful reputation.
The gauntlet-wielding baddie defends his universe-obliterating mission by stoically explaining, "I'm the
only one with the will to act on it."
With the lion's share of the screentime and development, Brolin is, in many respects,
the real protagonist of this movie.
A complex and troubled character who only wants to fix the (perceived) injustices in
an unfair world.
Now, I'm not saying "Thanos did nothing wrong" – but the inherent logic to his strategy
allows audiences to more easily understand, and dare I say, emphasize with his actions.
These choices, sacrifices, and leniencies make for compelling cinema in a genre that
generally, doesn't deliver that kind of nuance.
On an initial viewing, the haphazard structure of "Infinity War" definitely feels a bit frustrating,
as you're constantly wondering when your favorite character is going to pop back into the story.
Indeed, there are huge stretches of time – sometimes 30 minutes or more – when we don't check
in on one of the three main narrative threads.
Seriously, Captain America has less than seven minutes of screentime.
Rearranging some scenes, or more frequent parallel edits could have alleviated some
of this frustration.
The film is definitely easier to appreciate on a re-watch, once you're aware of this disconnected
structure.
Despite all of these moving parts, "Infinity War", is, surprisingly, coherent.
The individual vignettes don't really connect in a meaningful way, but they're at least
respectful to the core characters.
"Guardians Of The Galaxy" director James Gunn even assisted the script to make sure Starlord,
Drax and the rest of the Guardians were faithful to their fictional selves.
On the visual side of things, "Infinity War" is overstuffed with Oscar-nominated CGI chicanery.
While the sheer volume is certainly impressive – a reported 96% of the film's 3,000 individual
shots contain some type of VFX work – their quality isn't always as consistent; functioning
merely as "serviceable" under closer scrutiny.
But, when you outsource this work to a dozen separate companies – everyone from ILM and
Digital Domain to Weta Digital and Framestore had a hand in creating the visuals for this
film – you're bound to spot some issues.
Returning to the MCU for the first time since Phase One, legendary composer Alan Silvestri
turns in what may honestly be his best work since "Cast Away".
The bold and triumphant score is a notable improvement for the Marvel franchise, which
has hitherto contained forgettable music at worst, and underappreciated themes at best.
When Silvestri's "Avengers" motif roars to full volume as Captain America steps out of
the shadows to save his friends... you can't help but get pumped up in a way only perfectly
paired sound and image can provide.
It's as glorious a combo as peanut butter and chocolate.
This is hardly a perfect film however.
Way too many characters are given almost nothing to do, the pacing is annoyingly sporadic,
and in-film continuity issues are abound.
But "Infinity War"'s biggest issue is that it never truly resolves any of the questions
or conflicts it creates – punting these conclusions for "Endgame" to finish.
Now, obviously most going into this picture understand it's the first in a two-part experience
– but as a standalone feature, it is unfortunately a bit incomplete.
Some might call the film's devastating climax an excellent cliffhanger, but it really just
feels like getting cinematic blue-balls.
But God damn, is this movie entertaining.
Wall-to-wall excitement, flashy action, great humor, and effective emotional moments made
this one of the most memorable movies of the decade.
Delivering everything Marvel fans wanted to see in a crossover of this scale, Disney did
not disappoint.
Ultimately, this movie's immensely fun action and creative inclusion of its two dozen characters
all but outweighs its numerous flaws.
"Avengers: Infinity War" is an astonishingly enjoyable motion picture, and a groundbreaking
cinematic accomplishment.
I thought it was AWESOME.
Now, my thoughts on "Endgame".
A monumental conclusion.
Released to an astonishing 4,662 locations worldwide on April 26, 2019 – this PG-13
rated superhero film is all but assured to smash nearly every single box office record
in history; not even "Avatar"'s $2.7 billion dollar total feels safe.
Which explains why Disney gave returning directors Anthony and Joe Russo another $350 million
dollars to tackle the Herculean task of filming this adventure back-to-back with "Infinity
War".
Devastated after half the universe has been obliterated, the surviving Avengers hatch
a plan to undo Thanos' "Snap" and restore the fallen.
The screenplay, once again penned by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, delivers a blend
of action, fantasy, and heart – reaching stratospheric heights that few blockbusters
ever have.
Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy
Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, and Josh Brolin make up the
core cast – downsized considerably after the events of the previous film.
Indeed, this reduced ensemble actually addresses the biggest issues I had with "Infinity War";
not enough Captain America, and the lack of a full team reunion.
Thankfully, Evans has a full hour of more screentime here, and "Endgame" pretty quickly
reunites the original six Avengers, ostensibly, for the last time.
If the
previous picture was Thanos' story, this one belongs to Captain American and Iron Man;
their character arcs are the most substantial, and rewarding.
Which isn't to say Hulk, Thor, Nat, and Clint and underdeveloped – in fact, each one evolves
in new and surprising ways.
Johansson in particular turns in a career-best effort with a deeply moving performance.
The first sixty minutes are expectedly somber; with hardly any action sequences.
This is a defeated group of heroes, struggling to reconcile their failure with their responsibilities.
It is a new tone for this franchise, as the narrative weaves its way through the five
stages of grief.
A scene where Ant-Man frantically searches for his daughter's name amongst giant stone
memorials is particularly effective at illustrating the massive emotional weight this universe
is now burdened with.
And while this is not normally the recipe for a fun comic book film, the quiet and reflective
first act makes the wall-to-wall excitement later in the movie resonate even deeper.
Even with its lengthy three-hour run time, "Endgame" is an extraordinarily well-paced
experience.
The story is constantly playing against expectations in fantastic ways.
And the moments that are more predictable are just as gratifying anyway.
Granted, there's nothing inherently new in Avengers 4 – it doesn't reinvent the genre...
but it does executes existing ideas to their absolute best possible iteration.
So, if you're not usually a fan of the MCU – this one probably won't win you over.
But if you've invested yourself into this expansive world like I have?
This movie delivers in spades.
Too that end, the film's middle portion is a crowd-pleasing adventure best experienced
unspoiled.
So I'll only say I loved the snide remarks, pop-culture references, surprising cameos,
sci-fi explanations, fatherly advice, and one particularly effective whisper.
If this second act was clever fan-service for die hards, the final 45 minutes are the
ultimate payoff to years of set-ups.
There are moments towards the end, especially one the soundtrack refers to as "Portals"
that had me shaking with excitement.
Literally shaking.
Every single character has their time to shine, however brief some of them may be.
The Russos are out there making callbacks to events from 21 movies ago, and it works
like gangbusters.
There are tears of joy and tears of sadness.
And not just from the big events you see coming, but also from the small embraces and tender
glances.
These are characters we've grown to love over the past decade, and seeing their journey
reach an emotional end is indescribably fulfilling.
The only comparable sensation would be like watching the series finale to your favorite
TV show – one that's been on the air for eleven years and features 25 different lead
characters.
And very final scene is an absolutely perfect capstone to the entire "Infinity Saga."
This is the greatest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it isn't even close.
And although there aren't any traditional 'bonus scenes' (the film concludes only with
a familiar sound effect) the credits do feature the animated signatures of the primary cast
– a la, "Star Trek VI" – which serves as a wonderful swan song to this talented
group of actors.
As for all the technical categories; music, sound, visuals, editing, and cinematography?
All on-point, as usual.
These movies wouldn't exist without the army of talented artists and crew who worked tirelessly
on it for years.
I laughed, I cried, I applauded.
Sure, there are better made, and better acted films, but I honestly can't think of a holistic
cinematic experience that delivered more enjoyment and emotional resonance than this one.
While familiarity with earlier Marvel films is necessary to truly appreciate a lot of
the smaller winks and nods – it still mostly works as a standalone feature.
I am legitimately unable to identify a single thing I didn't like about this movie.
I don't like to throw around words like "flawless"... but holy shit, this comes pretty damn close.
At the risk of overselling it, "Avengers: Endgame" is the most satisfying motion picture
I've ever seen.
Amazing 3000.
Sometime next month, I'll finally be reviewing The Matrix trilogy – so stay tuned for that.
Also, if you have any suggestions for upcoming episodes, especially for older franchises
and categories – let me know; 'cause this "opening weekend" type material is tough to
turnaround quickly with a full-time job and baby at home.
In the meantime, click or tap here for my playlist of comic book reviews, here to watch
my thoughts on the original "Avengers" movie, or click the Jogwheel icon to subscribe, and
be notified of new uploads when they're released – which is especially important given my
sporadic schedule.
Once again, my name is Jonathan Paula, thanks for watching and have a good Movie Night!
