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I just noticed I haven't done a single negative review since Birdman. As weird as that looks on paper, there's a reason for that: the way I do reviews, films that'd make for an interesting negative review are hard to come by. Usually when I see a film I don't like, I just sort it in my mind as ''trash'' and don't think about it any further, so I'm unable to write anything interesting about it. The only time I think about a film that left a negative impression is when it's more disappointing than bad, aka when there's flashes of quality that make the blunders more apparent. For example, The Avengers 2012 was for years one of my most hated films, but I'd much rather talk about its (relatively) promising little brother Infinity War.
I don't think I need to explain what it's about. Everyone and their dog knows who Thanos is, what Infinity Stones are, and how it ends. What I will explain instead is the context surrounding it. 2018 was a great year for me personally, I could go on forever as to why, but for the sake of this review I'll say it's when I was really into cape****. And in hindsight, I can see why: it's the carefree nature of the whole genre that won me over. With how great the year was going, feeling like a boss that can conquer anything with a cocky smirk on his face was just something I could relate to. So that's exactly what I expect from these big superhero movies: light-hearted, carefree escapist entertainment.
But why look for it in Infinity War of all movies? Even after being thoroughly disappointed by The Avengers 2012, being aware of the MCU's infamy, and in 2018, when the soy boy meme brought Marvel movies more ridicule than ever?
I'd chalk it up to the youtubers I was following at the time saying it was a pleasant surprise. Ralph Sepe, Lyle McDouchebag, Dishonoured Wolf, and Adum from YMS all agreed on that. So, is it? Yes and no. There are both good and bad things about Infinity War, and the good can be summed up as ''it avoids some of the trappings of Marvel movies'' while the bad are ''it doesn't avoid enough of them''.
The first thing you'll notice and the main reason why IW left an impression as a pleasant surprise is how it can take itself halfway seriously. Not in a pretentious way, but in a way that presents Thanos' forces as a real danger. The opening scene on Thor's spaceship is way darker in tone than usual, establishing a confident, competent, and determined rogues gallery. The fact that one of the main characters gets his ass handed to him almost immediately tells you this villain is a cut above the others. The rest of the plot is, as you know, just ''stop Thanos'', and for the first 30 minutes or so it flows rather nicely. The stakes with the infinity stones are set up quickly, and we transition organically into a fight with two of Thanos' henchmen. It's here we see another one of Infinity War's strengths. There's some good fight scenes that make good use of its big cast of characters with varied superpowers, and this is one of them. They are held up by surprisingly good CG, cinematography, and colour choice. If it wasn't for Doctor Strange and its reality-bending madness, I'd say this is the best-looking Marvel movie.
The thing that surprised me the most is that this is the first, and probably last, Marvel movie where I unironically liked one of the characters. I am talking, of course, about Squidward. That henchman with telekinesis. His zealous worship of Thanos, sleazy voice and demeanour, and confidence are a joy to watch. Especially the way he likes to kick his enemies while they're down proves you can be funny while staying in character and not devolving into retarded quips, a lesson which the MCU desperately needs to learn. One of my favourite things about Lord of the Rings, the golden standard for mainstream fantasy epics, is how everyone is completely in character, despite the inherent silliness of these fantasy concepts, it sticks to them like it believes in them fully, and as a result we do too. Squidward succeeds there, but sadly, further comparisons to Lord of the Rings aren't favourable.
Ironically, the exact thing that made me like Squidward is what made me hate everyone else. Thanos and Doctor Strange are fine, but the Guardians, Tony Stark and spider-man are way too quippy and annoying. Never mind that the quips aren't funny, but can you imagine Gandalf running his mouth with non-stop sarcastic remarks and self-referential jokes? What about Jack Nicholson's Joker, or Tobey Maguire's Spidey? That kind of dialogue makes it impossible to get immersed into the story, on top of being annoying. This wasn't a thing in the early MCU; take a look at the original Iron Man. Tony's a quipping douchebag, but still in character. I blame internet culture for that. We've way overindulged in sarcasm and irony. It's time to stop.
Another thing similar to Lord of the Rings is that it tries to follow multiple plots which branch and intertwine, but while LotR had great pacing, IW screws it up with both forced unfunny banter, and forced fight scenes. You can tell there are some fights which are just put in because Disney assumes the audience has ADD and is unable to follow a simple plot without big explosions happening every 20 minutes. The way some of them are framed just insults me, how it makes such a big event of a character like Captain America just being there. I feel like scenes like that are why the MCU got on so many people's bad side. It makes it look like we're not here for entertaining stories or charismatic actors, but to see peepeeman fight poopooman.
And even if the pacing was perfect, it still wouldn't be able to go past ''solid entertainment''. The characters are all too paper-thin and boring for any entertaining drama to take place. Compare Star Lord to Aragorn and you'll see why Scorsese called these movies ''theme park rides''.
I'd make some final statement, but I've said all I need to. I wanted to like Infinity war, but I don't. That's it.
Avengers: Infinity War
I just noticed I haven't done a single negative review since Birdman. As weird as that looks on paper, there's a reason for that: the way I do reviews, films that'd make for an interesting negative review are hard to come by. Usually when I see a film I don't like, I just sort it in my mind as ''trash'' and don't think about it any further, so I'm unable to write anything interesting about it. The only time I think about a film that left a negative impression is when it's more disappointing than bad, aka when there's flashes of quality that make the blunders more apparent. For example, The Avengers 2012 was for years one of my most hated films, but I'd much rather talk about its (relatively) promising little brother Infinity War.
I don't think I need to explain what it's about. Everyone and their dog knows who Thanos is, what Infinity Stones are, and how it ends. What I will explain instead is the context surrounding it. 2018 was a great year for me personally, I could go on forever as to why, but for the sake of this review I'll say it's when I was really into cape****. And in hindsight, I can see why: it's the carefree nature of the whole genre that won me over. With how great the year was going, feeling like a boss that can conquer anything with a cocky smirk on his face was just something I could relate to. So that's exactly what I expect from these big superhero movies: light-hearted, carefree escapist entertainment.
But why look for it in Infinity War of all movies? Even after being thoroughly disappointed by The Avengers 2012, being aware of the MCU's infamy, and in 2018, when the soy boy meme brought Marvel movies more ridicule than ever?
I'd chalk it up to the youtubers I was following at the time saying it was a pleasant surprise. Ralph Sepe, Lyle McDouchebag, Dishonoured Wolf, and Adum from YMS all agreed on that. So, is it? Yes and no. There are both good and bad things about Infinity War, and the good can be summed up as ''it avoids some of the trappings of Marvel movies'' while the bad are ''it doesn't avoid enough of them''.
The first thing you'll notice and the main reason why IW left an impression as a pleasant surprise is how it can take itself halfway seriously. Not in a pretentious way, but in a way that presents Thanos' forces as a real danger. The opening scene on Thor's spaceship is way darker in tone than usual, establishing a confident, competent, and determined rogues gallery. The fact that one of the main characters gets his ass handed to him almost immediately tells you this villain is a cut above the others. The rest of the plot is, as you know, just ''stop Thanos'', and for the first 30 minutes or so it flows rather nicely. The stakes with the infinity stones are set up quickly, and we transition organically into a fight with two of Thanos' henchmen. It's here we see another one of Infinity War's strengths. There's some good fight scenes that make good use of its big cast of characters with varied superpowers, and this is one of them. They are held up by surprisingly good CG, cinematography, and colour choice. If it wasn't for Doctor Strange and its reality-bending madness, I'd say this is the best-looking Marvel movie.
The thing that surprised me the most is that this is the first, and probably last, Marvel movie where I unironically liked one of the characters. I am talking, of course, about Squidward. That henchman with telekinesis. His zealous worship of Thanos, sleazy voice and demeanour, and confidence are a joy to watch. Especially the way he likes to kick his enemies while they're down proves you can be funny while staying in character and not devolving into retarded quips, a lesson which the MCU desperately needs to learn. One of my favourite things about Lord of the Rings, the golden standard for mainstream fantasy epics, is how everyone is completely in character, despite the inherent silliness of these fantasy concepts, it sticks to them like it believes in them fully, and as a result we do too. Squidward succeeds there, but sadly, further comparisons to Lord of the Rings aren't favourable.
Ironically, the exact thing that made me like Squidward is what made me hate everyone else. Thanos and Doctor Strange are fine, but the Guardians, Tony Stark and spider-man are way too quippy and annoying. Never mind that the quips aren't funny, but can you imagine Gandalf running his mouth with non-stop sarcastic remarks and self-referential jokes? What about Jack Nicholson's Joker, or Tobey Maguire's Spidey? That kind of dialogue makes it impossible to get immersed into the story, on top of being annoying. This wasn't a thing in the early MCU; take a look at the original Iron Man. Tony's a quipping douchebag, but still in character. I blame internet culture for that. We've way overindulged in sarcasm and irony. It's time to stop.
Another thing similar to Lord of the Rings is that it tries to follow multiple plots which branch and intertwine, but while LotR had great pacing, IW screws it up with both forced unfunny banter, and forced fight scenes. You can tell there are some fights which are just put in because Disney assumes the audience has ADD and is unable to follow a simple plot without big explosions happening every 20 minutes. The way some of them are framed just insults me, how it makes such a big event of a character like Captain America just being there. I feel like scenes like that are why the MCU got on so many people's bad side. It makes it look like we're not here for entertaining stories or charismatic actors, but to see peepeeman fight poopooman.
And even if the pacing was perfect, it still wouldn't be able to go past ''solid entertainment''. The characters are all too paper-thin and boring for any entertaining drama to take place. Compare Star Lord to Aragorn and you'll see why Scorsese called these movies ''theme park rides''.
I'd make some final statement, but I've said all I need to. I wanted to like Infinity war, but I don't. That's it.