Avengers: Infinity War

      In 2018 I wasn't in the mood to see Avengers: Infinity War in the theater.  I'd seen and disliked its predecessor, Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), a 141 minute long CGI crapfest inspiring in me, by the climax, a mounting need to stand by a urinal.

     Infinity War, at 149 minutes, seemed to me to be more of the same, though, like an asshole, I judged it without seeing it.  In reality, I'd burned out on comic book-based movies by 2018.  I've seen a few in the theater since then, but the CGI-heavy blueprint of this genre bores me except when fundamentals of storytelling, good dialogue, direction, and acting, all work together, or, as in this third Avengers film, work together enough to produce a satisfying viewing experience.

     There's a real son of a bitch with light purple skin, Thanos (Josh Brolin), who seeks to insert six Infinity Stones into a gauntlet worn on his gauche, or left (sinister), hand.  The Stones, almost as old as the Universe, represent Space, Reality, Mind, Time, Power, and Soul.  For reasons I can't explain, due to my chronic lateness for class on such Marvel Cinematic Universe matters, the six Stones, when added to Thanos's gauntlet, will enable him to eliminate half of sentient life in the Universe with a snap of his fingers.

     Okay.

     I don't know how he can do this.  In the previous movie, maybe, this extraordinary power gets explained and I've forgotten it.  I do know why he wants to kill trillions of people (human and alien).  He comes from a planet, Titan (not to be confused with Saturn's moon), a formerly great civilization plagued by overpopulation, resulting in its fall.  The Universe, Thanos rationalizes, has too many people in it, too much weakness and corruption, so it's time to reduce the problem by half.  He seems at times like a Davos Conference guest plotting with his peers the future of Africa.  At other times, Thanos comes across as a disappointed idealist; one with power and a mad goal fueled by absolute belief in his cause's justice. 

     Thor, his brother Loki, and the Hulk, a.k.a. Bruce Banner, returning to Earth in a spaceship after their adventures in Thor: Ragnarok (2017), encounter Thanos and his fanatical badass motherfuckers, all of whom, I guess, are willing to endure a potential fatal halving of their number if their boss gets his way.

     Thanos kills Loki to find out the location of one of the Stones.  Loki, a god, may not be dead since gods are immortal, so I expect him to show up again in another movie.  Thanos tracks down the Time Stone to New York, where Doctor Strange wears it as part of a necklace protected by a powerful spell.  A humongous wheel-ship appears in the sky.  Doctor Strange's home gets attacked after a freaked out Bruce Banner warns him of the approaching danger.

     Strange, captured by one of Thanos's servants, flies away in the ship, aided in secret by Tony Stark the Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Peter Parker the Spider-Man (Tom Holland).  It's fortuitous that three of the film's best actors, Downey, Holland, and Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), get shipped to another star system, Iron Man and Spider-Man killing Thanos's sorcerous servant and rescuing Strange.  The ship, on autopilot, lands on Titan, Thanos's ruined world.  

     Meanwhile, Thor's body, drifting in space, impacts against a ship flown by the Guardians of the Galaxy.  This Marvel series I knew nothing about, but I gather it's played for laughs, at least some of the time.  My favorite character among this group is Rocket, a talking raccoon with a sardonic dry wit, voiced by Bradley Cooper.  Rocket worked for me as a fun character in all of his scenes, providing funny and sometimes wise commentary on his comrades' actions.  Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Rocket have good chemistry together.  They go to locate an Asgardian weapons maker.  Thor, having lost his hammer in some previous Marvel movie, can't remember which one, needs a new weapon, a god's weapon.

     He receives, after a lot of plot rigmarole, a war axe proving mightily useful in the film's climactic battle scene.

     There's a battle scene at the climax of this Marvel movie, too?

     Indeed, there is.  It didn't go on too long, fortunately.  In the climaxes of many of these films I often become bored, especially when hordes of CGI monsters or aliens pour out of the sky through a wormhole, or however else it might be done.  This kind of thing looks like an oil spill after a while, hard to distinguish anything.

     During the battle, Vision (who has the last Infinity Stone stuck in his forehead for some reason), gets operated on in Wakanda, the sophisticated African secret kingdom from Black Panther. 

     The know-it-all teenaged sister of Black Panther operates on Vision to remove the Stone while enemies close in.  The battle outside rages, Black Widow, Thor, War Machine, the Scarlet Witch, and Bruce Banner inside a Hulk-sized Iron Man suit, unable to get Hulk to come out for some unexplained reason, all chopping and killing and crushing and exploding monstrous enemies.  The Wakandans, meanwhile, fight with spears and courage.  Absurd, since Thanos could send in attackers armed with particle beam weapons, or even Tommy guns to mow down hundreds of these warriors armed like ancient Egyptians.  

     Just because something looks cool (warriors carrying spears) doesn't mean it should be pursued as a plot element, unless the spears are magical, somehow, but then, why not have the Wakandans set up artillery and machine gun emplacements, mine the field the enemy must cross?  The goal seems to be: have the heroes and their allies break into a fast run at the enemy in order to distract attention from Vision's operation.

     Thanos shows up, rips the last Stone from Vision's head, fights Thor, takes the God Axe to his chest, says "You should have aimed for the hand."

     Snaps his fingers, people start to turn into dust.  The Scarlet Witch dies, Bucky, Captain America's friend, also.  The Falcon turns to dust, as does Black Panther and Groot, one of Rocket's companions.  I'm missing some, perhaps, but back on Titan, more die before Tony Stark's eyes, the saddest situation involving the death of young Peter Parker.  Tony Stark had acted as a father figure to some extent for this young man.  Peter got into the superhero game largely due to Iron Man's influence.  The moment of Tony helping Peter to the ground as he begins to dissolve into dust is a deeply moving scene.  Robert Downey, Jr.'s performance throughout the film brings high quality acting to all of his scenes.

     Chris Hemsworth as Thor also gives a good performance, as does Josh Brolin as Thanos, although he's covered in makeup and CGI effects.  Still, he portrays well a strong villain, one imbued with complexity and many peculiarities, like demonstrating compassion for some of the innocents he encounters.  

     Still, his plan to annihilate half of all sentient life, however well-meaning, is batshit crazy.  There's no logic to the selection of victims, or any knowing of how that's decided by the Infinity Stones or however it's done.  Surely, killing innocent people along with corrupt people and concluding it's all one and the same, democratic so to speak, begs for argument, but there's no arguing with a fanatic.

     He returns in Avengers: Endgame, the fourth film.  I'll watch that, too, eventually.  After seeing a CGI-heavy film my eyes need a break.

Vic Neptune