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| Source: Imdb |
Despite my mounting disgust with
Marvel movies, I was looking forward to seeing this one as I was promised a
more serious experience. I’m glad I took the plunge. I should probably issue a
big fat SPOILER WARNING at the top of this as I will pile up some assorted
musings that may be unfit for those who are still planning to see this film.
First off, the acting. By now, everybody clearly feels totally at home in their roles. I particularly enjoyed how Benedict Cumberbatch sort of grew into Dr. Strange’s coat. He seemed a lot more comfortable now, his character finally centred and settled. RDJ was a joy as Tony Stark, as always, and it would have been a tragedy for the franchise to lose him. I’m glad they found sufficient amounts of money somewhere in a drawer to keep him on board. The whole thing would not be half as good without him as, for me, Tony is the glue who keeps it all together, the conscience and the brains, the wit and the heart. I did not like the re-design of Black Widow. Apparently, there is only one character with red hair allowed at any given time. I enjoyed Paul Bettany way more as Vision than I did previously. Chris Hemsworth is just perfect as Thor, who has gone through quite a character-building journey in the previous movies and appears a lot more worthy of respect now. A quick note on Tom Hiddleston because I just have to: I am SO GLAD that he only appeared in the first few minutes because I was just soooo distracted remembering that night, when I stood next to him and chatted with him about the play he was currently doing here in London. I got a lovely photo out of it, too, and it gave me quite the high. So yeah, I could only think of him with red curls, a beard and a stylish, form-fitting black coat... Loki looks very different. XD (Gah! Gotta go look at that pic again now ) (ARGH! That reminds me that he would be the perfect height for me, as I am quite tall. We look good together in that pic. *sigh*)
On to the plot! I confess that I did not take Thanos seriously in the beginning. He seems not like your run-off-the-mill villain. Rather, he seems like a misguided extremist, but they quickly demonstrated that he means business when he started killing off people (of which this franchise has plenty to spare; By the time Gomorra died, I thought it was actually a good thing to start thinning out the ranks a bit and get rid of the overcrowding of characters). I enjoyed how Tony was, yet again, the one to rally the defence, and how they managed to weave that together with past trauma and grievances to make it interesting. It was fun to see the Guardians come into it and Captain America reuniting his team with the rest in their efforts to save the universe. On another note, one could complain that all the romantic entanglements that seem to be sprouting all over the place are a bit jarring, but I didn’t feel that way, surprisingly. I was just completely lost regarding how or when Pepper and Tony got together again. I really did my best to watch the massive rat’s tail of movies that came before this, and I still feel utterly lost at times.
I love how Tony found his bearings again after all the trauma he suffered and is the smart-mouthed brains of this whole thing. I love seeing him go toe to toe with everyone, but he knows what he’s talking about, damnit! He’s in control and confident, cool and collected, but with a big, soft heart and an endearing vulnerability that I just can’t help but adore. Always my favourite character, and to see him suffer is heart-breaking.
They certainly stole from Lord Beris (Dragon Ball Super) with the gliding evil overlord move. However, I’m impressed to see that, for once, even the henchmen are scary and powerful and not just cannon fodder. Adds more weight to the threat.
As for the humour: I get that it’s tricky to hit the right tone in this particular movie and this franchise, but Thor smiling like that when he takes Starlord’s pod, just hours after his brother died and he was broken by grief, is a bit inconsistent. Going forward, however, they do do a great job at striking a surprisingly successful balance between comedy and high stakes tragedy. They bring a thigh-slapper every five minutes, making me laugh out loud, and then turn around and engage me again with some more heartbreak and seriousness. Massive kudos to Chris Hemsworth, by the way. That scene where he boasts to Rocket about how he’s absolutely up for fighting Thanos (as second time) really broke my heart. His desperate grief for his brother... Hands down, my favourite scene in the entire movie, brilliantly played by Chris Hemsworth with a stark vulnerability beneath his desperate bravado that makes my heart clench. But I felt most for Tony, already a traumatised realist... now his son-substitute has died, too, and most people around him, while he survives a mortal wound... leaving him stranded alone with his grief and guilt on an alien planet.
First off, the acting. By now, everybody clearly feels totally at home in their roles. I particularly enjoyed how Benedict Cumberbatch sort of grew into Dr. Strange’s coat. He seemed a lot more comfortable now, his character finally centred and settled. RDJ was a joy as Tony Stark, as always, and it would have been a tragedy for the franchise to lose him. I’m glad they found sufficient amounts of money somewhere in a drawer to keep him on board. The whole thing would not be half as good without him as, for me, Tony is the glue who keeps it all together, the conscience and the brains, the wit and the heart. I did not like the re-design of Black Widow. Apparently, there is only one character with red hair allowed at any given time. I enjoyed Paul Bettany way more as Vision than I did previously. Chris Hemsworth is just perfect as Thor, who has gone through quite a character-building journey in the previous movies and appears a lot more worthy of respect now. A quick note on Tom Hiddleston because I just have to: I am SO GLAD that he only appeared in the first few minutes because I was just soooo distracted remembering that night, when I stood next to him and chatted with him about the play he was currently doing here in London. I got a lovely photo out of it, too, and it gave me quite the high. So yeah, I could only think of him with red curls, a beard and a stylish, form-fitting black coat... Loki looks very different. XD (Gah! Gotta go look at that pic again now ) (ARGH! That reminds me that he would be the perfect height for me, as I am quite tall. We look good together in that pic. *sigh*)
On to the plot! I confess that I did not take Thanos seriously in the beginning. He seems not like your run-off-the-mill villain. Rather, he seems like a misguided extremist, but they quickly demonstrated that he means business when he started killing off people (of which this franchise has plenty to spare; By the time Gomorra died, I thought it was actually a good thing to start thinning out the ranks a bit and get rid of the overcrowding of characters). I enjoyed how Tony was, yet again, the one to rally the defence, and how they managed to weave that together with past trauma and grievances to make it interesting. It was fun to see the Guardians come into it and Captain America reuniting his team with the rest in their efforts to save the universe. On another note, one could complain that all the romantic entanglements that seem to be sprouting all over the place are a bit jarring, but I didn’t feel that way, surprisingly. I was just completely lost regarding how or when Pepper and Tony got together again. I really did my best to watch the massive rat’s tail of movies that came before this, and I still feel utterly lost at times.
I love how Tony found his bearings again after all the trauma he suffered and is the smart-mouthed brains of this whole thing. I love seeing him go toe to toe with everyone, but he knows what he’s talking about, damnit! He’s in control and confident, cool and collected, but with a big, soft heart and an endearing vulnerability that I just can’t help but adore. Always my favourite character, and to see him suffer is heart-breaking.
They certainly stole from Lord Beris (Dragon Ball Super) with the gliding evil overlord move. However, I’m impressed to see that, for once, even the henchmen are scary and powerful and not just cannon fodder. Adds more weight to the threat.
As for the humour: I get that it’s tricky to hit the right tone in this particular movie and this franchise, but Thor smiling like that when he takes Starlord’s pod, just hours after his brother died and he was broken by grief, is a bit inconsistent. Going forward, however, they do do a great job at striking a surprisingly successful balance between comedy and high stakes tragedy. They bring a thigh-slapper every five minutes, making me laugh out loud, and then turn around and engage me again with some more heartbreak and seriousness. Massive kudos to Chris Hemsworth, by the way. That scene where he boasts to Rocket about how he’s absolutely up for fighting Thanos (as second time) really broke my heart. His desperate grief for his brother... Hands down, my favourite scene in the entire movie, brilliantly played by Chris Hemsworth with a stark vulnerability beneath his desperate bravado that makes my heart clench. But I felt most for Tony, already a traumatised realist... now his son-substitute has died, too, and most people around him, while he survives a mortal wound... leaving him stranded alone with his grief and guilt on an alien planet.
So, a
peculiar combination, almost like a tragic comedy, but it works! It means that,
despite the massive runtime, this is never boring. An emotional roller-coaster ride.
Side note: All the Guardians parenting Groot. Adorable.
To wrap up my musings about the plot: I can’t help but think that they deserved to lose, for a change. And for all those impossible wins, they deserved to lose big. I’m glad I am not too invested in those characters or this would have broken me. Instead, I’m just glad they did not take Tony away, too. But there has to be something to it. Dr. Strange is no idiot and no wimp. Why would he give up his stone for a dying stranger whom he dislikes? No. There is something here...
Technically, this was well-made. They have money in spades and are willing to fork out on the things that count. Strangely, only Thanos was not as well-animated as I would have expected. The rest of the visuals were up to the expectations. The effects were good. The make-up was mixed (for example, they messed up on Thor, but did well on Gomorra). Costumes were nice. Good choice of locations, too (I recognise Edinburgh). The editing was spot-on, making this a snappy, fast-moving film, efficiently cut down to the size it needed to be. Weirdly enough, I sort of didn’t want it to end, but it had to. Alan Silvestri is back, too! He wrote a lovely score with pathos to spare. I barely noticed it during the movie, but the credits were a nice piece.
To conclude: In my opinion, this was the best Marvel film since Iron Man, with some real stakes and real loss. A good thing about having so many characters is that you can kill off quite a few before anyone even notices someone’s missing. In fact, I quite welcomed the thinning-out of the lines. Anyway, 4/5.
Side note: All the Guardians parenting Groot. Adorable.
To wrap up my musings about the plot: I can’t help but think that they deserved to lose, for a change. And for all those impossible wins, they deserved to lose big. I’m glad I am not too invested in those characters or this would have broken me. Instead, I’m just glad they did not take Tony away, too. But there has to be something to it. Dr. Strange is no idiot and no wimp. Why would he give up his stone for a dying stranger whom he dislikes? No. There is something here...
Technically, this was well-made. They have money in spades and are willing to fork out on the things that count. Strangely, only Thanos was not as well-animated as I would have expected. The rest of the visuals were up to the expectations. The effects were good. The make-up was mixed (for example, they messed up on Thor, but did well on Gomorra). Costumes were nice. Good choice of locations, too (I recognise Edinburgh). The editing was spot-on, making this a snappy, fast-moving film, efficiently cut down to the size it needed to be. Weirdly enough, I sort of didn’t want it to end, but it had to. Alan Silvestri is back, too! He wrote a lovely score with pathos to spare. I barely noticed it during the movie, but the credits were a nice piece.
To conclude: In my opinion, this was the best Marvel film since Iron Man, with some real stakes and real loss. A good thing about having so many characters is that you can kill off quite a few before anyone even notices someone’s missing. In fact, I quite welcomed the thinning-out of the lines. Anyway, 4/5.
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