Avengers: Infinity War Review

        We’re near the end of the MCU’s Infinity Saga, it’s almost like it was yesterday when I, along with some friends and acquaintances watched Avengers: Infinity War in a packed theater. Of course, it was at the time the most hyped release of any Avengers and MCU film. I was hesitant since Joss Whedon wasn’t going to direct another one but was assured that the Russo Brothers were going to helm it. Safe to say that they. delivered and probably brought the whole MCU and the general audiences feelings into another level. 

1. Infinity War

        The way the film starts is unlike any other MCU or Avengers film to open at that time. Still keeping with the formula that they introduce the threat and then kicking off the story. Just how it starts lays it out that this is going to be different from what we’ve seen before. The ominous theme is Thanos’ leitmotif along with the ship carrying Thor and the other Asgardians as they plead that they’re a rescue vessel. 

        While we’ll talk about Thanos’ massive role in the film, he practically steals the whole show performance wise and with his own actions. Before I do that, we see just how much of a disadvantage the heroes are in this one. Since the Avengers disbanded following Civil War, everyone here is separated. And separation is one of the film’s main points of approval. We do have a massive cast; some may say that it’s an epic. An epic in the context of cinema is a particular film where the scope is massive along with the cast. 

        The key thing that is practically a must is that when a film has a massive cast, split them up. If everyone is occupying the same room or a general area where the action is taking place, part of it will feel discombobulated and some characters getting the short end of the stick as far as screen time. The one example where this idea holds true is with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Anyways, the core members of the team are split off as they attempt to stop Thanos from acquiring the infinity stones. 

        I might as well talk about the fact that the heroes are separated. Obviously, Tony has a massive ego battle with Doctor Strange. Compounding is that Spider-Man joins the fray and the Guardians of the Galaxy. While yes, it’s fan service to have these guys finally meet but the overall crux of the meet up is that they don’t gel well enough to work with each other. We see that Strange puts his Time Stone first in front of everyone else, which practically sets up a little battle of morality. 

        Meanwhile, we see that the remaining heroes back on Earth try to save Vision without killing him. It’s a recurring thing that I’ve noticed on this rewatch where the heroes put Vis’ life first before destroying the stone that’s giving him life. The theme of sacrifice is prevalent in the whole film. Most of the heroes try to save Vision but at a price where Thanos is coming for him. More so that there’s one scene where Peter Quill and Gamora talk about having him kill her so that Thanos doesn’t know where one of the stones locations is. 

        I mean yeah, it’s a blockbuster that is a spectacle for the audience and delivers those what I call theater moments. Moments where a character reappears or something dramatic happens where it has the audience audibly gasp or cheer. Like a theme park where everyone actively reacts due to the characters that they got to know on a personal level. One instance is when Thor gets his new hammer. We see that he gets hurt and the blacksmith is looking for the handle, Groot makes a new handle and wields the weapon and I remember how everyone was just losing their minds at the sight of seeing him do that. Then transition to the Avengers seemingly losing a fight, then Thor triumphantly appears in Wakanda to do massive damage. 

2. Thanos

        Even though it’s an Avengers film, this film is strictly Thanos’. Very little has been revealed about the villain since he was a tease in the first Avengers and made an appearance in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Just seeing him along with his posse just seemingly eliminate the refuged Asgardians just shows how ruthless he is. That scene when the Hulk jumps out and fights Thanos is probably the best introduction to the actual threat. Like here we see that Hulk is the strongest one there is, and it looks like the fight may be one sided. 

        Until we see Thanos just throw down and manage to defeat Hulk, to the point where we see Banner trying to be the Hulk to no avail. I think what makes Thanos work as an antagonist is that we never had a good look at him in the prior films. Minor appearances but we never really get to see just how violent or evil he was. Leaving the door open as to anyone to assume just who he is as a character. 

        While his actions are diabolical for an eco-terrorist, we have one scene where he makes everyone relate to him. The scene involving him, and Gamora is one of the best in the film due to how it humanizes Thanos and makes him an understandable villain. We see just how his motive to him is justifiable since he doesn’t want the other worlds to suffer like his did. Conversely, Gamora states that she was taken from her family when he invaded her world. 

        It's one of those things where he calmly states his intention basically tricks us into thinking that his idea is a good one. All the while, Thanos is hellbent with going through with it by any means necessary. This is where that sacrifice theme comes up again as he sees Gamora as his obstacle and necessary objective to help him. Among the deaths and we will talk about the obvious moment, this one hurt since we see her be just a pawn to Thanos’ plan. And how I feel that this sequel is the true dark film of the Avengers series. 

        Among the other villains that appear alongside the Marvel characters, Thanos is easily up there that he achieves what he planned to do. While the other films have villains like Magneto or again Loki, Thanos has such an interesting character where just him appearing officially in this movie makes his showing more beloved as one of cinema’s best villains. And maybe for a comic book villain since he achieves what he wanted to do. Which is why his fatal move may be the best executed in terms of a cliffhanger. 

3. The Snap

        I don’t think any casual audience member has read the comic books involving Thanos or his quest for the stones. Not even getting a glimpse or full scope of just the cataclysm that he did within the comics. While I knew what he did in the comics would be adapted to an extent in this film, just the way it’s presented here is probably one of the best moments in the MCU in general. I mean, there are moments where it’s clap inducing that are the definitive heroic aspects of the franchise, but this one was a massive gamechanger. 

        We see that in Wakanda, Thanos has managed to get all the stones. I think of the deaths, Vision’s was the most gruesome due to how Wanda sacrificed him. All that gets undone as Thanos rewinds time and plucks the stone out of Vision’s head, effectively killing him. Thor arrives and manages to injure the villain, then the mad titan mocks him for not aiming for the head. Thanos proceeds to snap his gauntlet and completing his quest. 

        The whole approach to the snap is just perfect. No music is played, and we see how a select few are targeted as we see them turn into dust. Reminiscing again was that people were gasping and shouting no as various heroes and soldiers of Wakanda disappeared out of existence. Out of all the dusting, Spider-Man’s was the most heartbreaking. Tom Holland’s performance sells it as we see just how he’s hurting and then phasing out.

        In the context of the story, it’s the most effective at showing that the heroes tried and failed to stop the villain. All the prior Avengers films had it be where the team wins, lose and then wins the final fight. With this one, the losses outweigh the wins, and it shows in the final shot of the surviving heroes that they were left awe struck and horrified as to what has happened. To even punctuate it, we see Thanos finally relax after everything he did. It’s dark in an ironic sense since he won and did what he did. 

4. Overall

        Avengers: Infinity War for as great a film that it is, is easily one of the darkest entries in the MCU and for any sequel in cinema. 

Black Panther Review

        I always feel that the MCU has peak years that help define them and gain more considerable fans to hop on the bandwagon. 2018 was monumental not just for the MCU but for the Marvel brand as well. You had this film and two others that grossed 3 billion dollars and an animated Spider-Man film from Sony that blew the door open for a different style of animation. It seemed that the brand could do no wrong with Black Panther. 

1. A Prince Becoming a King

        It’s kind of astonishing just how this film blew up when it came out many years ago. What helped was the small glimpse of T’Challa in Civil War and seeing just how he was like an Earth version of Thor. Since he has superhuman aspects and is of royalty. In some way, this feels like a better version of what Thor could’ve been in the context of the MCU. In some way, the whole idea of adapting the Black Panther is such a huge task that no other director could’ve done it better than Ryan Coogler. 

        He's the next director that has that distinct voice. Creed is the first film that I’ve seen, and it really exposed me to what kind of films he has made so far. I haven’t had the chance to see his debut work Fruitvale Station, but I’ve heard great things about that one. He’s one of those directors where I will actively watch his subsequent works. It’s something to really admire Marvel for giving an established director a B-Level superhero. It seemed that he had total control of how he wanted to portray the T‘Challa and the world of Wakanda. 

        The way the movie starts is both a subversion and keeping in line with how the Marvel films of this phase start. We assume that the young prince is learning about the history of the kingdom from his father. Only to transition to Oakland and that the father and son speaking are exiles from Wakanda. It’s revealed that the King’s brother has been helping weapons dealer Ulysses Klaue obtain Vibranium. We’ve seen him prior in Age of Ultron, since he’s practically tied to the character comic origins. 

        Years past as we see T’Challa now becoming the temporary ruler of Wakanda. I love the banter between T’Challa and Okoye. In between that we see a tiny glimpse of the tech that Wakanda has. Fairly advanced that rivals anything that we see Tony Stark create. After the prince rescues his ex Nakia, we then transition to entering Wakanda. I just love the whole moment of the characters entering Wakanda. We start with a small Serengeti-esque land then entering the city itself as it’s protected by a disguised shield.

        From there, we see the trial and tribulations of what T’Challa is going through. He wants to be a good king, but he’s conflicted with opening his kingdom to the outside world and bringing in Klaue. His own mentality gets the better of him since he hears from different people on how to be a good king. He’s doing what he thinks is right, but not being wiser. I’ll talk about Killmonger in a second, since he practically steals the show from his cousin. 

        Lastly, I just love the world of Wakanda. I think the best aspect of it is that we see the traditional wear that the different tribes wear when T’Challa must go through ritual combat. All-encompassing some aspects of traditional African wear while still being able to be it’s own thing. My one gripe is that we don’t see enough of the city to get the feel for it. Like it would’ve been one thing where T’Challa walks through the city and realizes that he should do more. Putting the emphasis on how the new king must provide for his people or still maintain its isolationist role due to tradition. 

2. Killmonger

        Of course, Michael B. Jordan must appear in a Ryan Coogler film. Both basically are conjoined to the hip when owing their successes. It’s rare nowadays to have a director-actor duo in movies right now. I think the closest so far in a duo is Martin Scorsese and Leo DiCaprio, although I could be wrong. Anyways, everything about Killmonger is so interesting that he’s next in line next to Loki with how complex he is. 

        I love his introduction since he manages to play cool, but easily turns a switch by being sinister. One would think that Klaue was the actual villain since he has more firepower to his augmented arm. It would be interesting, but Killmonger has beef with the whole kingdom due to how it hasn’t done anything for the other African races across the globe. More so that his anger is directed towards the new king. 

        You must have the villains be the opposite of the heroes, that’s one thing. Like you got to have them be the evil version of the hero by having an evil Jaguar suit. Panthers are just Jaguars, in case anyone doesn’t know their big cats. Anyways, we see that N’Jadaka practically treats anything ancient as beneath him. He steals an African mask and is just a leader gone mad when he usurps control of the kingdom. 

        My favorite scene involving him is when he takes the herb that grants him powers. It’s established that when T’Challa ingests it, he’s transported to the ancestral plane. When Erik ingests it, he is immediately transported to the plane that resembles his dad’s apartment. From there, we learn that Erik hasn’t moved on from his father’s death, immediately looking for info on Wakanda. Dressing like his younger self and asked by his father why he didn’t grieve of him. 

        I think in one way, it’s representative on how there’s a massive disconnect between Killmonger and Wakanda. For as much as he claims that the throne is his, he’s an alien that looks just like them. More so that it can be interpreted that while T’Challa’s vision was him being free, Killmonger’s is like him being inside a cage. Additionally, with him being disrespectful to their traditions to now becoming a king with ill intentions. 

3. A King’s Legacy

        I remember just how tough a task it was to try and get a ticket for this movie. I would think that the subsequent Avengers film would have a daunting task of just getting standing room to peak at the screen. I had to wait two weeks just to get a ticket to see the film. And I remember the theater reactions being more outpouring of the film. Mind you, this film spoke to the target audience that didn’t read the comic books. This is the inflection point of where a B-level hero would now become an A-lister. 

        One would think that aside from Iron Man and Captain America, I would never think that this film would even gross a billion dollars. Or even be nominated for Oscars and subsequently winning awards. It’s at this junction that the sub-genre gained the level of prestige where, while yes it has a targeted audience to push merchandising. More so that it moved people thinking that this is the level of representation that has been needed in a cinema. Specifically in a comic book movie where the hero only made seldom appearances only in animation.

        I think it’s appropriate that I discuss Chadwick Boseman. I think that when the sequel was announced, I was more than ready to see him suit up again and face the next threat to his kingdom. It’s still a shock that four years has gone by that I remember the notification popping up that he passed away. You really can’t talk about the movie and character without mentioning Chadwick. Boseman did a good job as portraying the King and a hero. 

        He had that level of charm and intelligence where he had the playful banter between his sister and with his captain of the guard. In one way, he was the inspiration for a lot of people to act like him and show someone that it’s possible that someone looking like him could be in higher power. It’s weird that I’m reflecting a performance posthumously since the studio made it a point that they won’t recast the role. What I will say to wrap it up is that it’s a gutsy move to have him show his physique while he was battling cancer. That takes a lot of courage and I’ll leave it at that. 

4. Overall

        Black Panther is probably up there with one of the best MCU films, and one of the best comic book films in general. 

Thor: Ragnarök Review

    

    

        Thor has always had the most interesting films. In a way that Marvel Studios could never nail the right tone or style that best represents the hero. We had two different directors give their own aesthetics to show who the God of Thunder is. I remember when the studio showed the films for this phase, Thor: Ragnarök’s teaser title card had a darkness to it that something big was going to come down. Of course, Ragnarök is the Norse version of Armageddon. What I’m getting at is that with a new director helming a Thor film, it was a low bar for him to leap over and do something different. And man did he do it. 

1. Thor’s Odd Odyssey 

        Aside from the subsequent Avengers films coming up in the phase and to an extent Civil War’s last second introduction of Spider-Man, Thor: Ragnarök’s teaser is quite possibly the best trailer in the MCU. We see him in chains, and the real oh shit moment is seeing the main villain break his hammer Mjolnir. Additionally, having the Hulk pop up and fighting Odinson in a gladiatorial skirmish. To me, it’s indicative of what a teaser should be, it has to have a hook. And yeah, I took the bait big time. 

        With that, after the events of Age of Ultron we follow Thor as he searches for the Infinity Stones. He encounters a fire demon as he tells Odinson that he will destroy Asgard to fulfill the prophecy of Ragnarök. Thor returns to Asgard to find his father, only to discover that Loki has banished him to Earth. With the help of Doctor Strange, the brothers find their father and ultimately meet their sister Hela. 

        So yeah, this movie has two stories going on where it involves both Thor and what’s happening in Asgard. Having it played out where Thor is in another world while also trying to save his home from destruction has it where there are stakes. What makes it work is that he sees another Asgardian named Valkyrie. She abandoned her home to help the world’s leader find new contenders. 

        Most of the moments when Thor is on the planet Sakarr is another fish out of water storyline. This time where Thor is the only normal person whereas everything in the world is so zany and weird. All of it comes down to Jeff Goldblum’s character The Grandmaster. This person is probably the most eccentric and flamboyant character that Marvel has put on screen. He’s basically a dictator but is just goofy with how he acts. 

        But before I talk about Hela, I must talk about the Hulk. I was excited when he was returning and surprised that he was able to talk in his hulk-form. Showing us that Banner has been the jade giant for quite some time and being able to talk in a child-esque way. The moments between him and Thor are great since it has a buddy dynamic. Especially when it involves Thor switching his mind to who he prefers when he’s talking to either Hulk or Banner. 

        On the flipside, Hela is the hottest and most intimidating villain that I’ve seen. Just her appearance alone and seeing her crushing grip on Mjolnir makes her one of the best in the MCU. Just her appearing in Asgard and to quickly disposing most of Thor’s friends and the Asgardian army perfectly punctuates just how much of a threat she is. More so of the revelation that Asgard has skeletons in it’s closet. 

        When Hela destroys the ceiling mural to show the original was a shock. Having Odin and Hela being side by side as she wields Mjolnir was something I never expected to happen. More than anything, it shows what Hela wants. And going about it in the most diabolical way you can imagine. In one way, the whole film is like a slow walk towards Asgard’s destruction. 

        To elaborate more on that, when it involves like a prophecy world ending event is usually a bad idea in a comic book film. The ones that have that but then the day is saved, and the big fear is then sent to the backburner. How Ragnarök handles the apocalypse is that the actions that Thor does doesn’t immediately get noticed unless you’re an eagle-eyed fan that has an attention to detail. Like he unintentionally sets it up but realizes that the actual Asgard isn’t indicative of what he thinks is his people’s home. 

                I think if there’s one thing that can be taken away is the idea of “Might” and “Right. We’ve heard the saying that might makes right, simply stating that brute force is applied into anything. With this film, it’s presented that the rulers of Sakarr and Asgard that they rule everything with an iron fist, or Hulk. So much so that Thor tries to reason with Hulk but tries to go above Banner’s brute strength but loses. It’s a thing where Thor learns that he doesn’t have to be the strongest but has to be a true leader to help. 

        The final fight scene is indicative of this dueling ideas. After Hela takes out Thor’s eye and pinning him down, Odinson has the realization that his power doesn’t come from his hammer but him. And what we get is Thor just unleashing his power, but Hela gets right back up. It’s a subversion and supplements the idea because Thor knows that he must beat his sister by letting Asgard be destroyed. 

2. Taika Waititi 

        Of the phases that we’ve seen so far in the MCU, this one feels like the most director centric of the bunch. While yes, they had to adhere to the overall MCU storyline while basically adapting that story into their unique vision. Waititi is an interesting choice since his style of filmmaking is mostly comedy. An exact opposite of how the other Thor movies tried to do a Shakespearean and Game of Thrones feel, but none of it quite hitting like this one. 

        What sets Taika apart from the other directors is that his vision is so bonkers crazy that I can imagine that the heads of Marvel were concerned but ultimately let him do what he wanted in this sequel. For one thing, the film is comedic, probably the most comedic film in the entire Infinity Saga. With how the film starts with Thor being threatened by Surtur has its first comedic moment when Thor slightly spins around as he’s chained up. 

        Beyond the comedic moments which the movie does so well, I must commend with how it looks especially. Now, everything in the MCU specifically focusing on space is exactly the right amount of alien it should be. All of Sakar is colorful and matches the vibe of the Grandmaster who is so flamboyant as an evil ruler. I think the best moment to capture it is when the Grandmaster talks to Loki and Thor. The music is techno-but of course not sounding like no one could’ve orchestrated it on Earth.  

        It’s no wonder that this movie is the highest grossing among Thor’s films. And I think with the film’s success that Disney basically gave him a carte blanche to do his other film that he went on to direct Jojo Rabbit for Fox Searchlight Pictures. Seeing that one, I think it might be his best and he obviously deserved to win an Oscar. Other opportunities came about by helming a vampire show on FX and a pirate show on HBO max. Not to say or assume that those were under development prior to Thor’s third film, but it’s success probably jumpstarted the productions for all of them. 

3. Overall

        Thor Ragnarök is one of the best films in the MCU in general. And part of the successful streak that Marvel had in the 3rd phase of their films.