Hier ist es.
Meine Kritik zu Infinity War. Nicht korrekturgelesen, einfach nur durch die Finger auf die Tastatur.
First i want to acknowledge that this movie is a crowning achievement. In ten years the people behind the Marvel movie machine have established a franchise that went beyond what was deemed possible; starting out with Iron Man, who was, at the time, not well regarded with readers. At the end of the day it is one of the biggest money printing facilities in the media world today, but back in 2008, when Nick Fury asked Tony Stark about the Avengers initiative, who would have thought that we get to see an Avengers movie? Who would have dared to think that Kenneth Brannagh would direct a Thor movie? And who would have thought that we would get the whole roster of well known and beloved figures not only spanking each other but acting out a version of one of the most beloved stories Marvel Comics has to offer? With a different title, but when running an Infinity Gauntlet isn’t enough, you need an Infinity War!
The story is easily told: over a span of several post-credit scenes Thanos has finally come face to face with a character in the MCU worth noticing, Thor -and the rest of Asgard. In the first few minutes it gets established, that it’s better to read the wikipedia entries for the Marvel movies between each Avengers movies alongside the ruthlessness and ability Thanos and his „Children“-was Black Order[1] to important sounding for a group of glorified punching bags?- are willing to muster to unite the infinity stones on the glove, the last Eternal from the Titan colony[2] got custom made for the occasion[3].
And it will take the combined effort of all the established heroes of the MCU to avert this undertaking.
Of course the heroes have to measure up against each other with snide remarks or fisticuffs in the tradition of their four color origins before combining their efforts.
This movie is this generations equivalent of The Empire Strikes Back; but with a variation. Empire ended with Luke getting a cybernetic replacement for his lost hand and the mentioning of a plan to get Han from Jabba’s custody.
Infinity War in turn ends the moment Leia and company find out that the hyperdrive is still not functional and Vader’s crew is preparing the tractor beam to bring the Millennium Falcon aboard. There is a glimmer of hope, but statistics say: hope turns the light off.
And good on them for doing so! What these movies needed was a wake up call, and this one got the job done. And it would have been better if the rest of the runtime would not feel like the worlds most entertaining checklist. Of course i was surprised by the pairings of the characters, delighted by their interactions and surprised that almost everyone got a small continuation of their personal story but bummed that this was a commercial for Avengers 4.
What equally bothers me is the portrayal of Thanos. Yes, he is one gorgeous computer construct and while Josh Brolin’s performance shines through the -presumably- mocap get up it doesn’t blind one enough to overlook the missing third dimension. Having your villian jump through a massive hoop to further convince the viewer of his conviction to be on the just path, after showing the lengths he is willing to go when needed earlier feels like added weight in an otherwise lean narrative. Sure, it seems „more casual“ and less surprising then, still it takes some emotional numbness to do. It’s not a big spoiler that Hawkeye is missing from this movie, he would have seemed ridiculous[4]. But he could have elevated Thanos‘ role because he would have been the guy to state „When be buried the purple bastard we should remind Tony of being a futurist who tries to solve global problems because we spent our recourse limit for 2017 in june of that year. At some point we’ll be fighting for a sip of water and ignore the sky beam.“ Worked wonders with the reception of Killmonger.
I would lie if i said i have not enjoyed this movie. There is a particular sequence that, like Thor Ragnarok as a whole, felt lifted straight from a Kirby drawing; showing off the scale that some of these figures operate in.
It is amazing to live in a world where the confidence in one movie studio only made people ask one question about a movie juggling 20+ protagonists: how good will it be?
It’s far from perfect; if it would have been, they’d have to quit the business.
Spoiler in depth thoughts and rants after the footnotes.
[1] The Black Order – marvel.wikia.org
[2] Could the fact that he’s an Eternal and the origin comic for his MCU counterpart give the rumours of an Eternals movie being worked on any weight?
[3] I know, we have to stretch our imaginations -and i’m not that sure about the timeline- but even Hela’s comment about the gauntlet in Odin’s fault being a fake, this still does not explain that no Asgardian had known about Thanos‘ attack on a forge under their protection; which must have happened wayyy before Ragnarok because Thanos gets his glove out of storage at the end of Age of Ultron.
Now, this might sound like it is bothering me; it is in no way! Of course there are bound to be continuity hiccups happening while keeping the logistics of the behemoth that the MCU has become in motion.
And where’s Valkyrie?
[4] Batman is a founding member of the Justice League, he has the right to be ridiculous. But he talked Desaad into committing suicide in Grant Morrison’s run on JLA, he earned that spot.
So let’s further talk about the secret star of Infinity War: the guts of the one or group of persons that agreed on letting it happen. Having a devastated Steve Rogers mutter „My god.“ while Thanos is smiling at the setting sun is was a brave and oddly fitting decision. The theatre is a place to let go of the world outside. The reason superhero narratives are thriving is because the real world feels like it’s in a downward spiral and in dire need of clean cut figures like Captain America. And now they lost. Not only the battle but 50% of the known population.
And as if that wasn’t enough, cue a pimped pager showing the logo of a character that casual moviegoers have no idea about. I talked to a few comicshop owners about the Captain Marvel relaunch, and they all said that the title was riding a wave of goodwill from Marvel Comics. And rightly so, because it paved the way for a book i still enjoy: Ms. Marvel. And that redesign from Jamie McKelvie with the Mohawk and the sash is still great to look at. If Infinity War is anything, it’s a big middle finger held up proudly to the whole industry; Marvel has finished the race they -perhaps unintenionally- started. Everybody else is just trying to get a crumb that falls from their table. That Tremors deal just blew up to a six part movie deal. Does anybody even remember the original? Will Godzilla co-star in it?
But what will that ending do to what we see in a few years? Those characters will all come back, but will their third death have the same impact once you have a cleansing in every other franchise? The argument is that a figures death in comics is used to change the people around the deceased rather than the figure itself. A great idea about how to use this story mechanic, but for every well written comic there is an Identity Crisis that only uses violence and death to further the violence being dealt in return, and diminishes the genre as a whole.
I’m confident that at the moment, Marvel Studios is interested in making money with engaging material. Guardians Of The Galaxy proofed that audiences are willing to broaden their views. Kevin Feige and his collaborators fought long for the independence they enjoy today but the day will come where Marvel will stumble over it’s own success. And i dread what stunts will be pulled to get people to spend money. Dead will be commonplace in the genre soon; what lies beyond?
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