AIW Review (Part 4 of 5, 1094 more words)

Now about that ending....  I will say right now, this very moment, I do not care how they come back. Whichever one of the stones does it or whoever or whatever does it (I’m guessing that other gauntlet the giant dwarf had will come in handy), whatever.  I will also say this however: one of the (many) things I utterly despised about Star Trek Into Darkness was the horrible contrivance of Khan’s blood being able to resurrect the dead (or I guess just Kirk).  That movie had too many fatal blows for me to ever fully come around but I did resign myself to reevaluating it if the follow up movie explored that idea in an interesting way.  The idea of civilization now having access to something which could cure fatal diseases and resurrect freshly deceased people has HUGE potential for a genuinely interesting and intelligent sci-fi tale.  I told myself if they tapped into that, carried that beat forward and didn’t let it just die as a stupid plot contrivance then I would be less critical of Into Darkness.  Of course that did not happen at all and Star Trek Beyond was just another bland adventure trying to be Star Wars and with very little to offer (oddly, it also featured Idris in yet another useless role). 

So, again, I don’t currently care how they come back BUT if the Marvel team can tell an interesting story – if those “dead” characters are in some other dimension and have to go through some kind of emotional journey or if the path to the resurrection itself is an interesting (interesting in that it informs character and theme, if there is a theme) and DIFFERENT journey for the living heroes (sorta like The Search For Spock) or if there is one Avenger who looks at the world and realizes “you know, Thanos was right, the planet is essentially at peace now that half the people are gone, maybe we shouldn’t be so fast to undo everything” – or something better that I can’t think of…I don’t care, I’m not asking the world, just ANYTHING which shows there’s some thought into emotional stakes and arcs, character growth, thematic depth and relevancy.  I don’t need a lot in these movies for it to go a long way because I am bleeping STARVED for it!  I think that’s why I had such a big positive reaction to Black Panther because it at least tried to put in some of that stuff and be relevant and say SOMETHING!  Just please try and say something and BE ABOUT SOMETHING!  I’ll give mad points for trying!  MAD BLEEPING POINTS!  Just a sprinkle of it!  Just a drop of it, even if it’s by accident! 

If they can make these deaths and resurrections have a cost or have meaning then I will re-evaluate Infinity War.  I give you my word!  But…like the season premiere of any year of Smallville from season 4 on I am guessing what I’ll get is a lot of easy fixes and everything neatly returned to the status quo with all the characters more or less the same and making jokes so they can churn out another 20 movies that all do roughly the same thing.  In keeping with the Marvel house style I’m sure it will look great (though not too distinct because it will still have to look like every other Marvel film), have a lot of flashy effects and lots of jokes by our male leads (I’m sure another member will graduate to full on Stark level comedian as well).  Oh, it will have Captain Marvel too per Nick Fury’s SOS so maybe that’ll shake things up. 

I recently told you that July marks the 10-year anniversary of The Dark Knight. I have great memories of that opening night but I won’t get into that here (however that story has been circulated in some extremely limited edition hard copies for the hardcore Ricardo collectors).  I know I also mentioned how I don’t think any superhero movie has managed to best or equal the dramatic heft and thematic depth of that movie and that most haven’t even come anywhere close to be as fully realized a piece of art as that film.  I used to say that with a sense of pride, being a big Batman fan.  Then I would say it with a bit of confusion, wondering why no one is trying anything ambitious from a storytelling perspective anymore with superhero stories.  I now say it with sadness and resignation.  Infinity War is the 19^th Marvel movie and I can’t foresee them changing their formula anytime soon and there’s no reason they should want to!  I’m obviously in the minority here as these movies are loved by many and make tons of money.  But much of Infinity War has faded from my memory already as these movies are quick to do and that overall makes me sad.  Where I used to think it was a bold and ambitious to launch a cinematic shared universe I now feel it is only those things as it applies to paychecks and effects budgets because the stories are as safe and inconsequential as they come.  

When I first saw Birdman I initially bristled at the cynicism director Alejandro Inarritu inserted about modern audiences and our drooling appreciation of empty spectacle.  But...more and more I am falling in line with the philosophy that movie seemed to be espousing.  Or at least I can understand it better.  To be clear, I definitely don’t put the Marvel films down with dreck like Transformers but I just wish all the ambition in effects and cramming as many characters as possible could go into story, theme, cinematography that fleshes out theme and character and story and an interesting score (Marvel is 1 for 18 on that front as I think Black Panther did try some interesting things with the music). 

I think what I have to accept is that these movies are not for me.  And that’s good!  All movies should not be made with the intention of pleasing Ricardo.  That would only result in the majority of the movie going public being unsatisfied.  I wish these were for me though.  I wish I could love them like so many people do and that I could have walked out pumped up like that couple.  I still do feel some excitement when they come out.  And…despite all the venom (THAT movie looks terrible) I’ve spewed during this email I do not hate these Marvel movies at all.