Avengers: (is this really the) Endgame(?)

 

I’ll get this out of the way first: Endgame gets fan-service-y at times. If Marvel and Disney know anything, it’s giving audiences some fulfillment or vindication of their fandom. Does that create a few plot holes? Probably. Are there now question marks in the MCU continuity? Most definitely. Does this make the movie any less entertaining?

Not at all.

For those of you concerned about spoilers, rest assured, you won’t find any in this review. I’ll keep everything to a general knowledge level.

Following last summer’s colossal defeat to Thanos, an Avengers team whittled down to the core group tries to fight back in the hopes of restoring life to half the universe. The mission is not as simple or direct as it may initially seem.

Despite running over 3 hours, the film doesn’t feel overburdened or overstuffed in the way a Michael Bay explosion-fest would. The Russo Brothers understand the universe they’re working in. They get the pacing spot on. The story is always in motion, except for the occasional pause to contemplate the past and the future.

The balance between humor and darkness does not feel forced like it does in Captain Marvel. No one’s falling over backwards trying to throw in a snarky quip that unravels the tension. The Russo Brothers let the tension build when tension is needed. Humor often comes in throwaway lines and little observations. I think they understand that not everything needs to be given the Ragnarok treatment.

Performances, for the most part, are hard to judge. At this point, Chris Evans is Captain America and Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man. The only time we notice anything is if something goes against our understanding of the characters. That’s true for the rest of the roster, as well. If there is a standout, it’s probably Hawkeye. Jeremy Renner has mostly had to stand around looking cool and shoot arrows at the bad guys. He actually acts this time. Gasp. His story is among the more emotional arcs in the MCU.

In a lot of ways, Endgame is like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Many long-running arcs are wrapped up in an entertaining and satisfying fashion. The only complaint I have is in the final battle. There are too many moving parts, too many CGI aliens running aroundand the camera shifts through the scene to the point where it becomes a kinetic blur. The best fight scenes in the series have been in Captain America movies. They’re not glorified light shows. The battlefield has a physical presence and locations matter. I know it would’ve been a challenge to bring that to a larger scene, but Cobra Kai’s Season 2 finale did it, so no excuses.

Endgame is the most enjoyable 3-hour movie I’ve seen. It’s a celebration of an 11-year process that has been unrivaled in Hollywood history, one that will (for better or worse) define the current and future generation of film-making. I may go for a second round, something to tide me over until the next Spider-Man comes out.

(P.S. Marvel, you stole the ending I thought up for one of the characters 8 years ago. I’m suing. Don’t tell me you don’t have mind reading technology. I’m on to you.)

Too Big To Fail - Avengers: Infinity War Review

Alfred Hitchcock defined suspense as involving dramatic irony, letting the audience in on the danger facing the heroes and building the tension from there. He considered this superior to surprise, where the audience knows nothing before the trap is sprung, but he did allow an exception: where the twist or shock is "the highlight of the story."

Avengers: Infinity Wars relies heavily on that exception.

The unfolding of the story revolves around surprise. Without it, there are no stakes, no emotional core, and no reason to make the movie besides adding another mega money maker to the Disney machine.

Before going further into the movie itself, the challenges must be mentioned. During the past 10 years, there have been 18 installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and 14 different directors. Of those directors, Ryan Coogler, Kenneth Branagh (old enough to make King Lear now), and Taika Waititi could be considered "Auteurs" - filmmakers who leave a distinct stamp on their work. Shane Black and James Gunn also possess a certain uniqueness. Fitting these visions into a single, cohesive movie is a difficult task, and the Russo brothers are mostly successful.

The movie operates like an episode of a TV show, with an A, B, C, and D story. Each plotline involves separate characters, giving them enough time to be relevant players in the grand scheme. That said, the movie would be overstuffed at half the characters. Age of Ultron proved that. There are too many players and too many stories, and not enough time. Some scenes feel thrown-in just to shed the spotlight on characters who might seem neglected had they kept moving the A-story forward without them.

Again, the Russo brothers manage to make it work despite the challenges and the shortcomings.

Their bag of surprises begins with Thanos (Josh Brolin). An all-powerful being who is hellbent on destruction could have easily resulted in another X-Men: Apocalypse or Justice League, where the villains receive no character development and destroy for the sake of destroying.

But Thanos is a genuine character. The writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, give him an arc that reveals who he is, why he does what he does, and what he cares about. Brolin's performance, easily the strongest in the entire film, brings the mad titan to life.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) provides another positive performance. Marvel appears to have learned its lessons after Waititi's successful Ragnarok. 

Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and the others do not receive enough time and space, and their development is mostly dependent upon the previous films in the MCU canon.

The biggest surprise comes at the end. This is the twist that makes the story work. Those who live and those who fade into dust will provide plenty to talk about in the year-long gap until Avengers 4 comes out.

The caveat? It's a cliffhanger meant to drive audiences to see the true conclusion to the saga that started with Iron Man. Look at the film like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Evaluating it on its own is difficult, but if it turns out to be anything like The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, then audiences won't mind.

(P.S. For those needing assurances about their favorite characters, look at the movies already slated for production and to recent successes the studio wants to capitalize on. Disney knows better than to blow up the bread wagon.)

If interested, follow @WinBribach on Twitter. 

Captain America: Civil War Review - More is Just Fine

Less is more - a phrase so often used to address a film's merits that it has become a cliche. In most cases, the designation holds true. Many products from Hollywood's dream factory could do with some trimming, especially ones involving costumed crusaders. Captain America: Civil War, however, breaks this rule in style.

If the future installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are as action-packed, entertaining, and well-conceived as this one, then the series' fans are in for a great deal of excitement and there should be no concern about a drop in quality.

Interestingly, the Hero vs. Hero concept is eerily similar to the failure that was Batman vs. Superman, but Marvel succeeds in every way that DC failed.

Civil War is an engrossing and engaging journey into the grandiose struggles faced by superheroes. When they slip-up, the consequences are large. For the Avengers, that means the public calling for oversight and accountability. In other words, turning them into soldiers rather than autonomous do-gooders with the best intentions.

The tension begins to build. As advertised, Captain America (Chris Evans) believes that no government, not even the United Nations, has the right to order the Avengers around. On the other hand, Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) is with the public. The ties that held the group together are ripped apart. Heroes align themselves according to their beliefs or even their personal motives at the time.

Spiderman gets into the game.

Now, this may seem like a set-up for an intensely personal drama about the limits of friendship and how far one is willing to go for brotherhood. Joe and Anthony Russo, the film's directors, and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the writers, have other ideas. While those aforementioned themes are prevalent, what sets Civil War apart from other superhero flicks is the comic timing. Just when the conflict and suspense-filled action is built-up enough, the gags are thrown in. At this point, Marvel and Disney seem to have mastered the comedy required to create a solid counterbalance to the action and drama in their movies.

Of course, Spider Man's introduction was always going to be a popular move, and Tom Holland does a solid job in this new take on the web-slinging character. The more impressive introduction, however, comes from Black Panther, as Chadwick Boseman gives the vengeful African prince-turned-king the right amount of emotion and energy. The other players, such as Paul Rudd, Anthony Mackie, Scarlett Johannson, and Elizabeth Olsen, also play their parts satisfactorily.

Them cats are quick! Black Panther on the run.

With all of these elements in place, the filmmakers returned to a familiar Marvel premise - one grudge-bearing man (Daniel Bruhl) attempting to get the heroes to start fighting each other. The concept is the launching pad for what could very well be the best movie yet to come out of the Marvel franchise. The story, the conflict, and the execution could not get much better. Perhaps the only hero film to top it, though incomparable in many ways, is Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.

High praise, but earned. Here's hoping for more top-notch productions down the road.

The only thing to be said against this film is the first part of the title - Captain America. By no means is this a Captain America movie. It is, unquestionably, an Avengers movie.