User blog:Berrybrick/Aliens in the Infield

0

So, uh, funny story. I'm sort of on the run. You see, this anon tipped off the authorities that I do not in fact criticize armchairs (or even chairs at all). So, um, I am going to go straight and keep my promises: aliens will appear right here in this very field before the decade is through.

Really though, I sort of broke the last blog because I accidentally removed the comments section and couldn't bring it back without tripping the spam filter. It does not like links to YouTube. So don't do that. I guess. Please.

But discuss?

Comments (222)

Enable comment auto-refresher

Omega XAmateur

72 months ago

Score 0

AVENGERS: IW NON-SPOILER REVIEW*

Some of the major critisims of the MCU thus far was their lack of real consequences, formulaic scripts, and the lack of a truly well-rounded and compelling antagonist. Avengers: IW plants itself firmly in MCU history as the boldest and most ambitious Marvel film yet which attempts to put all these critisims to an end while pushing the boundaries of the superhero genre which they pinoeered and redefining it for many years to come.

Consequences. The one word which is thrown around most frequently while mocking the MCU, as it is infamous for not having any lasting consequences, from the many deaths of Loki to Iron Man retiring at the end of Iron Man 3 only to return in AoU, the examples are endless. The directors of IW had warned "Be careful what you fans wish for" and indeed they do deliver, in a spree of brutal and merciless consequences that could only be described as shocking. Ironically though, it does also reverse some of the consequences in recent films, such as Thor Ragnarok and Black Panther. At the end of the film, there are some major consequences that would reverberate throughout the entire MCU, although the finality of these consequences can be reasonably questioned, especially if one has been following Marvel news.

The structure of this film is abnormal too, partially due to the fact that there are too many characters and too much action (to be elaborated later). The most obvious would be the film's second/third act which has been slightly modified and stretched to accomodate for the film's abnormal ending. Furthermore, as there are many characters, there are many plot threads, much more than an average movie, some of which progress at a slower pace than others, thus affecting the film's structure too.

With the culmulation of 10 years of the MCU, many characters are in the movie. However, an unlikely candidate takes the title of "main character" - Thanos, the main antagonist. As he has the most screen time, and the least developed at the start of the film, the filmmakers had used the opportunity to their advantage, giving us many moments with the titian himself explaining his motivations and powers. The film makers intended for him to be this generations Darth Vader, and after seeing IW, he certainly deserves a place as one of cinema's iconic villains, but not only because of his sheer might and power. The character Thanos also has an emotional side, and one thats a pleasant surprise for a character who had been potrayed so far as a being purely of merciless destruction. The actor Josh Brolin also succeeded where James Spader failed as Ultron, crafting a character whom the audience could feel for and understand his motivations. Although his goals are relatively simple especially compared to Killmonger, but his motivations are intriguing and well illustrated through several scenes.

Thanos's Black Order are equally well potrayed and intimidating, with great VFX work and good scenes throughout. Maw was a standout in amongst them, with his telekenisis powers being a joy to behold on screen, being much more superior to Wonder Woman's Ares. The other members are more brawn than brain and as such they leave less of an impression.

The heroes are diverse to say the least. The sheer scale of this movie in terms of its cast to begin with is commendable and the experienced cast delivers a solid performance with the very limited amount of screentime each of their characters receive. As such, there isnt really much character development for the characters, but taking the fact that all heroes have been introduced prior to IW, their characters have evolved considerably since the start of the MCU.

There are also a lot of surprises in IW, with several pleasant ones and several which are just downright shocking. Fans of the MCU would recognise some familiar faces and the plot progression is filled to the brim with spoilers and surprises, which makes for a movie going experience unlike any other.

There are many themes in this movie, most notably that of balance and emotion. Thanos's primary motivation is that of balance, and is illustrated through several symbolic scenes and much dialogue. The films' ending also offers some balance and reflects this theme. Choices made through emotion or through overcoming emotion are also very prevalent in the movie, as characters from both sides makes crucial decisions which shape the plot of the movie moving forward as they succumb to or overcome their inner emotions.

The visuals and action scenes are stellar, no less due to the fact that it is filmed using IMAX cameras and the directing duo who helmed this film had plenty of experience executing major action scenes and managing a large amount of superpowered characters. The cosmic scenes are particularly well realised and look like they were adapted straight from the comics, with a vibrant colour palette and eye-catching design. The final action setpiece was extremely grand and ties up all the major subplots together in a spectacular fashion.

The score is unlike anything Marvel had ever produced, with a major almost singular focus on sombre and funeral-like music that bears more similarity to Rogue One than a large-scale superhero movie. It makes for a unique movie-going experience and cements the impact of the ending. as the marvel film wraps up its most consequential and uncertain ending. Unfortunately, most of the score moves past like a blur - generic and unmemorable. Only the avengers theme was the most prominent, a disappointment considering how many established themes there are in the MCU.

The conclusion was the most unexpected and shocking in recent cinematic history, as 10 years of MCU legacy is paid off with a bang. However, there is a certain disappointment in that a perceptive audience member would understand the extent of the finality of this conclusion, hence lessening the impact somewhat. Furthermore, for a film that promises grave consequences to the core team of the MCU, I left the theater somewhat disappointed at how superficial that claim was.

Furthermore, there are a lot of plot threads and characters, and one could make the argument that there are too much of them. Jumping from subplot to subplot, there always seems to be too many plot threads and characters to follow, even though the characters are grouped. Furthermore, as some plot threads are more interesting than others (in my personal opinion), some of the scenes may seem redundant story-wise.

In conclusion, Avengers IW attempts to revolutionize the superhero industry by the addition of consequences, a compelling villain and cliffhanger, as well as keeping as much surprises and plot twists under wraps throughout the marketing (cough Doomsday cough). There has also been much thought put into the movie as the themes it explores are interesting and furthers the general narrative in unexpected ways. That being said, it is not without its flaws, as the lack of a memorable score, overstuffed plot threads and rushed storyline weighs down the movie in some aspects. I thoroughly enjoyed IW and I, along with the vast majority of humankind, now look forward to its currently-still-unnamed sequel.

Permalink | Reply

Brikkyy13Outstanding Brickipedian

72 months ago

Score 1

Just saw Infinity War. First part of this will be a spoiler free review, second half will be a spoiler discussion.

I want to start off by saying I think people have been making movies too much of a big thing on social media, this is aimed pretty much directly at those "first thoughts" that pop up on twitter after the premiere. For both TLJ and this I feel they have overstated the quality of the films, and I'll definitely be avoiding reading these from here on out.

That being said, I think I loved this movie. I came out liking it and having given it time to sink in I think it's very good. It's hard to take as many characters as they did and throw them into something like this, and in 100% honesty I don't think I ever expected it to work out. To my surprise, they pulled it off very well. Every character gets the screen time they deserve and they all play their part, nobody is underused. Each character has a specific place in the plot and it all comes together excellently.

Some people have criticized it for focusing too much on some subplots and not enough on others. I disagree, I think it all fits together very well, especially for the climax at the end. On that note, the ending makes it apparent that it is part 1 of 2 and I can't wait to see where it goes.

Thanos is one of the best villains to be in cinema in a long time. This is very much Thanos' movie, it could've been called "Thanos" and nobody would've questioned it. His motivations are clear, and above all they make sense. Thanos is truly terrifying, not only because they show off his strength, but because you understand his reasoning and why he is out to destroy half the universe.

If anything, Infinity War is too ambitious. If I had to criticize anything about this movie it would be the fact that it comes together a lot like an event comic. The start of the movie is very much "Look who it is! You know them!" The direction that the story goes does diverge (albeit only a little) from what we've come to expect from MCU films, but I'm not sure if general audiences will be receptive to this. The fans will love this movie to death, but the general public will probably not be as receptive. I saw the movie with my mother, a casual fan who's seen all the movies and enjoyed them, but she left feeling that it was too different from what she's come to expect over the last 10 years.

Even though the film may be unexpected to some, this film is exactly what I expected - from the opening scene to the credits. As I said before is very much part 1 and I honestly have no idea where part 2 is going to go. I'm very excited to see the ending of this 10 year journey.

Alright, spoilers from here on out. Please do not go sharing these around and if you're replying please be conscious of spoilers.

Spoilers, read at your own risk.

Final chance.

Alright, spoiler thoughts:

The opening scene was just what the movie needed. Killing Loki right off the bat proved that Thanos wasn't messing around.
Hulk's arc is very interesting in the good way. It's great to see a character that hasn't gotten that much development be given a story like that, even if it was a very small part of the movie
The interactions between Stark and Strange are excellent (more on them later), and I'm sure we'll see Strange step up and take Iron Man's role in the MCU after part 2
Thor is very good in this movie, especially after Ragnarok. His character has matured and he's gone from someone I didn't like to someone I love. His interactions with the GotG were some of the best in the movie.
Thanos/Gamora/Nebula's story is a breath of fresh air, I'm glad to see something like that in the MCU. I have a feeling Gamora will be resurrected because Thanos feels guilty. The scene at the end where Thanos is talking to the young Gamora cements it in my mind.
Red Skull was cool to see, but it just raises too many questions
The final battle in Wakanda was awesome, but the final scene with Thanos coming after Vision was fantastic
Obviously, anyone that "died" from Thanos "bringing balance" to the universe isn't really dead, but god damn if it wasn't heartbreaking watching everyone go out so easily. Each one was heartbreaking in their own way, and to top it off with Thanos retiring to smiling was the nail in the coffin.
On the other hand, while the stakes are there in-universe, a lot of the emotional weight from the "deaths" goes away knowing it's part 1, and to be completely honest I expected the death toll to be as high as it was from the moment they announced it was a 2 part film.
Doctor Strange handing over the time gem is going to be talked about so much over the next year, even though it doesn't really need to be. Obviously he handed it over because that's what happened in the one "good" future he saw. I'm more interested in what needs to happen for Tony and co. to realize this.

Permalink | Reply

Omega XAmateur

72 months ago

Score 0

Oops did not notice this comment before posting my review. Apologies for that!

Anyways I agree, the first reactions and reviews are almost always bound to be more exaggerated and positive than the actual quality of the movie itself. I myself felt tempted to give this movie a great outstanding verdict before I thought about it over several days and decided that there are actually some flaws too.

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON:

Loved how they revealed the Soul Stone and how Thanos retrieves it, it was especially tragic for Gamora to know that Thanos really truly cares about her, but only through killing her. There is a certain poetic tragedy in it, and I actually liked it very much, more so than other theories.

I did not notice that it was red skull when they revealed it, it was only when he was telling Thanos how he held one in his hand once then it clicked into place. And the feeling was glorious =P

Loved the opening scene too, and everyone totally called it that Loki is going to die in the first five minutes =3

Agreed with Hulk's arc too, even though many feels that he was underused. The idea that Hulk would retreat into Banner as a "safety shell" not unlike that of turtles when he is confronted with some being who is simply just more powerful than he is is fascinating and humanizes the Hulk persona even more.

The ending was glorious, loved how each infiniy stone glows when it is used, and finally glad to see the time stone used to get the mind stone, even though it raises too much questions about why Strange didnt use the time stone when they were confronting Thanos.

Disappointed that the original trinity is still intact after this movie, was totally expecting at least one to die, and die Iron Man almost did. Felt kinda cheated when the writers let him go this time =P