We have reviewed some Avengers movies earlier – Avengers : The Age of Ultron and The Avengers – but this one is different from them all.
For one thing, this seems to include practically every superhero in the comic character universe owned by Disney. In addition to almost all of the Marvel Avenger stable including the recent additions like Spiderman, Black Panther and Dr Strange, it brings in also Antman and the entire cast of the other series The Guardians of the Galaxy as well. Before even seeing the movie, I wondered how on earth they are even going to give screen space to each one and still weave a credible story. After seeing the movie and with some inputs from my friends which helped me understand, I realize now that the real story in this movie is not at all about the superheroes. The movie is all about the villain Thanos, superbly portrayed by Josh Brolin.
This is supposed to be the first part of a two part series and it shows. More of it later.
Second, the villain is not really a villain in the usual superhero comic sense of the word (I know, I know. The original comics portray Thanos the same way but when I mean ‘the usual’ sense, I mean generic comic villains). He is not conspiring to take over the world. He is simply interested in protecting the earth, ridding it of the overpopulation. Also he wants to be completely fair, just taking half the population of the world in a completely random, and therefore the most justified, fashion.
The entire galaxy of superheroes want to stop him since destruction of humankind is still destruction, however justified it maybe. In that sense, you don’t know which side is ‘good’ and which side is ‘evil’ if you stop to ponder about it. Interesting.
The other thing that would surprise and even shock you is the ending, which blew my mind away until (again thanks to friends who reminded me) I stopped to ponder those old comic books where this kind of thing happens all too often. As to the question ‘How are they going to get out of it?’ the answers could be twofold : ‘Think of the next comic books in the series’ or ‘Do you remember how damaged the Gauntlet was in the last scene? Therein may lie the clue’. Take your pick.
The movie has some surprises a la ‘The Game of Thrones’. When Loki gets killed (yes, actually killed) at near the start of the movie, you gasp. But more surprises abound, especially near the end.
The story is very simple. Thanos wants to save the world by, as we already said, killing half the population of humans at random – but needs to fill his Infinity Gauntlet with the five super stones that are in various places in the world. He collects them one by one, overcoming superhero resistance, and collecting the stones. At the start of the movie, he already has acquired Power Stone from the planet Xandar. He acquires the Space Stone from Asgaard. His lieutenants go for the Time Stone in New York, drawing Dr Stange, Iron Man and Spider Man into opposition.
The Mind Stone is buried on the forehead of Vision, and Thanos and crew even go after that, no matter that Wanda Maximoff is protecting him. He goes after the Reality Stone, drawing the Guardians of the Galaxy into his formidable group of enemies. (Thor keeps calling Rocket ‘rabbit’). Thanos gets Soul Stone sacrificing his own daughter to get at it.
Strange surrenders Time Stone to protect Iron Man, who is seriously wounded by Thanos, even after Iron Man begs him not to do so and let him die.
The final vision stone requires overpowering the Wakandans and the superheroes. Thanos is wounded but still manages to get the Vision Stone.
The ending is spectacular, including the small bit at the end of the subtitles. The second part should definitely be interesting, whenever it comes.
Another nice work by Disney. They really know how to make great films (yes, commercial, purely entertaining and rarely informative; I know all that, but for pure entertainment, they get full marks. Rarely do they fall flat, like for instance the latest Star Wars episode Solo.)
Good work. 8/10
– – Krishna
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