Why the latest Avengers blockbuster has set the bar beyond infinity for its rivals
Eleven days. That’s all it took for Avengers Infinity War to hit the billion dollar worldwide mark.
With the perfect balance of wit and grit, this was the MCU’s defining moment, a decade in the making, and they definitely did not fall short with this truly epic masterpiece that has left fans of the franchise pining for more.
So what was the success behind the story? Let’s disassemble the Avengers and see for ourselves.
Script and direction
Question: how can we pack an intergalactic, multi-layered crossover feature, with some of Stan Lee’s greatest creations coming together, and make it as coherent as a Bach composition, all within two and a half hours? The simple answer would be getting the story right.
And that’s just what screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely did, huddled up in the writer’s room with identical mugs of builder’s brew, geeking out on the prospect of Steve Rogers and Tony Stark joining forces against a cosmic foe, putting their differences aside following the events of Civil War to once again take up the mantle as Earth’s greatest defenders.
(Steve Rogers emerges from the shadows, sporting a full beard, his previously short cropped hair now a long tousle of brown-blonde strands).
The resulting script could not have been written better, and that set the tone for brothers Anthony and Joe Russo to turn words into action on the big screen. The dialogue was flawless, undulating between characters so seamlessly, it could have been any of us talking to our friends around a campfire (everyone’s got a mate that speaks like Thor), the scenes practically melted into one another, and most importantly it all made perfect sense.
We’ve already seen what the Russos can do with Civil War and The Winter Soldier, and so it wasn’t surprising that they pulled another showstopper out of the hat with their ingenious directional bravado and eagle eye for frame-by-frame visual tenacity.
Airtight plot ten years in the making
It all began with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man exactly a decade ago, introducing Robert Downey Junior as Tony Stark, who was central to Infinity War’s success, and the MCU have not looked back since.
Every subsequent film has had some relevance to the grand conclusion that is Thanos’ reckoning in this latest instalment, with a hint here and there in Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, and Thor: Ragnarok to name a few.
It’s been swirling in Marvel’s snow globe of action-packed entertainment, and it was finally tied in splendidly in the third Avengers flick. The general plot (no spoilers) is centred on Thanos’ desire to bring balance to the Universe, using six elemental stones (The Infinity Stones) embedded in his infinity Gauntlet.
Two of the stones are in the possession of Doctor Strange and Vision, both residents on Earth, and that is where he sets his sights, forcing the Avengers to team up and, with the help of their intergalactic Guardian buddies, do what they do best.
Simple good vs evil story, but it’s all about the execution, the nerve-racking twists, the coy humour that lulls you into a state of casual observation before reaching down your throat and pulling your heart right out, boundless, but still within the bounds of reason, fun, and never a minute to catch your breath. Flawless victory.
Characters and chemistry
This is where the film really excelled. Character building. From Tony Stark and Peter Parker’s uncle-nephew bond to Thor, Groot, and Rocket forging the unlikeliest of trios, everybody was on board this emotional roller coaster of poetic justice.
There was not a lacklustre performance to note, everybody did their bit, and the result was a tour de force that will continue to echo in the hearts and minds of movie-goers around the world.
The acting, spearheaded by leading man RDJ, was sublime, everybody looked like they were up for it right from the get go (they probably stayed back on set in costume after shooting was over, bonding over a cuppa Joe and a few laughs for comic relief), and it all just boiled down to a wonderful piece of storytelling that will have you crying at some parts, laughing at others, in what will go down as a memorable performance by a stellar cast.
Setting the bar for DCEU
Putting all biases aside, DC really need to style up if they’re to gain any sort of advantage in the world of comic book films. So far, we’ve had Man of Steel, Batman Vs Superman, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and Justice League, all of which have shown glimpses of a promising future for the DCEU, but have fallen well short of par upon execution (with the exception of Wonder Woman, which was admittedly brilliant).
They have struggled to hit that note combining humour and seriousness, which the MCU films have pulled off effortlessly, and that has brought much unneeded criticism on board. Batman vs Superman certainly had enough in it to capture the hearts and minds of audiences (you can’t really go wrong with Hans Zimmer providing the score), but the plot became too convoluted and by the end of it, left a bitter aftertaste rather than a feeling of immense satisfaction.
Whereas the MCU have eased their way to the finale(s), cooking the plot over slow heat, slowly broiling the ingredients to perfection, DC seems to turn the heat up in an effort to catch up to their comic book counterparts, leaving the scripts smoking at the corners, and the plot a trail of ash that’s been swept up by the Marvel juggernaut on its way to box office glory.
Everybody would point to the ‘Martha’ scene in Batman v Superman as a major plot hole (you didn’t hear Tony Stark cry mamma when he was being battered by Cap and Buck in Civil War), but beyond that, the tension, the rivalry, all of that was too ephemeral to be enjoyed fully.
Where Zack Snyder lacks in stellar storytelling, he makes up for in action. BvS had arguably one of the best fight sequences in superhero films so far, with the warehouse scene (an uncanny resemblance to the awesome Arkham games).
It would have been more prudent to have BvS in two parts, the first one focusing purely on Bruce Wayne’s involvement with Superman, culminating in the epic battle, and teasing Doomsday’s emergence for part two in a post credits scene.
What say you?
Will the DCEU ever strike the right balance between humour and grit? Well, we’ve still got Aquaman to come this year, and Momoa was a real badass in the Justice League flick, so maybe something for DC to salvage after all in a year peppered with Marvel pump.
Picture credit: slashfilm
