Cinema Wednesdays - Loris S. Musumeci
«The scales of the universe tip toward balance.»
Thanos is the villain. He wants supreme power; he has a goal. This monster crosses the universe to gather the six Infinity Stones on the mythical Infinity Gauntlet: those of Power, Space, Reality, Soul, Time and Spirit. With all these attributes, Thanos is sure to become a god, even the strongest. Selfish ends? No. Thanos is driven by compassion for the world's poor.
Realizing the lack of resources for a growing population, he decides to arbitrarily eliminate every other person so that «the newborns will have a full belly.» But the Avengers join forces with Doctor Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Wakanda people to prevent the genocide. The mission is arduous; it will cost casualties, sacrifices and blood.
The compassionate villain
The Russo brothers set a real theme for their film. At a time when ecological utopias are reaching the brightest minds, the question of overpopulation and the solutions envisaged to combat it in a radical way are a welcome way to provoke in-depth philosophical reflection. Nevertheless, as everyone knows, the Americans are specialists in this field, to the point of becoming nauseating with the mass of often ridiculous apocalyptic films they deliver.
The figure of Thanos, however, carries something profoundly interesting and relevant. It's filled with honest compassion. Normally, when screenwriters want to give complexity to their villain characters, they draw more on a psychology marked by suffering; animated in particular by the unhealthy desire for revenge against the world. In Thanos, the images bear witness to an astonishing tenderness mingled with a political project considered salutary for the balance of the universe.
Humor at Marvel
The various heroes who fight him also have a certain complexity that keeps them from being totally uninteresting. But they're most enjoyable for their sense of humor. A Marvel Studios trademark. This is undoubtedly the main dividing line between those who love Avengers and those who simply pity these films. Not only is the auditorium packed, but on several occasions it bursts into laughter despite the seriousness of the subject matter on screen.
Division of opinion: some appreciate the punctuation of humor through screams and explosions, others abhor it, finding it pretentious and misplaced. Objectively speaking, Marvel-style humor is one of its key attributes. The remarks, responses, absurd situations and comical gestures are quite intelligent and good. Despite this, they become tiresome because of their repetitiveness and their always nonchalant intonation, giving themselves airs. cool, which have their limits.
Unsurprisingly, a blockbuster
In terms of the film's general tone, unsurprisingly, the viewer is faced with the blockbuster classic. And while there's some humor and a more complex villain, there's no shortage of genre tricks. Love stories, wars, explosions, touching little sentences before dying, team spirit, courage, superhuman strength, howls of glory here, cries of pain there, and so on. blah blah blah. Well, you know the drill.
And, of course, the incessant sounds are ear-splitting; the most exaggerated digital images, eye-popping. But then, viewers know what they're getting into when they buy a ticket to this kind of film. If he wants banal entertainment with no aesthetic appeal - let's talk directly about the profound ugliness of the photography - he'll leave the screening satisfied. Avengers: Infinity War.
«We're getting to the denouement now.»
Write to the author : loris.musumeci@leregardlibre.com
Photo credit: © Marvel Studios
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