Thoughts on The Avengers

(I had to use this picture for Infinity War.  Confession time, I am a huge Dinklage fan)

We are now only two weeks out from Avengers: Infinity War, a superhero team up film the likes of which have never been seen before in theatres.  The first Avengers film ran amok through the box office with a success that ultimately changed the long term strategies for pretty much every major studio for years, up until 2017.  The allure of The Avengers was cross movie appearances from different heroes, and that sort of thing had never been done.  I think part of the success of the film was the fact that we had something completely new on our hands.

Avengers: Age of Ultron wasn't as big of a hit, and fell short of the first movie by $164 million in the domestic box office.  The novelty factor was no longer there, and, to be honest, we had been subject to a barrage of super hero movies in between these two team up flicks.  I would also say that there wasn't really anything to differentiate Age of Ultron and make it something ultimately special.  It was the same sort of format with starting off with a big action sequence and concluding with an overlong battle at the end that was held on an enormous scale.  To be honest, if I had to choose between watching Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Age of Ultron, I would instantly choose Civil War.  It was a much more memorable story, with the tension to the movie being a lot more personal.

Diminishing returns is something that is very real in Hollywood, with there only being exceptions to the rule every now and then.  Over saturation is quite real as well, regardless of many writers out there claiming it has no effect.  Taking an empirical look at the facts it is easy to conclude that this happens.  People need something special to make something stand out, and a  team up for the sake of a team up isn't good enough.  Just ask Warner Bros about that.

Infinity War is possibly in a position to do better than its predecessor due to a few things.  The first is that there will be a lot more faces added to the adventure.  We have the crew from Guardians of the Galaxy as well as Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange.  Throw in the immensely popular Black Panther and there are some very intriguing elements that are in the mix.  The second reason is that the aforementioned Black Panther has generated some incredible momentum for Marvel.  The film currently sits as the third highest grossing domestic movie of all time (not adjusted for inflation), having made more money than Avengers.  I can't see how this won't be an massive factor as the film was a buzz factory.

I see Infinity War opening stronger than Black Panther, but ultimately falling short of the overall domestic gross of it.  For a major tentpole, Black Panther had an almost unheard of second weekend hold, only falling 44%.  I cannot see Infinity War holding up like that.  The last Avengers movie fell 59% it's second weekend, and while I don't think this movie will necessarily fall that much it will still be a steeper drop than Black Panther.

My main concern for Infinity War is the main baddie, Thanos.  My biggest problem with Justice League was that Steppenwolf was very obviously CGIed and that doesn't help anything out.  Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse was similar.  Computer graphics, when it's obvious, doesn't really get a villain off on the right foot, and Thanos falls into this category.  I honestly cannot take him seriously as he looks like something out of an animated film in amongst real people and backdrops.  Looking at the picture above, I just cannot get excited about that as the super villain.  I have always loved a great baddie, and Thanos isn't looking like he will be a good one.  That opinion is on looks alone, and I will watch the film with an open mind.  But appearances do matter when it comes to credibility.

Any issues that I have with Thanos are small when compared to the fact that we have the Russo brothers helming this movie, and they have proven to be masters at the game.  I absolutely hated the character of Captain America and thought he was a complete bore.  However, two of my favourite Marvel movies are Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Captain America: Civil War, both directed by the Russo brothers.  The brothers have worked on cult hit television shows in Community and Arrested Development.  The main thing that those two shows have in common is that they are populated with distinct characters that have their own unique share in the stories told.  I would argue that it is the exact same priority in a movie like Avengers.

In two weeks I will know where I stand on this movie, and in three weeks we will have a bit of an understanding as to just how much money this movie will make.  Disney is the studio that has the format for success in the realm of the shared universe, and they are sitting on a big money maker in this one.  Even though it is the biggest movie that they have done so far, I will be shocked if it makes more domestically than Black Panther.  Can I use this opportunity to once again point out a movie that didn't have recognizable male, white leads made more money than only two other movies?  Eat that, Ridley Scott.