Balancing Act

 

I'm still profoundly ambivalent about this film. I'm not sure I've forgiven Marvel for the emotional abuse. 

 

It was a ballsy move to make a superhero movie where the superheroes lose, even if you have a back-pocket plan to make another movie to let them still win, in a way.  On a second watch, much of the emotional impact is lessened, since you already know its coming, but it still managed to punch me in the feels a few times, and I really appreciated the performances. 

 

There were lots of small movements and great eye work. Tom Hiddleston's Loki and the "go ahead and kill him" feint falling apart; Chris Pratt's Starlord keeping his word to kill Gamora like he'd promised; Danai Gurira's shocked grief as Okoye when T'Challah disintegrated before her eyes. 

 

(On the other hand, I was mostly annoyed by the Spidey/Ironman exaggeration. Tom Holland got longer to die so the kid could beg for his life and die in his mentor's arms. Chew that scenery a little harder guys; I think a piece of it was still standing). 

 

Like a lot of viewers, watching the first time, I felt suckered. On my big-screen viewing, a man seating near me slammed down his popcorn bucket and said, "The f*ck I just watch!" and a lot of audience members sympathized. Even now, months later and with previews of the sequel out there offering reassurance, I still feel wounded. That's probably a kind of compliment to the work-it hurt, lastingly. 

 

As a writer, I was very impressed by how well it functions, structurally. I have my doubts that it plays well if you haven't watched the whole MCU, but if you have, it does a deft job balancing so many moving pieces! The Guardians were used to great effect for the "worlds collide" moments of heroes meeting heroes. Everyone falling in love with the angel-pirate Thor. And the hero-vs.-hero misunderstanding over who worked for Thanos and who didn't with Strange, Ironman, and Spidey. 

 

The weakest bit in my mind was the whole not-killing-Vision thing. I wasn't that attached to Vision as a character from previous movies, so we retro-fitted a romance storyline with Scarlet Witch that I don't remember even a whiff of in previous films. It felt even more manufactured than the Hulk/Black Widow romance line and I thought that whole thing was a cheap shot, too. 

 

But, the movie needed us to feel bad about killing Vision, so we gave him a girlfriend and some scenes with a human face on first. Total cred for the writers though for using Quill and Gamora's "kill the one you love" moment earlier on as a foil for the "Scarlet Witch has to kill her honey-bun" moment. It really did help bolster the emotions for a scene that didn't have enough emotional payoff on its town. 

 

Whether this one becomes a film I can watch over and over again like some of the others in the MCU will depend on the sequel and if they pull this out without it feeling like a total cheat. Time will tell.