Movies
Daniel Ortiz Rants on: Avengers Infinity War
“The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.”
Everyone’s most anticipated movie of 2018 has finally hit the screen. Avengers Infinity War is the most ambitious comic book adaptation of all time. When the first Avengers film came out, I wondered how would they get this movie to work with all these characters and they nailed it. Captain America Civil War came out years later and they planned to add more characters, plus a newly purchased Spider-Man from Sony. I wondered how would they get this movie to work with all these characters…NAILED IT! Then a couple years back the producers were discussing Infinity War. They mentioned getting the Avengers together, throw in Spider-Man, add all our favorite characters from Wakanda, sprinkle in some Dr. Strange and then add the Guardians of the Galaxy. I wondered how would they get this movie to work with ALL these CHARACTERS??? Tonight, I will go ahead and say, DC…you have a loooooooooong way to go! BECAUSE MARVEL FREAKIN’ NAILED IT!!!
This movie was nothing short of epic! As you may have assumed, I was very concerned about how such a cast of big-named actors; some that are used to the lead role in all of their movies would be willing to share a screen, and even in some cases take a back seat to this project. Would this work?? It did!! Even in the Marvel Universe these characters have larger-than-life-ego’s, but the writers did an amazing job giving each one of them a moment to shine, without forcing dialogue or action.
The most prosperous of all the characters in this movie was the antagonist, Thanos. His character was so enthralling and he hooked you with every word he spoke. Even his most maddening philosophies gave him such a depth in character, and where it would’ve been extremely easy to roll with him being one dimensional, the writers took their time to humanize him without sacrificing his diabolical side.
There were also a lot of cool cameos calling back past characters that were part of individual properties. It was a nice nod to see a character that could’ve easily been forgotten, but Marvel understands how instrumental they are to the personal development of their respective protagonist. One cameo was completely unexpected from one of my favorite HBO shows, especially since the person played a pretty hilarious role reversal.
The action and battle scenes in this movie were very well done. They were engaging, entertaining and each one had a high cost. You really didn’t know in which direction a win was going. I also want to point out that the CGI on Thanos was remarkable as well. There was no distraction in his look, other than how intimidating he was.
The writers did an amazing job of adding heart, humor, action, philosophy, and emotion into this film. It turned out being a lot heavier in message and emotion than I expected and will give the viewer a lot to talk about well after walking out the theater. Oh yea, and there is only one end-credit scene.
According to my rate scale, I said Jesus himself would have to direct a movie to give it this grade…and for the first time ever…
Overall Grade: A+
Jesus didn’t direct it, but this movie was truly a gem. It wasn’t a film where the protagonists rode off into the sunset. It made you feel some sort of way when it ended and left you salivating for more. I’m ready for 2019! Please like, share and subscribe for more content.
Avengers Infinity War
Action, Adventure, Fantasy
April 2018
Director: Joe Russo / Anthony Russo
Marvel Studios
2 hours 29 minutes
Now that Captain America is Black
- Bucky Barnes will change his name to Summer Soldier Buckquan because “Nah son! we ain’t doing sh*t in the winter!”
- Fearing for their lives, Police officers will fire 751 shots at Cap in the 4th of many incidents to come.
- In a new altered timeline, Thanos will win due to Cap being detained by a routine traffic stop. “How can you afford Vibraniun on a government salary? Please step out of the vehicle sir.”
- Captain America will form a Rap group with Black Panther called “Black-America.” The group will not be received well but will eventually have all their intellectual property stolen for decades to come without any due repar… I mean royalties. #MESSAGE
- Racists will be utterly confused when they tell Captain America to “Go back to where you came from.” Equally confused, Cap will pack up all his belongings and stay put.
- Cap will be accused of stealing Thor’s hammer the next time he picks it up.
- Cap’s shield will be replaced with a Vibraniun PlayStation Controller since black men are more comfortable throwing that.
- The battle decree will officially be changed from “Avengers Assemble” to “Yerrrrr! It’s on sight!”
- After 40 years of service, Cap will travel back in time to 1998 to finally get that last dance with his true love, Laura Winslow. They will Cha Cha Slide to “Before I let Go” as the credits role.
- Upon retirement, those jaded with having an Af-Am do such an amazing job will appoint a failed real estate charlatan to take up the mantle. The New Cap will immediately try and grab Scarlet by her “Johansson” and declare himself the best Captain America that ever did it during his inauguration.
It is clear that Chadwick Boseman chose iconic roles like Thurgood Marshall, James Brown, Jackie Robinson and Black Panther with deliberate intent and for a specific purpose. In an age where positive roles for Black actors is often sparse, Chadwick managed to land and portray historical figures that made most respect his talents if not revel in his ability to transition effortlessly for one character to another. Even I had to give his African accent a solid B+ (It’s the highest grade the Nigerian Standards Bureau can give for an African accent to a non African FYI.)
Holding out and preparing for these dynamic roles came with both great frustration and incredible resolve I’m certain. Not to mention the taxing ordeal of battling Colon Cancer as the grueling scheduling of filming and increasing responsibility for positive representation loomed. Even under extreme duress, Chadwick’s commitment to others appeared to outweigh his own tribulations, unbeknownst to us all.
Black Panther may have been just a movie to some and that may be because some can easily rattle off 10 movies with a king of non Af-Am origin. It represented a lot more to others. Albeit imagined, imagery on cinema often accomplishes more to augment the social narrative and society itself than actual reality. If negative stereotypes influence perception then positive ones absolutely have the same converse effect.
Even in jest, the cultural misappropriation of raisins in potato salad on SNL skits directly spoke to the tampering of black culture to which T’challa championed, represented and aptly responded “Oh hell Nah Karen!”
If you don’t understand the relevance of representation, it’s probably because you are thoroughly represented. After all, no one is ever grateful for every breath they take until they are gasping for air.
R.I.P Chadwick Boseman. Thank you for breathing life into the possibility of Black excellence.
