AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR... Why?

Once upon a time, Marvel was a modest comic book company offering superhero entertainment to children of all ages.  The majority of us fell prey to the lure of the cheaply printed magazines whose pages turned yellow as we hit puberty; unless you were a real geek, and had your issues neatly encased in those plastic sleeves. Marvel was fun, and ultimately, it was inconsequential: something to grow out of as high school, college, responsibility, and life entered the picture. Marvel is now Marvel Studios, and in 2018 it is what going to the movies has become for millions of people. An escape to a fantasy world that reminds 40-somethings currently running the studios of their childhood, and bewitches teenagers with images reminiscent of video games, and easily recognizable landscapes where immediately they can tell the good guys from the bad guys. No character development nonsense need apply these days. From the first frame any non-thinking, popcorn-eating adolescent knows who to root for between visits to his phone whenever the movie squeezes in a scene where nobody dies, nothing explodes, and characters attempt to have a conversation.

Even though this is not really a film, but rather a series of random images connected together by a flimsy plot, we are inexplicably entertained by these images. Incredible cgi creations that any director of the past would be jealous to own is in part responsible for this. But, what are we being entertained by? Thanos (no relation to Thanos Papalexis -- the British businessman and convicted murderer), played by a cgi Josh Brolin, a villain whose chin would make Jay Leno hide in the trunk of one of his many automobiles, is in search of stones which will give him all the power in the world, er, I mean in the universe. To stop him the cavalcade of Marvel superheroes come out of the woodwork. From Robert Downey, Jr.'s Tony Stark AKA Iron Man (whose film started the Marvel enterprise ten years ago) to Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange, a superhero wizard based on Satanist/magician Alastair Crowley. Wouldn't it be great if instead of posturing with a Dracula cape as he does incessantly, Mr. Cumberbatch could act in a Mr. Crowley biopic? Not as long as the Marvel universe rules the cinematic universe. The only character who is allowed to show some semblance of humanity is Dr. Bruce Banner (wonderfully played by Mark Ruffalo) who is unable to conjure his alter ego The Hulk, at a time that he needs him the most, in a clear case of superhero constipation. 

I'm hearing that teenagers everywhere are going to see this film over and over again. A phenomenon that has not happened since Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet boarded a certain ship that sank in 1912. The reason for the return business of so many young people to Titanic in 1997 was based on mega star adulation that catapulted DiCaprio to the level of heartthrob, together with a collective fascination with the actual sinking of the ocean liner. Add to that Kate Winslet magnificent performance, and Celine Dion's mega-hit song "My Heart Will Go on" and you had the makings of a real hit. These days, teens react subconsciously to the fact that this film is shot like the TV series (the movie is composed mostly of close-ups) that they binge upon. At the incredible length of 143 minutes, far longer than it should have been, the film's length is not enough for them. They've spent hours and hours watching seasons of Stranger Things, therefore repeated viewings of a film like this one carries them into territory where they find a huge level of comfort.

After watching this movie, like many other critics out there, I felt like a mourner at the gravesite of cinema. But those awful Biblical epics of the 1950's led to wonderful creations in the next decade. I'm hopeful that these superheroes will go away. At the end of this film, when so many superheroes met their end and dispersed into dust I was not happy.  $1. 519 billion in box office earnings worldwide thus far tells me that they will all be back.