Ok!! This is my New Age Nerd version of SPOILER ALERT!! I am about to discuss in full detail the intricacies of the new Avengers: Infinity Stones film!! And if you haven't seen it yet, WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR!! ;0)
Nowadays, there are SO many event films that are meant to capture our imaginations as well as our hard earned dollars to spin the turnstiles to turn box office magic into pure Hollywood delight!
And Believe you me, I have absolutely no problemo in trading my own hard fought money for an experience that expands on my own concept of what a modern telling of the Hero's Journey may still BE!
Mind you, I truly try and remain completely open minded when the most recent attempt of delivering a truly fresh and exceptionally revelatory take on a variant of what the Hero's Journey imprint on the current social Zeitgeist may take to move our collective consciousness to a higher level! Because I still believe with all my heart that at the core of every story Hollywood's attempt to share is meant to not only mint money, but to also touch the very Soul of everyone who takes the chance to leave the precious confines of their homes and venture out to experience the POWER OF STORY in the modern religious confines of a movie theatre! After all, there is absolutely no thing new about gathering in a social space to have a communal experience of pure storytelling to assist in our own level of spiritual growth! We have proof that this has been a proven exercise in sharing a tribal communal experience for over the past two thousand years!!
Why you ask?! Because human beings have yet to invent a proven mechanism that is more powerful and influential than the impact of sharing communal STORIES!! It simply doesn't exist!! That is why the story of Jesus the Christ still captivates and motivates over a several billion of this planet's population more than 2,000 years after his supposed passing! If that isn't enough proof of the power of STORY nothing ever will!
But I digress! For this special post is about a story that has been over a decade in the making. And that is AVENGERS: INFINITY WARS!! Chances are if you follow this blog, you have already seen the film once, if not many times! I know I will be seeing it for the third time tomorrow! It's THAT GOOD!
And yes, the action beats between the 20 strong and growing group of Avengers are an absolute MARVEL(no pun intended), the real powerhouse that makes the film transcend any superhero film before it is the motion captured performance of the big baddie THANOS, played with a complex and emotionally nuanced performance by actor Josh Brolin. I am already sending in ballots to the Hollywood Foreign Press to get him an acting nod for Best Supporting Actor. The fist time such an honor would be given to an actor in a virtual captured performance. And more than well deserved!!
In this film, Brolin captures a villain that is in equal parts BRUTAL, Compassionate, Human, and oh so complex!! He has his eyes designed on capturing the power of six Infinity Stones that give whomever captures them the power of the God given Universe!
What makes THANOS so mesmerizing is that his intentions are not in the usual vein of common comic book fodder! He has absolutely NO intentions of ruling the Galaxy. Instead, he has spent his life wandering the Universe. And has seen the struggle and strife that the issue of over population and a lack of resources to care for the children of the known Universe entails. And thus wishes to gain control of the six Infinity Stones that will allow him to wipe out half of the population in the known COSMOS all in the effort to more evenly redistribute the known abundance to ensure that those still alive never have to suffer in lack ever again. As Mis-guided as his efforts may be, they truly confront the current situation that engages this world's population!! And that makes for a character of such complex means that it transcends the current corps of cardboard cutout villains that fill out the requisite means of dramatic conflict that fleshes out most of our current superheroes narratives!!
And it makes for such a refreshing and original take on the many aspects of what encompasses true villainy that it actually single handedly transcends the film to something akin to No Thing we have ever seen before! After all, life is not always Black and White. In fact, it is more often filled with various hues of grey!! And this is where THANOS thrives!!
Believe it or not, Avengers: Infinity Wars is the culmination of over 18 Marvel based films starting with the brilliant efforts of an at the time down trodden Robert Downey Jr. as the star of the stunning IRON MAN in 2008!! And some 17 films later, MARVEL was prescient enough to hire the brilliant minds of the dynamic duo of the Russo Brothers to direct this desperate film that has tasked them with the challenge of juggling over 20 different superheroes, all with a similar opponent and task, yet still introducing them to one another in a fresh, funny , and unexpected manner that in my humble opinion has never been matched in cinema history!! What they have accomplished is absolutely jaw dropping!!
In fact , the final 20 minutes of this film are as emotionally devastating as anything I have ever witnessed. At least half of the major characters are left for dead leaving those still with us wondering how they can possibly move forward..............
And this is perhaps the film's most powerfully prescient modality. Because it expresses an emotion that is all too common for most of us sitting in our theatre seats! As the credits start to roll, we are emotionally drained, stunned, and equally reminded of the losses we have faced in our own lives and the manner in which we are still dealing with their aftermaths!
This is a film that trades laughs and latitude with unexpected shots straight to the gut. All in an effort to confront our own belief systems on the state of this planet's complexities and modalities with trying to deal with how to best redistribute our resources while Billions are suffering on a daily basis! Now when was the last time you could tell me a Summer Blockbuster dealt with such pressing issues while still dosing out the potential answers in such an entertaining fashion?!!? How about NEVER... LOL
After already seeing this film several times (You Know I Am THE New Age Nerd...LOL) , I could easily doll out many of the specific action beats that befall both your/and my favorite Heroes and Heroines. But I feel that experiencing this film knowing as little as possible is by far and away the most impactful way to experience what MARVEL and the RUSSO brothers have concocted is the only way to go!! So I will do you the favor of spoiling as little as possible!! YOU CAN THANK ME AFTER THE FINAL CREDITS!! (PLEASE STAY UNTIL THE FINAL CREDITS ROLL!!!)
It's literally been decades since I laughed, cried, pondered, shouted, and emotionally expended my individual Spirit and left the theater completely spent to the degree that AVENGERS:THE INFINITY WARS made me feel! And I know you will have a very similar experience if you have emotionally invested yourself in any of these characters over the past decade as so many of us New Age Nerds have!!
Nerdmaste,
Jeffrey Louis Martinez
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