!!Obligatory Spoiler Warning!!
As if you thought I could have an in depth discussion of Infinity War without revealing plot information. Obviously, if you haven’t seen this film you either don’t want to or haven’t found the time. In either case, you need to sort out your priorities. Just kidding, don’t get so bent out of shape!
While we wait for the uninitiated to click elsewhere (Perhaps to this list of my other highly anticipated Summer movies) let me set the stage on the magnitude of this epic film. The now expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe had an auspicious beginning with a 2nd rate hero that hardly anyone knew and a team with a lot of faith. Kevin Feige (now the President of Marvel Studios) said in a 2017 interview with Vanity Fair, “Marvel didn’t have money on the line. They would have lost the film rights to some of the characters, but it was sort of a great experiment. People forget Iron Man was an independent movie.”
An Ambitious Undertaking
It was an ambitious beginning for this brand new production company with zero credits under their belt. They brought on the teams and the talent they needed to make the two superhero movies that they envisioned, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. At that point there was no plan for a 22 movie story arc and an expanded cinematic and television universe. They didn’t even have a follow-up in the works for 2009.
Someone asked at the 2007 Comic-Con, when the fans got their first look at Iron Man, if Avengers was possible and I think they got a chuckle and said that they were focused on making the best Iron Man movie and if they succeeded in that goal then it could open doors for them to make other films. They were blown away by the response of the fans and immediately began actively working towards this unification of all things Marvel and 4 years later we saw the Avengers take stage.
So now, 10 years later as we have seen 3 Iron Man movies, 3 Thor movies, 3 Captain America movies, 2 Avengers movies, 2 Guardians of the Galaxy movies (who could have predicted that), and stand alone films for the likes of The Incredible Hulk, Ant-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and a deal with Sony that gave us Spider-Man in this universe as well. This is an historic film-making achievement. Never in my wildest dreams as a kid did I imagine that my 35 year old self would get to geek out at the movies at least twice a year thanks to these good people.
What Happens in Infinity War?
With all of this time and dedication over 10 years, the Russo brothers were able to step immediately into the story with over 25 established characters, histories, and motivations. I honestly can’t imagine watching this film without the knowledge that I currently possess. I’m sure that there is someone out there for whom this is their Marvel initiation. If so, I’d love to hear from you to see how confused you were and if you were still able to enjoy the movie.
Alright, last warning! Shove off if you haven’t seen it. It’s time for the adults to talk now.
In a nutshell, Thanos is collecting the 6 Infinity Stones from across the cosmos with the ultimate goal of snapping his fingers and wiping out half of all sentient life everywhere. All of our heroes (except Ant-Man and Hawkeye) team up to attempt to stop to his plan. This means that our intergalactic band of miscreants meets the God of Thunder, Tony Stark’s mind is opened to a world of mystical arts that he had never experienced, and the scrawny patriot from Brooklyn gets to fight alongside a talking tree. It is truly a thing to behold.
I think the best way to break down everything that we saw would be character by character, seeing how things unfold through their eyes and with their motivations. That way you can see that there are very few plot holes and that everything flows in an incredibly natural way. I’m not going to do that here. But I recently posted this kind of walk through from Thanos’ perspective.
Instead, I want to look at the big themes of the film and some key lines of dialogue and draw them out into some biblical lessons and parallels.
We Don’t Trade Lives
Throughout the film we get several examples of characters who make sacrifices for the accomplishment of their goal. When Vision learns that Thanos is coming for the Mind Stone embedded in his forehead, he explains to Cap and the others the idea that Scarlet Witch may be able to use her powers to destroy it.
In true Android/Vulcan fashion he believes that it would be the most logical action to prevent Thanos from capturing all 6 Infinity Stones. They immediately dismiss that plan because it would mean that Vision would most likely have to sacrifice himself, since his life force is so intrinsically tied to the stone. The Captain tells Vision, “We don’t trade lives,” to which Vision counters by referring to Cap’s own story of sacrifice to protect millions.
We see Captain’s own words come back to him in the final fight in Wakanda. Captain America tells Vision to run away to safety as he battles Cull Obsidian. Ignoring his advice, Vision instead saves him. When Cap says, “I told you to get out of here,” Vision replies “We don’t trade lives, Captain.” This stood out to me because the idea of trading lives, or at least offering to make that sacrifice is the stuff that real heroes are made of.
As Christians, we know that the only true way to salvation is through the trading of lives. That is what Jesus did for us on the cross. When we see a superhero who is willing to lay down his life to save countless others we see them as an example of Christ.
Thanos the Anti-Christ
The idea of sacrifice is not limited to the heroes. Even Thanos, when seeking to gain possession of the Soul Stone, learns that the price of the stone is the soul of a loved one. With this choice, Thanos becomes an Anti-Christ. He is willing to save the world, but only through the sacrifice of others, while Jesus is willing to lay down his own life.
Thanos tells young Gamora after his snap that it cost him everything to accomplish his sick plan of “saving the world”. However, Thanos’ sacrifice led him to seek ultimate power by assuming the form of a God while Christ, who is God, emptied himself and took the form of a servant.
The reason that Logan probably resonated with me so much is because his sacrifice seems so Christlike. In Todd Miles’s book on heresy, Superheroes Can’t Save You, he says:
“Superheroes represent mankind’s best efforts to create saviors, demigods made in our own image, beings who are able to rescue us from the horrors the face us all as humans. The thing is, our best attempts to create such heroes fall desperately short for what we actually need… Superman would not be able to rescue us from our greatest problems, and he certainly would not be able to rescue us from the wrath of God. He is not super enough, not human enough, not compassionate enough, and not divine in any way. He just does not measure up to the one who is more than enough of all those things, Jesus. Superman is not Jesus, and he never will be.”
Death is Real
Some people have complained about the ending because they feel like they know that the snap is going to be undone in the next movie. However, any postulating about the next film shouldn’t take away from the real consequences and trauma that we see in this film. Obviously, my mind was reeling with possibilities as the credits rolled, but that doesn’t take way from the fact that I was wrecked just minutes earlier.
I’ve heard of people sobbing and upset for days if they have a particularly strong connection to a particular character. Especially with some of the most shocking deaths being from two of the newest heroes. Usually, when you walk into a “superhero” movie, you often expect to come away feeling unscathed. We like our heroes to be bulletproof, but with this and other recent movies like Logan we see the fragile humanity of our heroes.
I’m of the belief that mourning and weeping is actually a very healthy place to be. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart.” Although Infinity War is very funny, that only makes you fall harder when it comes time to mourn.
Flippancy over death is one of my biggest pet peeves with action films and video games. When an office building full of people crumbles during an alien attack and instead of somber reflection we are presented with a joke, it cheapens death. On the other hand, Infinity War portrays death as a real problem. In this sense, the film can be helpful in raising discussions about our very real mortality and the need for a Savior (a Hero, if you will) who can defeat death once and for all.
The End is Coming
The Russo brothers were brave to end Infinity War the way they did. It doesn’t end with all of the story lines neatly tied up in a satisfactory conclusion. Instead, it leaves us wanting more, wondering what happens next. Things are not right with the world and we know from a sense of innate justice and years of conditioning that the wrongs must be righted.
Any kind of real Marvel fan will know that there will be a next installment. We already have dates on the calendar for Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel and even the conclusion to Infinity War in what we now know as just Avengers 4. It looks like it will be the Return of the Jedi to this The Empire Strikes Back. This puts fans in an interesting place. We are forced to accept the shattered landscape of this superhero world all while holding onto the hope that there is a day coming when all wrongs will be made right.
Christians know this feeling all to well. We live in the wilderness awaiting the culmination of the promise of the gospel. All around us, it can seem like evil is winning and Satan is laughing. But there is great hope even in the midst of the darkness because the Bible says that just as Christ ascended into heaven, he will come again in glory and all of creation will breathe a sigh of relief as our longings are satisfied. It’s vastly different in terms of magnitude, but this tension can be felt in stories like Infinity War which leaves the audience looking for consolation in a future hope.
What about you? Did you pull any nuggets of wisdom from Avengers: Infinity War? What do you think about my ideas? How did you like the movie? Do you want me to stop asking questions? Then leave me a comment below or hit me up on social media. As always, I’ll see you at the movies.
In Alien we follow a seven man crew en-route to earth on board the huge space freighter “Nostromo”. The crew is in cryosleep, but the on board computer interrupts the journey when a foreign radio signal is picked up. It originates from an uninhabited planet and the crew lands to investigate. There they make contact with an alien life-form…
The design of the monster is a stroke of genius. Sure it has a humanoid form, but it has no facial traits or anything else which could give away emotions or intentions. Its actions reveals no weaknesses nor civilized intelligence. The alien is more or less the opposite of everything human and civilized, plus the creature is more well-adapted to the inhumane interior of the ship than the humans who build it. To sum up, you then have a setting where the humans are caught in a web of in-group tensions, an inhospitable ship and the perfect killer which thrives in the ships intestines. You almost get the feel that the humans are the ones who are alienated to each other and to their own ship.
As mentioned the ship is very claustrophobic and Ridley Scott adds to the eeriness by using camera movement, lights and shadows in an effective way. The living quarters are bright and should be comfortable to the crew, but there is something sterile about it all. The rest of the ship is basically a huge basement. The music by Jerry Goldsmith underlines the eeriness so well, and the movie wouldn’t have worked without his score. Combined with the sounds of the ship it all adds to the uneasiness.
This is not a story about heroic people who boldly teams up against evil. It’s a story about ordinary people facing true fear, which is the fear without a face. The fear we can’t understand and can’t negotiate with, because its only goal is to survive on the expense of us. It’s a story where some people bravely fight back whilst others are destroyed by the terror. It’s a story where people are killed in a completely random way. There is no higher-order justice behind who gets to live and who dies. All seven characters are just part of a race where the fittest – not necessarily the most righteous – will prevail, and all seven characters start the race on an equal footing. None of them are true heroes, and none of them are true villains.
All the above makes Alien so great as a horror movie. The terror isn’t just the Alien itself, it’s the entire atmosphere which gets so effectively under your skin, that you just can’t shrug it off after the end credits like you can with so many other Hollywood horror movies. The title “Alien” doesn’t just refer to the monster, it is the theme of the movie and it is the feeling you have during and after the movie.
The movie features a blend of new characters as well as actors reprising their roles from the original movies as we join them 30 years since the destruction of the Death Star and the fall of the Empire. We are treated to Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew as Han Solo and Chewbacca, Carrie Fisher as Princess turned General Leia Organa, and Mark Hamill even makes a brief albeit epic appearance as the nearly mythical Luke Skywalker. There are plenty of other visuals and references that caused the theaters to erupt with fanboys (and girls) gushing their praise. However, some have said that this film was too close to the originals and it should be called more of a reboot than a sequel. I disagree.
I see the presence of the original characters as a way to pass the baton on to a new generation as we step into new adventures. John Boyega as Finn, Daisy Ridley as Rey, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, and Oscar Isaac as Poe bring a delightful on-screen chemistry reminiscent of the original trilogy but setting a course for a new direction. The new characters are at home in the Star Wars universe, nothing feels forced, and they welcomingly provide a lighthearted and fitting next generation of heroes. Both the old and new cast work beautifully together, and the result is a film jam-packed with classic banter, references to previous movies and suspenseful action.
I will not spoil anything here, though if you have waited as long as I did to watch the film you will need to watch out for sneaky spoilers already creeping their way into pop-culture. My recent favorite being Adam Driver reprising his role on Saturday Night Live as Kylo Ren becomes Undercover Boss.
