Avengers: Infinity War + The Alienation of Post-Credit Scenes
Personal Update
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| On the couch with an owl buddy |
After ending Retro Graders, the podcast I produced and moderated for just over a year with a few close friends, I wanted to try something new. Still hoping to produce some kind of weekly content, the idea came at last to re-ignite a blog (or some form of it). Rather than start with a wholly original concept, I thought it would be best to build upon the foundation of reviewing films, while also bringing my passion of video games and other media into the spotlight. To that end, this blog will serve as a sort of time-capsule for my consumption of media while also going over other categories. If you're ever curious about the media I've consumed since the beginning of 2018, the full list can be found here.
To that end, the four main weekly tenants of this blog will be:
- Personal Updates
- An overview on one piece of media I've enjoyed in the past week (positive or otherwise)
- Releases of the Week
- A comprehensive look at specific releases in Film and Video Games
- Retro Spotlight
- A spoiler-filled retrospective analysis on a piece of media related to the week's release (typically a sequel or remake)
- Editorial
- A discussion that revolves around current trends in the film and interactive entertainment industries
Our Retro Graders podcast ended with a complete breakdown of the Marvel Cinematic Universe going into Avengers: Infinity War. Now that the dust has settled on that mega-blockbuster release, it's time to review it. Now, before we get into the full review, I'd like to introduce my stance on media reviews: they should only be based on 5-Stars.
On Reviews
There are no half-stars rewarded as that would not be a true 5-star scale. 5 is a more decisive number with less means of interpretation or bias. That is to say that, if I do score something a 5 out of 5, it will not indicate perfection, but rather denote the fact that I believe it is doing something very special. It'll have to be something unique and captivate me in its own way. Please expect 5s and 1s (and 0s) to be a rarity. 1s will only occur if the media, at its core is not working or doing what it should for me, the casual and opinionated viewer/user. 0s are where the objective of making a film or game was not even achieved. A good example of a 0 is Star Wars: The Holiday Special. Based upon this, each score awarded has been given a designation to clarify what they really mean:
5/5 = Amazing = A
4/5 = Blockbuster = B
3/5 = Common = C
2/5 = Dismal = D
1/5 = Effort = E
0/5 = Failure = F
If you're wondering how these scores translate to the commonly-used 10-point scale, simply multiply the given value by 2. Assume that a Decent score (3) is the median that denotes "Average," or has an equal mix of good and bad parts. Transformers: The Last Knight, for example, is an easy 3/5: enough of it works that I enjoyed the parts that did, but was never blown away either. So, with that reference in mind...let's discuss Avengers: Infinity War.
REVIEW
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
Director: Anthony & Joe RussoWriter: Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
Actors: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, & More...
Running Time: 149 Minutes
The film's ultimate goal is to herald the conclusion of the past 10 years of set-up. Please note: this film does end on a cliffhanger that will be addressed over the course of the next 3 films that will have been released by this time next year. The first two, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel will be filling in two vital puzzle pieces, but are ultimately prequels, being set before the events of Infinity War. Next year's Avengers film will actually resolve the open-ended nature of this film.
While you won't find any spoilers for the film here, there are some valid points that need to be addressed. There are some genuinely excellent moments and shocking deaths where the drama of particular scenes hinges on the performances of the actors as opposed to the visual spectacle. When characters meet and clash, the film is doing its job well. Despite that, there is an underlying sense of hopelessness where characters make bad decisions based on their feelings and immediately pay for them. The stakes of the story are so astronomically big that the scale of their presentation (in IMAX no less) seemed very small.
It's hard to make an IMAX movie look small, but this film's heightened use of close-ups definitely tricks the mind into asking if you're even watching a Marvel movie. This is by no means a negative point as it shows that the franchise is, indeed, maturing. Perhaps IMAX cameras would have been more effective in the original Avengers film as that sense of scale was definitely emphasized to a greater degree. Hopefully it pays off for 2019's sequel.
It's hard to make an IMAX movie look small, but this film's heightened use of close-ups definitely tricks the mind into asking if you're even watching a Marvel movie. This is by no means a negative point as it shows that the franchise is, indeed, maturing. Perhaps IMAX cameras would have been more effective in the original Avengers film as that sense of scale was definitely emphasized to a greater degree. Hopefully it pays off for 2019's sequel.
The way this film handles loss and the fear of it is quite clever and ultimately a welcome edition to the typically bombastic romps of the super-hero film genre. Despite this widespread praise, the biggest thing this film has working against it are the rabid fans who will insist this film is among the finest of cinematic achievements.
It's fan hype blown out of proportion.
Last year's Thor: Ragnarok is a more entertaining and focused narrative that mixed up the genre to its more comedic side. While Infinity War does feature a sympathetic and intense villain, who is portrayed well, that is essentially the crux of the film and will ultimately be the most memorable part save for the shock ending. The film has a lot going for it, but definitely felt unevenly paced where it was drawn out at times and seemingly rushed at others. Traditional plant-and-payoff moments found in cinema occur within the span of 10-minute intervals here and the whole affair, as long as it is, felt unusually rushed at times.
Ultimately, your enjoyment of this film will entirely depend on your enjoyment of other Marvel films and super heroes as a whole. As I am a fan of such genres, I'm inclined to enjoy the film...but it is by no means the best super-powered story out there.
4/5 - Blockbuster
It's fan hype blown out of proportion.
Last year's Thor: Ragnarok is a more entertaining and focused narrative that mixed up the genre to its more comedic side. While Infinity War does feature a sympathetic and intense villain, who is portrayed well, that is essentially the crux of the film and will ultimately be the most memorable part save for the shock ending. The film has a lot going for it, but definitely felt unevenly paced where it was drawn out at times and seemingly rushed at others. Traditional plant-and-payoff moments found in cinema occur within the span of 10-minute intervals here and the whole affair, as long as it is, felt unusually rushed at times.
Ultimately, your enjoyment of this film will entirely depend on your enjoyment of other Marvel films and super heroes as a whole. As I am a fan of such genres, I'm inclined to enjoy the film...but it is by no means the best super-powered story out there.
4/5 - Blockbuster
Releases of the Week
Here are all of the film and video game releases from May 7th-13th, 2018 in North America.
Films*
May 11th
- Always at the Carlyle
- Another Kind of Wedding
- Anything
- The Assassin's Code
- Beast
- Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Born Guilty
- Breaking In⭐
- Class Rank
- The Day After
- The Escape
- Filmworker
- Higher Power
- Life of the Party⭐
- Lu Over the Wall
- Measure of a Man
- Mountain
- Revenge
- The Seagull
- Terminal⭐
⭐High-Profile Release
*List Credit: Metacritic
*List Credit: Metacritic
Video Games**
May 8th
- Conan Exiles (PS4, Xbox One, PC)⭐
- Death Road to Canada (PS4, Xbox One, Switch)
- Destiny 2: Warmind Expansion (PS4, Xbox One, PC)⭐
- Megadimension Neptunia VIIR (PS4, PSVR)
- Obduction (PSVR)
- Paladins: Champions of the Realm (PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac)
- Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (PC, Mac, Linux)⭐
- Raging Justice (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Mac)
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition (Xbox One, Switch)
- Steins;Gate 0 (PC)
- Tacoma (PS4)
- Through the Woods (PS4)
- Trailblazers (PS4, PC)
May 9th
- InkSplosion (Xbox One)
- MapleStory 2 closed beta (PC)
- Subaeria (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Trailblazers (Xbox One)
May 10th
- Garage (Switch)
- Immortal Redneck (Switch)
- Lake Ridden (PC, Mac)
- Laser League (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Not Tonight beta (PC)
- One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 Deluxe Edition (Switch)
- Suicide Guy (Switch)
- Super Chariot (Switch)
- Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition (Switch)
- Tomb Towers Early Access (PC, Mac)
- Wild West Online (PC)
May 11th
- AO International Tennis (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers demo (3DS)
- Hyper Sentinel (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Mac, Linux)
- BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle open beta (PS4)
**List Credit: EGM
Retro Spotlight
GOD OF WAR (2005)
Continuing the trend which began with former podcast Retro Graders, this blog will be using a scoring system for the Retro Spotlight that highlights how well the game stands up today compared to when originally released.
This week, I'm going to briefly touch on a good game that has seen some negative comparisons lately, despite its high praise when it originally released. I'm talking about God of War. No, not the new one. The new one's amazing. I'm talking about the original. Not wanting to go into the seventh game without having played any of them, I went through the entire (yes, ENTIRE) God of War Saga so that I would be able to fully enjoy the new game. It paid off well, but many have compared the new game to be much more favourable to the original. They have the same title, which is a weird pedigree of the games industry when doing a "soft-reboot." By the way, the new game is definitely a sequel to God of War 3, albeit separated by several years and a new mythology.
The original game, which runs about 8 hours to complete is basically a 5-hour dungeon with 2 hours before and 1 afterwards. It's an incredibly dense and intricately-crafted array of complex level design. It played it for the first time this year and this game holds up. The environments are cool and the combat, while repetitive, is blended well enough with the puzzle-solving that I didn't even get that frustrated with either. The game is a seriously fun romp and I'd highly recommend it.
Retro Grade: 5/5
Modern Grade: 4/5
This week, I'm going to briefly touch on a good game that has seen some negative comparisons lately, despite its high praise when it originally released. I'm talking about God of War. No, not the new one. The new one's amazing. I'm talking about the original. Not wanting to go into the seventh game without having played any of them, I went through the entire (yes, ENTIRE) God of War Saga so that I would be able to fully enjoy the new game. It paid off well, but many have compared the new game to be much more favourable to the original. They have the same title, which is a weird pedigree of the games industry when doing a "soft-reboot." By the way, the new game is definitely a sequel to God of War 3, albeit separated by several years and a new mythology.
Retro Grade: 5/5
Modern Grade: 4/5
Editorial
The Alienation of Post-Credit Scenes
This has been a constant struggle for me. Especially since I just saw Avengers: Infinity War, the annoyance of a post-credit tease is a valid one. Once a novelty, this format has since become a staple of super-hero films that ultimately forces audience members to remain seated throughout those epically long credits crawls. I'd like to posit that this is not only an unnecessary tease, but also an alienating one. Chances are good that, if you enjoyed the film, you'll want to see the next one so the adventure can continue. Post-credit scenes that tease these future moments or secret reveals feel like a reinforcement of future ticket sales rather than a canonical part of the film.
Unfortunately, that's not the case.
Time and time again, the following film will treat these post-credit scenes as if they are part of the essential viewing experience and will assume that you saw those scenes in order to understand the new film. If you didn't, the joke's on you because you were supposed to and then you'll be hearing about it at a water-cooler moment at work rather than seeing it first-hand. If you hear about it after the fact because you didn't know that there was one, you may feel slightly cheated out of your money. It's extremely alienating for the average film-goer who paid money to see the film and then leaves when the credits roll only to find out that there's still a little more in there.
Filmmakers know it's annoying too, because they are then forced to explain the post-credit scene or give it necessary context in the next film. In my humble opinion, post-credit scenes ruin the after-film feeling of pausing to take a moment after the story has wrapped. There's no breathing room and some films clearly need it. It's much more effective to cut to Black and fade in with a tease (if that's what you want). The end of The Last Jedi does this very effectively with the "broom boy" we met earlier in the film. It doesn't have much exposition, but it gives a satisfying payoff to two polarizing scenes in the film. Should this boy appear in the next film? Absolutely not. That's not even remotely the point of the ending of that film. But, that is essentially a post-credits scene that is done prior to the crawl and has a heightened impact because of it.
These post-credits scenes are played off way better in video games as you are typically invited to complete other parts of those games after the fact. It's not immersion-breaking. In truth, there are several safe ways to do a post credit scene, but the reliance on them to tell stories in a series can be frustrating. The best way to do it is simply by placing the trailer for the next film after the credits and making that the reveal. With that said, that tactic worked better before the internet, where trailers are a hot and highly sought-after commodity.
The point is: if you want your film to achieve a higher level of visual fidelity with a prominent and impactful ending, don't force your audience to get back into the zone for a minute after they've already left it. You're not re-creating immersion - you're breaking your own!
Have a Great Week!
Unfortunately, that's not the case.
Time and time again, the following film will treat these post-credit scenes as if they are part of the essential viewing experience and will assume that you saw those scenes in order to understand the new film. If you didn't, the joke's on you because you were supposed to and then you'll be hearing about it at a water-cooler moment at work rather than seeing it first-hand. If you hear about it after the fact because you didn't know that there was one, you may feel slightly cheated out of your money. It's extremely alienating for the average film-goer who paid money to see the film and then leaves when the credits roll only to find out that there's still a little more in there.
Filmmakers know it's annoying too, because they are then forced to explain the post-credit scene or give it necessary context in the next film. In my humble opinion, post-credit scenes ruin the after-film feeling of pausing to take a moment after the story has wrapped. There's no breathing room and some films clearly need it. It's much more effective to cut to Black and fade in with a tease (if that's what you want). The end of The Last Jedi does this very effectively with the "broom boy" we met earlier in the film. It doesn't have much exposition, but it gives a satisfying payoff to two polarizing scenes in the film. Should this boy appear in the next film? Absolutely not. That's not even remotely the point of the ending of that film. But, that is essentially a post-credits scene that is done prior to the crawl and has a heightened impact because of it.
These post-credits scenes are played off way better in video games as you are typically invited to complete other parts of those games after the fact. It's not immersion-breaking. In truth, there are several safe ways to do a post credit scene, but the reliance on them to tell stories in a series can be frustrating. The best way to do it is simply by placing the trailer for the next film after the credits and making that the reveal. With that said, that tactic worked better before the internet, where trailers are a hot and highly sought-after commodity.
The point is: if you want your film to achieve a higher level of visual fidelity with a prominent and impactful ending, don't force your audience to get back into the zone for a minute after they've already left it. You're not re-creating immersion - you're breaking your own!
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