The film does present a conundrum when it comes to writing a review though as talking too much about the storyline makes it all too easy to divulge key elements that would ruin the experience for some if not all fans.

Suffice to say that the canvas this time out is huge and it taps into almost every Marvel film with the exception of two and it’s not too difficult to guess which two. The action is dizzying in it intensity and it’s not giving away too much is saying these battles take place on more than one front.

The film is very successful in presenting all your favourite characters in an ensemble piece and not watering down the traits that made them so memorable in the first place. Few films need to be seen with as much urgency as Avengers: Infinity Wars as a lot of the fun is the large number of surprises in store. Waiting runs the risk of diffusing those highs and lows through the disclosure of information.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/avengers

The exhibition follows Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye and their allies and adversaries from comic book to cinema screen as it explores the interconnected films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It features more than 500 artworks from Marvel’s archives and private collections, with iconic objects such as Thor’s hammer, Captain America’s shield and Iron Man’s armour. Alongside the original comic books which introduced the characters and influenced the films are dynamic works of concept and keyframe art, more than 60 original costumes, over 150 props, and never-before-seen set pieces from the upcoming film Thor: Ragnarok, including the majestic Asgardian throne room. The exhibition looks in detail at Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and The Avengers as a team, while also delving into the realms of Ant‑Man, Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Curated by QAGOMA, ‘Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe’ offers a glimpse into the work of production designers, storyboarding and pre‑visualisation artists, costume and prop designers, and visual effects artists. Interactive elements throughout the exhibition will let visitors delve even further into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Cinema
Throughout the exhibition, the Gallery’s Australian Cinémathèque will screen all the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, from the breakthrough Iron Man (2008) to this year’s Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Open Wednesday night
The exhibition will be open until 9.00pm Wednesday nights.

Up Late
Fridays 28 July – 1 September (5.30pm – 10.00pm), an intergalactic Up Late returns during ‘Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe’. Explore the exhibition after hours, be tempted by the food and drinks offerings, and enjoy a stellar line up of live music from Art vs Science, Black Cab, Habits, Olympia, Models and NO ZU. Each Up Late is a separate ticketed event.

Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe Exhibition
27 May 2017 – 3 September 2017
GOMA – Brisbane
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

The film is filled with new characters to the big screen like Black Panther (Chadwick Bosema) as well as drawing in players from other films new to the MU like Ant-Man. Paul Rudd’s diminutive character is a great addition and provides some much needed humor to what is one of the more serious Marvel outings. Marvel’s acquiring of Spiderman from his Sony overlords is also a worthy and comic addition.

The plot has more than a few strangely placed potholes. These could have been easily filled with some small degree of exposition but going down the road of having the Avengers pay some degree of penance for past caviler endeavours is a clever plot device even if handled rather clunky at times.

The film’s long running time (147 minutes) races by and the fight scenes while overabundant are very well staged. Pitting Chris Evans’ Captain America against Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man in a war of wills provides the majority of the human interaction but there are a number of smaller subplots that also provide interest. It’s great getting all the gang back together again and in a vehicle that is more strongly written and played out than last time. Just a small critique though, let’s please have the crazy credits at the very end provide us new information (like in the past) other than just being an ad for future films.

Rob Hudson
www.marvel.com/captainamerica

One of first film’s strongest points was the dynamics between the characters and how they riffed off each other. Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man was given some great lines and everyone else had to up their game just to keep up. The new script is mysteriously bereft of most of those moments and sticks to a pacing of mostly action scenes patched together with momentary bits of dialogue. When the action does arrive however, it is dazzling.

The film also relies a bit too heavily on the viewer’s knowledge of the Marvel Universe and for those new to the ways of colourful superheros, it’s not a bad idea to bring along a friend fluent in that world. For parents, it’s a great way to get schooled by their kids. Writer/director Joss Whedon has returned to the franchise for this installment but either through pressure to pack a bigger bang or too many outside influences, his usual bright charm is slightly dulled.

All is not lost though and while the film is a good representation of the spectacle that can be accomplished with zeros and ones, there is also enough of the character’s innate human charm available to keep things from becoming too much of a technical exercise. It is visually spectacular, almost overwhelming, story-wise less so.

Rob Hudson
www.marvel.com/avengers

The first film worked so well at creating Iron Man’s back-story and showed how well certain rock music can lift a film’s energy just by their mere presence. The second film squandered most of that good will with a poor choice of casting and weak story. Welcome round three and in the now almost obligatory for films of this type, 3D format.

Try as the film does for some real surprise story moments and to flush out the main characters lives, it really lets the side down but as an exercise is visual film making it is pretty impressive for now. The real problem with such special effects driven films is that as the technology improves and our internal database of CGI images grows exponentially we soon loose the sense of wonder and are left with just the story to enthral us. This is not one of those films that in the future will be viewed over and over.

The hype and energy of a major release seen in its early days always sways the audience to a more favourable experience and my recommendation is to see this early when the cinemas are full and the combined crowd energy is at its peak.

Rob Hudson
www.marvel.com

Iron Man 2 is certainly bigger, with an obviously enlarged budget, the film is packed with more expensive looking special effects and even more gratuitous over the top action. The film’s final duke-out is magnified as well with the addition of a very large number of baddies and an overabundance of explosive effects. The story also gets ramped up as we meet Tony Stark’s father (in flashback home movies) and get some welcome insight into his childhood.

Some of the relationships from the first film are also developed slightly with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and the film’s director Jon Favreau as Tony’s chauffeur, Happy Hogan getting more screen time. There are also a number of new characters that are introduced including Scarlett Johansson with tight black leather and a secret identity and Mickey Rourke as the new nemesis, Ivan Vanko. The film is certainly not resting on its laurels with characterization.

The film tries its best with a back-story of military intervention, the budding romance between Stark and his personal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Iron Man having to face his own mortality. It’s just that with this mad rush into impressing audience members with its bigger is better attitude, it loses a lot of the charm and swarm that made the first edition so memorable.

Rob Hudson
www.ironmanmovie.marvel.com

Compared to that other great superhero ensemble flick (no, not Fantastic Four!), Bryan Singer’s X-Men, The Avengers is the kitschy one of the two but it is no less a film. Whedon shows that he knows how to do kitsch without descending into a tired, boring, groan-inducing cliché (like Fantastic Four). Of course Whedonphiles have known this for many years and now the rest of the world will know it.

The primary difficulty in an ensemble film such as this is making sure that each character within the film has enough space to develop. The Avengers has an advantage here in that Marvel have taken the time and expense to develop most of the characters externally in their own franchises but even so, Whedon has done exceptionally well in giving each hero a respectable amount of screen time so that no one (almost) is short changed. No one character is elevated above another, they are all equals. This principle has most importantly been applied to The Hulk.

As the least glamorous member of the team (he’s big, green, angry and barely talks), Whedon has smartly elevated Hulk to the biggest, baddest ass on the team. He’s the one that nobody has successfully controlled (with the exception, perhaps, of his alter ego, Bruce Banner); no force has subdued him; no weapon has destroyed him; everyone is shit scared of him. When faced with an angry Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), the demonstrably deadly Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) stands her ground but is clearly petrified of him. The Hulk is the trickiest character to handle and Whedon does so elegantly.

Likewise performances are good from the entire cast. Iron Man naturally gets all the best lines given Robert Downey Jr’s ability to deliver them with aplomb. Black Widow is given the most character development (appropriate since she has not had a movie of her own) and Johansson does well with the subtleties of her character as she wields her personal vulnerabilities like weapons. Samuel Jackson is just Samuel and we love him for it. Hawk Eye (Jeremy Renner) is short changed a little on character development but perhaps he’ll be fleshed out further in future installments. In any case, he’s not a major player in this plot line. Chris Evans will be pleased that hardly anyone will remember his role in Fantastic Four and his performance here will erase that memory completely.

The action is suitably spectacular but that’s par for the course these days. Nothing feels slow throughout the proceedings; the action, dialogue and plot snaps along nicely and the script feels like it has spent exactly the right time in development to iron out all the wrinkles, which is refreshing.

As good as this film is, however, it does represent yet another needless application of 3D technology. This seemingly endless tirade of 3D blockbusters has become positively tiresome. Like most before it, 3D adds very little to this film; if anything it’s a distraction. 3D films present completely differently to their 2D counterparts – and not usually in a good way. The 3D effect forces you to focus on very specific parts of the scene, specifically (and literally) the focus or subject of the image, to the exclusion of everything else. It induces a kind of tunnel vision in the viewer. Watching a 2D variant, more detail is apparent in the background, as we’re not being directly distracted by whatever is hovering in front of our noses – much like a magician’s trick. That we see more detail in a 2D image is contrary to our expectations of 3D, which is meant to be a heightened experience. This needn’t be a bad thing, however. Like any other cinematic device, it could be used to good effect (it could have useful applications in horror movies, for instance) but it shouldn’t be overdone, as is the case with this currently endless slew of 3D flicks. The best 3D movie in recent times is easily Hugo. Clearly Scorsese understands the tool and is smart enough to know how to use it effectively and appropriately.

That aside, The Avengers will do well at the box office and it deserves to, and Joss Whedon will get his long overdue just desserts into the bargain.

Stuart Jamieson
www.theavengers.com.au