A Response to Marvel Critics
From Iron Man to Infinity War, Marvel has changed the course of cinematic history.
A man stands alone in a dark cave in the Afghani desert; lit by candles and the fires from a forge he has assembled himself. We watch as he hammers a shape into a piece of metal. He is surrounded by weapons of his own devising; ones stolen by his captors to be used in ungodly acts. But, in contrast to this, Tony Stark is forced to rely on the most primitive tools to assemble what will become his greatest creation.
Moments later, a steaming mask is placed onto a table. With that the Iron Man is born and so is the Marvel universe, which will come to encompass twenty movies and some of the most recognizable characters in cinema.
I’ve seen Iron Man more than a dozen times and I always enjoy watching Tony Stark build his first suit in that cave, or fight F-22 jets, or the Iron Monger, all while looking oh-so-cool. But there’s much more to this film than looking cool. There’s much more to the Marvel Cinematic Universe than making a big-budget spectacle.
I’m not going to argue that Marvel’s priorities are not to make money. Of course they are. That’s unfortunately the truth about almost everything in our society indoctrinated on the philosophies of Adam Smith and rugged individualism. But that shouldn’t necessarily be a deterrent to explore this world, because there is much to learn from the way Marvel makes movies. They have assembled a team of filmmakers and actors unprecedented in the modern era and have carefully crafted an interwoven network of stories that are intricate and beautiful.
It is one thing to criticize the CGI-fueled action sequences composed of non-stop punching. It is another thing entirely to write off the amount of work that has been put into these films, or the deeper meanings behind the stories they tell.
Take Iron Man for instance. On the surface, it’s a story about a man building a robotic suit that he uses to fight men in similar robotic suits. And frankly many will never see it as more than that. But to all the critics out there, the self-enshrined film connoisseurs who are always able to perfectly analyze the works of Kubrick and Coppola, you must be able to see what it’s really about?
It’s the story of a man hellbent on his own greed. One who finally sees a microcosm of the world he long chose to ignore, and actually decides to do something about it. It’s a criticism of military contractors in a post-War on Terror world, where the way we fight is fueled by money rather than spirit. And it’s about this one man’s disillusionment with that life.
Tony Stark is our Colonel Kurtz. He looks at the atrocities of his own creation and shouts “the horror… the horror.”
Okay, I know most people will never see it like that.
This is a blockbuster superhero movie. It’s going to make money and it’s going to be popular with the masses. But honestly what’s wrong with that? Why can’t a film be entertaining while also fostering deeper messages in a way that are digestible to the public?
It’s not like these films aren’t well-written, or well-acted, or well-directed. So what is it? Why are there still so many people who choose to indict Marvel to an eternity of criticism simply for making movies that aren’t the second coming of Citizen Kane?
And regardless, The Winter Soldier is just as good of a film.
A man out of his time, one who swore to protect his government and even died for it is failed by that very government. Forcing him to go on an existential discovery to bring goodness back to a society wrought with ulterior motives. This former war-time sideshow has to take matters into his own hands in a high-stakes mission where no one can be trusted.
How could you not consider that one of the best political thrillers of the century?
It only gets better from here. We saw Black Panther bring traditional African ideas to the forefront of pop culture. In doing so, it also rejects the growing global trend of isolationism through a battle between the ancestors and those struggling with their identity abroad.
The Guardians of the Galaxy brought us a beautifully complex vision of our universe that, at its heart, was a story about how wandering souls can come together to create family where it should never exist.
Tony Stark’s continued journey gave us one of the best narratives on post-traumatic stress in blockbuster film; taking this billionaire to his lowest point and exposing the harsh realties that thousands of soldiers are faced with every day. It is relevant. And it is necessary.
In a world marred with figures that represent greed and hatred, ones who are only motivated by their own egos, there is something to be said for telling the stories of heroes who we can aspire to be, no matter how fictitious they are.
Steve Rogers is a hero because he is a good man. Tony Stark overcame his shortcomings and chose to protect his world rather than profit off its infighting.
When the two of them clash in Civil War, it is not just a matter of the registration act, it is a metaphysical fight that has been building for years. Tony Stark feels as though he has a moral obligation to protect the world at all costs; one that is fueled by his ongoing issues with PTSD. Steve Rogers, on the other hand, has rightfully earned distrust of institutions that are crumbling down around him; an indictment of our contemporary world. These rival views are thrust together after having been established several movies prior in their respective franchises.
In this respect, the MCU has done something incredible. They have made their films more than films. They have made them more than sequels. They have spent years carefully crafting worlds that ebb and flow against one another. Colliding in spectacles of ideas, mantras, and battles for the greater good and greater evil. It is something new to the world of cinema and far more ambitious than we are willing to give it credit for.
“It’s all just about making money,” we like to say. But it’s actually more than that. Marvel films center on themes important to our time and place. They have well-written dialogue and bring us to new worlds that we could never dream of. They show us both our moral failings and our greatest triumphs in ways that almost everyone can enjoy.
And then there’s Infinity War. Ten years of carefully crafted stories collide together in what is arguably the greatest epic of our generation. This film can easily hold its own against Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings.
Think about it for a moment. A film that brings together more than twenty heroes that we have been following for the past decade in stories that span across three continents and four planets. That alone is a daunting thing to put together and the Russo Brothers did it. And they did it well.
It’s magnificent to look at. From Titan to Nidavellir to Vormir to the fields of Wakanda, everything about Infinity War is gorgeous. There’s not a single shot in this movie that’s not carefully composed or perfectly lit.
The biggest criticism of Infinity War (and Marvel films as a whole) is their reliance on CGI effects. I’m not going to deny that there’s a lot of it. But we have to remember that these are films based on comicbooks. Of course, they’re going to need to rely on these effects to create planets that don’t exist and alien species.
It took some time for Marvel to perfect its animation but by the time Thanos came around in this film it was near perfect. Never have I seen a character produced on a computer look so life like. And the worlds we visit are like drawings straight out of Jack Kirby’s panels. It’s beautiful. And there’s nothing wrong with the fact that it doesn’t exist.
Going back and forth between cosmic adventures like Infinity War and Guardians of the Galaxy to more grounded films like the Captain America trilogy make this universe all the more interesting.
Watching Tony Stark walk through the West Village and then launch off into the far reaches of space creates a stark contrast between our own world and the universe of these comics that is absolutley exhilarating to watch.
But that’s not all the Russo Brothers did here. They also somehow managed to take an action-packed two hour spectacle and save room for narratives that are actually interesting with characters that we actually care about. It was a Herculean effort to bring all these stories together but it all felt perfectly balanced in the end. None of the characters felt like they weren’t given their due.
While Steve Rogers only gets about seven minutes of screen time, it is instantly clear we have come a long way from a skinny kid in Brooklyn who wanted to join the army. He’s a man stuck in a world he has learned to recognize but still fails to completely understand. Because of this he has gone rogue and banished himself from society as the ultimate way to protect it.
Thor, once nothing more than a monolithic god from space, is now grappling with more human issues of loneliness; losing his family, friends, and entire world. And somehow he is able to balance this great emotional struggle with having one of the best humors in the MCU. The story of Thor has become a dark comedy and I love every minute of it.
And of course we also spend a good deal of time with the great Tony Stark. A character who we have followed through a seven part tragedy; watching him fall from grace as the world’s most famous billionaire to a man on the verge of great sorrow.
We watch as half of our favorite characters turn to dust before our eyes, taking an unexpected risk that most films dare not make. There was not a mouth in the theater I was in that did not drop at this moment.
While so earth-shattering, part of it felt rather intimate for Tony Stark. As if, in a way, it was just for him. “I hope they remember you,” Thanos says as he plunges a dagger into our hero’s chest.
As things take a turn for the worst, we remember that this was a vision Stark has had in his head for many years; a vision that he would watch as everything he cared about died before his eyes. This fear drove him towards his present mental state but also towards his goal of absolute safety. We leave Tony Stark here: a soul tortured by his own Herculean efforts.
Granted, Infinity War really only works if you have seen a good portion of Marvel’s repertory. But that’s what makes it so groundbreaking. It’s not just a film. It’s the finale of the world’s biggest spectacle. It’s the end of a story ten years in the making.
When Stan Lee first put pen to paper, these comics allowed us to escape from the troubles of our own day and enjoy tales of righteousness, even if just for a brief moment. They are an accessible medium that creates a shared identity which can transcend race, gender, age, and socioeconomic background.
The films that sprung from this idea remain available to all people too, and those who make them work tirelessly to be inclusive; creating stories that can inspire people of all ages.
They might pull you in with the promise of action and fantastic effects but ultimately Marvel does something much more clever than that: they tell you a good story too. Isn’t that what films are about anyway?
And, like the first Neanderthals drawing on the walls, it all started in a cave.
