Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/977918
maltatoday SUNDAY 6 MAY 2018 45 This Week – miraculously – giving all of its heroes and villains an adequate amount of time in the spotlight. That's not to say that the toils of this kind of labour aren't entirely evident. The gloomy pall that hangs over most of the proceed- ings – down to not just the afore- mentioned schism between 'the Earth's mightiest heroes', but also Thanos' brute efficiency – makes this less of a zippy adventure that other former Marvel instalments, for one thing. And while the jokes work – and some of them land won- derfully – on the whole humour is used as something of a band-aid solution to prevailing mood. Also, the nature of the beast re- quires roughly three major con- flicts to be taking place at any given time. While this certainly ensures something exciting is happening on screen at all times, overkill is another real risk here, and you may feel as though you're beaten into submission just as our heroes clobber their way through Thanos' minions and the purple man himself (when they do, in fact, managed to land a blow). As such, the moments when the monster in charge is undergoing his existen- tial and/or metaphysical rumina- tions actually feel like something of a respite from the madness. In fact, one of the boldest moves by all concerned was to make Tha- nos' 'journey' the backbone of the film. This gives a unique twist to the franchise architecture, and it also goes some way towards ad- dressing a perennial problem in its backside: the consistent inabil- ity to deliver compelling villains. And yes, one would be hard- pressed to call 'Infinity War' a movie in any traditional sense of the term. Instead, it simply feels like an inflated season finale – both in terms of its budget and running time – that assumes its audience is fully on board will all the prior 'episodes' of its sprawling franchise, and which baldly and neatly sets up future episodes. It's all starting to look like their comic book world now in almost every way – the continuity is hard to get if you're not an 'initiate', and the franchise has netted enough 'new fans' over the past decade for the studio not to worry about getting the general public up to speed. For the general public is now in on it all, for the most part. And while this sounds positively dys- topian in some ways, the rewards of success mitigate the dangers of risk. For this reason, Marvel could afford to make the striking choices it makes at the tail end of Infinity War. Like the best block- busters in the Marvel stable, it packs on the adrenaline and the humorous quips. But in a way that more closely resembles the emo- tional rollercoaster that is Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, it will also pummel you, subvert- ing expectations within an other- wise very constrained set up. And that has got to count for something. The verdict Virtually impenetrable for the casual viewer and something of an exhausting assault of the senses though it may be, Avengers: Infin- ity War also makes for a stagger- ingly efficient slice of blockbuster sound and fury. As a key touch- stone in Marvel's ongoing and mammoth-scale franchise, it does an incredible job of tying loose ends and paying off long-gestat- ing character set-ups, and it does so to a thrillingly composed and well-paced array of action beats that may tire one out occasionally, but which succeed in delivering the coveted "bang for the buck". And this is, after all, the logical endpoint for such large-scale ex- ercises of corporate brand con- solidation. Kelmtejn kultura Infasslu l-Politika Kulturali Ġdida #kultura2025 Cultural Communities Saturday, 19 th May | 09:30 | Fortress Builders, Valletta Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development Wednesday, 23 rd May | 18:00 | Fortress Builders, Valletta Innovation in Cultural and Creative Practices Thursday, 24 th May | 18:00 | Fortress Builders, Valletta Cultural Communities Saturday, 26 th May | 09:30 | Main Hall, Ministry for Gozo International Cultural Cooperation Wednesday, 30 th May | 18:00 | Fortress Builders, Valletta Cultural Diversity & Inclusion Thursday, 31 st May | 18:00 | Fortress Builders, Valletta Professional Status of the Cultural & Creative Workers Tuesday, 5 th June | 18:00 | Fortress Builders, Valletta Regional Cultural Development in Malta & Gozo Saturday, 16 th June | 10:00 | Main Hall, Ministry for Gozo Arts and Cultural Education Wednesday, 20 th June | 18:00 | Fortress Builders, Valletta Youth: Culture, Practice and Participation Saturday, 23 rd June | 09:30 | Fortress Builders, Valletta The Culture Directorate would like to invite you to its consultation meetings in relation to the National Policy for Culture. We welcome your ideas. #kultura2025 www.culture.gov.mt culturalpolicy2020@gov.mt C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Hulkbuster: Performance anxiety leads to desperate – and technologically-enhanced – measures for Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) Unlikely heroes: Led by Peter Quill/Starlord (Chris Pratt), the Guardians of the Galaxy are back