FAIR NEW MOVIE -- AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

 Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch  

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018). Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo.

A dangerous cosmic entity known as Thanos (Josh Brolin, in a computer-generated performance) wants possession of several powerful rings so that he can remake the universe the way he wants to, and eliminate half of the population -- and although he is opposed by a great many heroes, including the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, he essentially succeeds (until the sequel, of course). Aside from a few dull stretches, Avengers: Infinity War is not boring and mercifully moves at a fast pace, although I can't imagine how people who are not "Marvel fans" and have not seen all of the Marvel movies might get into this. As others have noted, not a single character is ever actually introduced to the viewer. (Fortunately, being a long-time comics fan, I knew who most of these people were, or were supposed to be.) The movie is a noisy amalgamation of cute quips uttered by characters (ostensibly so they can keep up their courage), serious moments that are touching for twelve-year-olds, and lots of explosions and flying bodies. The film has been widely overpraised by people who, I suspect, read nothing but comic books and only see comic book movies, having no other frame of reference. As noted, I am a big super-hero fan, and know that comics are not always juvenile and mindless, but I don't confuse them with Shakespeare or Citizen Kane, either. That being said, AIW has some great art direction and striking cinematography, and action scenes that often seem more cluttered and busy than especially effective. The "human" drama in this -- if you can call it that -- has to do with the love story of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch, as well as the love-hate relationship between Thanos and his "daughter," Gamora (Zoe Saldana, giving a very good performance). One could add that Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) has trouble turning into the CGI Hulk, although there seems little point to this (aside from Ruffalo perhaps wanting his actual face to be seen more in the movie). There are interesting things in the picture, but this notion that it is the "culmination" of every other Marvel super-hero movie is ridiculous. Personally, I have never found Thanos to be a very interesting villain, even in this, and have always thought he was just a pale imitation of Jack Kirby's Darkseid, who should be showing up in a DC Universe movie any year now. With the exception of X-Men: Apocalypse and Logan, I think Marvel's X-Men films are much better than the Avengers series.

Verdict: A lot of sound and fury signifying very little, but some fun for the inner geek. **1/4. 

ALL THE KING'S MEN (2006)

Sean Penn

ALL THE KING'S MEN (2006). Director: Steven Zaillian.

Willie Stark (Sean Penn) rises up from the Louisianan swamps to the governor's mansion, accompanied by reporter and associate Jack Burden (Jude Law). Jack has a father figure in Judge Irwin (Anthony Hopkins), and has long carried a torch for Anne Stanton (Kate Winslet), whose brother, Adam (Mark Ruffalo) is wooed by Stark for an important medical position. But then Jack helps Willie get information that the latter uses to blackmail the judge ... This remake of the 1949 All the King's Men is inferior in every way. Sean Penn [Mystic River] plays with his customary dynamism, but his gesticulating in certain sequences borders on the ludicrous and his southern accent is so thick that there are times you can hardly understand him. While Jude Law [Black Sea]  has his moments, through most of the movie you get the impression that he just wants to go off somewhere and get a good night's sleep. The father-son dynamic between the two men is lost because Penn and Law look around the same age, although Penn is the older by twelve years. Events that are played up in the original movie are so downplayed in the remake that it's as if they never happened. We hardly see Stark's wife, his son has been written out of the movie altogether (eliminating a development that was a key plot point in the original) , and Mercedes McCambridge's character in the original, now played by Patricia Clarkson [Far From Heaven], is practically reduced to a walk-on. Jackie Earle Haley is scary in every sense of the word. Badly directed (despite some pseudo-artistic touches), and with a poor script, as well as a cast that has done much better work in other films, All the King's Men is a tedious misfire.

Verdict: Stick with the original. **.

ZODIAC

ZODIAC (2007). Director: David Fincher.

The true story of the hunt for a serial killer who taunts the very people who are pursuing him, which include Inspector Toschi (Mark Ruffalo); Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), who wrote the book this is based upon; Inspector Armstrong (Anthony Edwards); Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) of the San Francisco Chronicle; and others. The movie details how the case comes to take over the lives of everyone trying to shut the killer down permanently. Zodiac is completely absorbing and very well-acted --- John Carroll Lynch as a suspect is especially notable, among others -- but ultimately it's frustratingly open-ended. Still, there's never a boring moment.

Verdict: Recommended for fans of true crime. ***.