Tag: Tilda Swinton

The surviving Superheroes go after Thanos.

AVENGERS: ENDGAME

Film Review by Marlene Ardoin

Hopefully, everyone who is going to see “Avengers: Endgame,” has seen it by now. Doesn’t look like it is going to overtake “Avatar”.

So now, we can actually talk about it, without anyone having to plug their ears.

The question I had at the end of the film was: “What happened to the gems?”

The gems represent money and Thanos (Josh Brolin) is power. This is all about the era of might and money make right.

But, things happen, it really wasn’t clear to me, that Captain America (Chris Evans) actually put the gems back where they belong.

All I know is that he showed up as an old man holding his shield. Do you believe his story about the girl?

If it is true, he is the only one in the entire story, who actually gets to live an ideal life.

Just like Thanos does not get to decide who lives and who dies, neither does Captain America.

The new era should be about people stepping out of their egos. They start to care about others, about everyone.

This is a new world with no secrets, but it appears Captain America has some huge secrets to explain. What did he do with the gems?

Who doesn’t have an ego in this film? Every single superhero, is a great big wad of ego issues.

No one is capable or worthy of controlling the power of the gems.

As I was walking out of the theater with some other movie goers, we concluded that everything could be fixed with just one more time travel trip.

But, who should make the trip?

I would send the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). She was the only one, who was able to give up the gem in her possession.

She has enough discipline and wisdom to actually not be tempted to misuse the gems. She may even think the problem through, before snapping her fingers.

Another point about this film that disturbed me was the bullying issue.

Everyone gangs up on Thanos. He is just one person. How many people does it take?

And, even Thanos cannot control the gems. His intentions may have been good, but no one is better off, not even him.

Why does Thanos feel that he had to eliminate half of humanity? Could it be an over population issue? Could it be that humanity is destroying its own environment?

Why not create a dimension of unlimited resources, instead of deleting half of the human resources?

On the positive side, I have never had three hours wiz by so fast. There was no room for boredom or sleepiness at all.

Pay attention, there just may be another follow-up on this action packed thriller.

What happened to the gems?

Thanos (Josh Brolin) takes off his armor.

AVENGERS: ENDGAME:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avengers:_Endgame

Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark /Iron Man):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Robert_Downey_Jr.

Chris Hemsworth (Thor):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hemsworth

Rene Russo (Frigga):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rene_Russo

Chris Evans (Captain America):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Evans_(actor)

Paul Rudd (Scott Lang / Ant-Man):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rudd

Brie Larson (Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brie_Larson

Gwyneth Paltrow (Virginia “Pepper” Potts):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwyneth_Paltrow

Josh Brolin (Thanos) :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Brolin

Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/ Hulk):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Ruffalo

Scarlett Johansson (Natasha romanoff/Black Widow):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlett_Johansson

Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton / Hawkeye):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Renner

5/14/2019 # Avengers:Endgame

doctor-strange-body-spirit

The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) separates the spirit from Doctor Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) body.

DOCTOR STRANGE

Film Review by Marlene Ardoin

“Doctor Strange” (Benedict Cumberbatch) learns the hard way that following the dark side is not the way to go.

As a successful, talented, young surgeon, with a photo-graphic memory, everything seems easy to him in the beginning. Until, of course, things start to get hard. And, in spite of his over-confidence, I found that he did possess a moral compass.

Our surgeon attracts loyalty, because, like attracts like. Rachel McAdams plays Christine, his love interest, who stands with him to the point of being a door mat.

When things go really bad for him, she is his point of light that keeps him sane. He leans heavily upon her for support. She is a friend/wife/muse figure in his life.

My one criticism of this story is that too much emphasis is given to the dark side. And the whole film lost me when the dark side was depicted as a male face in the universe.

What about the idea of drawing power, strength, eternality from the light side? I thought it was going in this direction with the depiction of Dr. Strange’s spirit being separated from his body.

Our surgeon tries to make a case for the light side when he says, “I heal people. I cannot kill people.”

He is described as arrogant, for humiliating another surgeon, who was ready to body wrap a patient. Should Dr. Strange have just agreed with this surgeon’s opinion, and not saved the patient? Sometimes, it takes moral courage to use one’s special abilities.

His humility is on full display in Nepal, where he seeks healing from the Ancient One, a sorcerer, played by Tilda Swinton. The scenes of his training and self-healing is very satisfying. I just could not take the face in the sky part or the part where everyone is using the dark powers to survive.

And last, but not least, the humor in this story is fantastic. Doctor Strange’s levitation cape has the kind of sass that was missing in his love life.

11/15/2016 # Doctor Strange