Andrew Robinson
(Spoilers for The Avengers: Infinity War are present).
I’m going to catch a lot of hate for this one.
In today’s day and age, superhero movies reign supreme. The Avengers: Infinity War has already grossed $2.04 billion worldwide, and has made the 35th-highest amount of money (about $678 million) of any film domestically, when adjusted for inflation. Black Panther, another superhero film released in 2018, has made the 30th-highest. In fact, when failing to adjust for inflation, five of the top ten highest money-making films in American history are superhero films: Black Panther (#3), The Avengers: Infinity War (#4), Marvel’s The Avengers (#7), The Incredibles 2 (#9), and The Dark Knight (#10). What, then, can I possibly have against what is consistently the highest money-making films in America? Well, it’s quite simple. They’re too predictable.
Some moviegoers – many, even – want to go to the theaters to see films with happy endings. Films that end on a sad, down note have a weird tendency to be rejected by mainstream society; many of us simply have enough going on in our own lives that we want to be distracted for two hours and, by ending the films happily, this distraction is usually achieved. However, other entertainment viewers, including me, enjoy the gritty, unpredictable nature of filmmakers who are unafraid to end their films in ways that are not typical (so, in other words, unhappily). Superhero films are overwhelmingly in the first category which, to me, makes them entirely too predictable and overrated.
(Disclaimer: I have seen one superhero film that transcends this issue. In The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger is absolutely unbelievable as The Joker, and carries the film past these issues into Oscar-worthiness and deserved universal acclaim).
As a result of the phenomenon illustrated above, nearly every superhero film ever made follows a simple plotline. First, the superhero(es) are introduced, typically after just finishing up doing some sort of hero-like work, or when at a function where they have to conceal their alter-identity. Then, a villain who poses a major threat either to Earth/mankind or the superhero’s home city/country is brought into the fold. Far too often, this villain’s motivations to commit the unspeakable acts (s)he wants to commit are annoyingly underdeveloped; they tend to just want to destroy the city/country/world for the heck of it, or for a similarly questionable reason. Then, for awhile, the viewer is left in fake suspense as the villain seems to have a leg up on the superhero; the hero doesn’t seem to be able to stop the villain, and this is typically done through questionable plotlines/decisions (Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) punching Thanos in Infinity War when simply refraining from doing so would have resulted in Thanos’ nearly definite demise is just one example of this). Finally, however, the villain is overcome by the superhero, and everything is neatly wrapped up in a bow (unless, of course they must introduce another villain/storyline for the next movie in the franchise/universe). This almost never fails to happen, hence the extreme predictability.
Before I get yelled at for these generalizations with The Avengers: Infinity War as your backing, let me address that. While it seems to buck the trend with Thanos destroying half of the universe (including beloved characters Spider-Man, Bucky Barnes, Groot, Dr. Strange, Peter Quill, T’Challa, Nick Fury, and Maria Hill, among others) at the end of the film, this “ending” simply proves my point even further. There’s roughly a 0% chance that the vast majority of these “deaths” will stick, as many of the actors are signed to contracts for multiple more movies in their personal characters’ franchises, and their “deaths” simply set Marvel up for the next few movies in its universe (likely coming to some sort of end with the untitled direct sequel to the Avengers series set to be released in May 2019). Therefore, while Infinity War ended on a sad note, the fact that there’s a Part 2 and that many of the actors are still signed to contracts to play their characters for the foreseeable future, it is basically a certainty that the “deaths” aren’t deaths at all. Now, it is a real possibility that veteran superheroes Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, etc. will have to sacrifice themselves to save the next age of heroes; many of those actors’ contracts are up after Part 2. This, however, would be extremely predictable, so it wouldn’t really buck any trends either.
As I hinted at earlier, the questionable/convenient storylines and character decisions present in most superhero movies to keep the film going just baffles me, making it ridiculous to me. Quill’s decision to punch Thanos instead of just, well, not, which would have almost certainly resulted in his death, angers me to this day. It makes no sense that a veteran hero wouldn’t be able to hold his emotions in check long enough to defeat the villain by, again, simply not punching him in the face. The showrunners then decided to use Dr. Strange’s proclamation that there’s only one way in 14,000,605 to defeat Thanos to explain Quill’s stupidity; this supposedly wouldn’t have ended Thanos (which in itself makes little sense). The ridiculously low chance of success is another example of a convenient storyline. Character decisions such as Quill’s in Infinity War are present in most superhero films, and are relied on way too heavily to allow the film to continue.
For many viewers, the action makes up for the questionable and convenient storylines, as well as the predictability. I’ll admit it – superhero movies generally have good action scenes. For me, however, this just isn’t enough. I have never understood society’s infatuation with superhero films, and I likely never will. I do know one thing for certain, however: I will never be a lover superhero film. In fact, I believe they are easily the most overrated films in Hollywood.
