Infinity War. Ow.
May. 1st, 2018 11:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyShort review of Infinity War: Scarred for life.
I knew going in that a lot of characters were going to die. I won't say I'd made peace with it, but I knew it was going to happen and I also know that the second part to this is going to undo a lot of them. It's the nature of the storyline they've chosen to do and also... yeah. When you look at the body count, it is comprised mostly of the newbies. Seriously, by the end of IW, the only Guardians left are Rocket and Nebula and I'm having to stretch to include her simply because that's the part of the franchise she's aligned with.
Clearly, not everyone is going to stay dead. It's Marvel.
And yet...
Now that I've had some time to reflect (or look at cute pictures of kittens), I can see why people will rewatch the movie. They want to figure out the clues for how it's all going to play out. Thing is, I don't think I'll be one of those people. I'm not someone who enjoys watching the villain get their way over the heroes (unless I happen to be rooting for said villain but I'm not a Thanos fangirl so not an option here) and Infinity War is basically a long slog of that.
We start dark and we end dark and there are moments of light mixed in, but it's mostly Thanos fucks things up and the universe is all the worse for it.
I've never been to a Marvel movie where the audience didn't interact. Even the jokes just kind of caused a little "heh" because you knew that in the next breath something awful was likely to happen and it did. Man, even by the time I saw the original Avengers for the third time, at the end of the run when the jokes weren't as funny, people still cheered various points and sniffled for Phil.
By the end of Infinity War, everyone in the audience was just stunned. The movie felt like a neverending barrage of punches to the gut and kicks to the head and by the end you're just kind of numb.
Some deaths seem more permanent or less easily fixed than others. Heimdall and Loki at the start. Loki's cheated death so many times that even Thanos commented on it and if Marvel wants to make a stand, keeping him dead is probably the way to do it. On the other hand, they still have a villain problem and keeping him dead will continue to fuck Thor up so... But I've been prepping myself for months. They gave themselves a little wiggle room, but Marvel does like their loopholes.
While we're speaking of the Asgardians, might I ask why in hell Heimdall didn't send the Tesseract skittering to earth with Hulk? I get that Thor needed to be left behind so he'll be found by the Guardians and swing them into the fight, but maybe don't leave the one thing the big bad wants lying around?
Gamora's going to be tricky to bring back (but kinda obviously will) since she was a sacrifice so Thanos could get his soul stone. The fact that she didn't see it coming is one of those things that works and doesn't work at the same time. Like yeah, she doesn't believe he's capable of love. I get it. But maybe don't immediately scoff at the idea that the big idiot thinks what he feels is love. Or worse, that as awful as he is, that is his version of love. *twitch* And hey, Red Skull. You're looking wraith-y these days.
Not sure about Vision. What's Paul Bettany's contract look like? Poor Wanda. Though, on the plus side, she didn't have to live too long after considering she's part of the ashes to ashes crowd. Seriously, the only people who make it to the end of the movie alive are the old school Avengers, Rhodey, Rocket, Nebula, and a couple of the Wakanda contingency. Yeah, the moment the shock of watching everyone go poof wears off, the emotional fallout decreases considerably once you realize there's no way in hell they're shuttling off all the new people and keeping just the old.
I will say that of those dusted, I felt Peter/Spiderman's the most. It was heartbreaking. I didn't cry for anyone else, including Loki (and I love me some Loki) but I teared up just a smidge when Peter says he doesn't want to go.
So for me, the bad is the onslaught of misery. It is an anxiety inducing movie and that's not a fun ride for me. Others may feel differently. Also, I'd remembered to hope for the best but prepare for the worst with Loki and Hawkeye but did not remember that Groot and Rocket might also need some luck. And the CGI for some members of the Children of Thanos was just really distractedly bad.
The good:
Hawkeye never makes it into this movie which means I don't have to see him die yet, though I imagine his family is likely dusted because of course they are. So maybe this is less good and more in the middle? Good news/bad news?
Thor's teamup with Rocket and Groot and Thor repeatedly calling Rocket a rabbit. Oh, Thor. Definitely one of the better things about the movie as it kept you from wanting to just choke on some popcorn and end it all.
The various mixed teamups mostly worked. Doctor Strange, Tony, and Peter worked. They worked a little less well with the rest of the Guardians but that might've also been intentional. When Cap shows up, my audience showed a little sign of life and there was a glimmer of foolish hope.
Kid Gamora is adorable.
Sam's "well, this is awkward" when Bruce and Natasha meet up again.
Hulk's performance issues... I don't necessarily like how they played Bruce himself for laughs for most of the movie, but Hulk being afraid of Thanos makes sense for the character they've created. Bruce's bumbling not so much.
Okoye wondering why in the hell Scarlet Witch was kept away from the fight so long.
Black Widow and Okoye coming to Wanda's rescue and saying that she's not alone. That moment is actually my favorite in the entire movie.
So yeah, the movie has moments that are great. It's just whether you like sitting through something that hurts to watch to get to them. And waiting a year for part two is just a pain in the ass.
I knew going in that a lot of characters were going to die. I won't say I'd made peace with it, but I knew it was going to happen and I also know that the second part to this is going to undo a lot of them. It's the nature of the storyline they've chosen to do and also... yeah. When you look at the body count, it is comprised mostly of the newbies. Seriously, by the end of IW, the only Guardians left are Rocket and Nebula and I'm having to stretch to include her simply because that's the part of the franchise she's aligned with.
Clearly, not everyone is going to stay dead. It's Marvel.
And yet...
Now that I've had some time to reflect (or look at cute pictures of kittens), I can see why people will rewatch the movie. They want to figure out the clues for how it's all going to play out. Thing is, I don't think I'll be one of those people. I'm not someone who enjoys watching the villain get their way over the heroes (unless I happen to be rooting for said villain but I'm not a Thanos fangirl so not an option here) and Infinity War is basically a long slog of that.
We start dark and we end dark and there are moments of light mixed in, but it's mostly Thanos fucks things up and the universe is all the worse for it.
I've never been to a Marvel movie where the audience didn't interact. Even the jokes just kind of caused a little "heh" because you knew that in the next breath something awful was likely to happen and it did. Man, even by the time I saw the original Avengers for the third time, at the end of the run when the jokes weren't as funny, people still cheered various points and sniffled for Phil.
By the end of Infinity War, everyone in the audience was just stunned. The movie felt like a neverending barrage of punches to the gut and kicks to the head and by the end you're just kind of numb.
Some deaths seem more permanent or less easily fixed than others. Heimdall and Loki at the start. Loki's cheated death so many times that even Thanos commented on it and if Marvel wants to make a stand, keeping him dead is probably the way to do it. On the other hand, they still have a villain problem and keeping him dead will continue to fuck Thor up so... But I've been prepping myself for months. They gave themselves a little wiggle room, but Marvel does like their loopholes.
While we're speaking of the Asgardians, might I ask why in hell Heimdall didn't send the Tesseract skittering to earth with Hulk? I get that Thor needed to be left behind so he'll be found by the Guardians and swing them into the fight, but maybe don't leave the one thing the big bad wants lying around?
Gamora's going to be tricky to bring back (but kinda obviously will) since she was a sacrifice so Thanos could get his soul stone. The fact that she didn't see it coming is one of those things that works and doesn't work at the same time. Like yeah, she doesn't believe he's capable of love. I get it. But maybe don't immediately scoff at the idea that the big idiot thinks what he feels is love. Or worse, that as awful as he is, that is his version of love. *twitch* And hey, Red Skull. You're looking wraith-y these days.
Not sure about Vision. What's Paul Bettany's contract look like? Poor Wanda. Though, on the plus side, she didn't have to live too long after considering she's part of the ashes to ashes crowd. Seriously, the only people who make it to the end of the movie alive are the old school Avengers, Rhodey, Rocket, Nebula, and a couple of the Wakanda contingency. Yeah, the moment the shock of watching everyone go poof wears off, the emotional fallout decreases considerably once you realize there's no way in hell they're shuttling off all the new people and keeping just the old.
I will say that of those dusted, I felt Peter/Spiderman's the most. It was heartbreaking. I didn't cry for anyone else, including Loki (and I love me some Loki) but I teared up just a smidge when Peter says he doesn't want to go.
So for me, the bad is the onslaught of misery. It is an anxiety inducing movie and that's not a fun ride for me. Others may feel differently. Also, I'd remembered to hope for the best but prepare for the worst with Loki and Hawkeye but did not remember that Groot and Rocket might also need some luck. And the CGI for some members of the Children of Thanos was just really distractedly bad.
The good:
Hawkeye never makes it into this movie which means I don't have to see him die yet, though I imagine his family is likely dusted because of course they are. So maybe this is less good and more in the middle? Good news/bad news?
Thor's teamup with Rocket and Groot and Thor repeatedly calling Rocket a rabbit. Oh, Thor. Definitely one of the better things about the movie as it kept you from wanting to just choke on some popcorn and end it all.
The various mixed teamups mostly worked. Doctor Strange, Tony, and Peter worked. They worked a little less well with the rest of the Guardians but that might've also been intentional. When Cap shows up, my audience showed a little sign of life and there was a glimmer of foolish hope.
Kid Gamora is adorable.
Sam's "well, this is awkward" when Bruce and Natasha meet up again.
Hulk's performance issues... I don't necessarily like how they played Bruce himself for laughs for most of the movie, but Hulk being afraid of Thanos makes sense for the character they've created. Bruce's bumbling not so much.
Okoye wondering why in the hell Scarlet Witch was kept away from the fight so long.
Black Widow and Okoye coming to Wanda's rescue and saying that she's not alone. That moment is actually my favorite in the entire movie.
So yeah, the movie has moments that are great. It's just whether you like sitting through something that hurts to watch to get to them. And waiting a year for part two is just a pain in the ass.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-01 06:13 pm (UTC)I'm putting all my hopes on Deadpool 2. That will be the first movie to get me to a theater in 3 years.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-01 06:49 pm (UTC)Yup, serious downside to announcing all your movies ahead of time is that it really kills the tension knowing that half these characters have movies coming out. I do like the theory that those who got dusted are in the soul stone (or some alternate universe/earth/whatever Marvel goes with) and that would definitely necessitate at least another death or three to get people out.
Boo to the fridging of Gamora just so we can possibly see Thanos as I don't even know. He's awful, his methods are awful, and I'm not going to feel that bad that his 'daughter' doesn't realize he does love her when he's perfectly willing to fling her off a cliff to get what he wants and nyaaaaaaargh.
DP2 I'll have to see if Cass waits or goes immediately because while Mums loves her comic book movies, I'm still pretty sure she wouldn't enjoy it. Alas! Unrelated to the movie, there's a little car around here that's taped up to look Deadpool-ish. Haven't seen the Wolverine car in ages and I always wonder if it's the same car with a new look or if they're enemies or friends or what.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-01 06:58 pm (UTC)