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Which INFINITIES are you WARRING?
Going into the theater, I had low expectations. I figured that I would at least a get a look at a movie with a $400 million dollar budget. I heard positive buzz about Infinity War, but steered clear of all spoilers. And based on the X-movies, I was very skeptical that they could crowd in all these characters and still tell a decent story. But I was wrong. This movie felt like a worthy successor to each of the Marvel movies that I've seen so far, and based on the ties to those movies, made me want to see the ones that I missed. Even Spider-man Homecoming. The worst complaint I have about Infinity War was that I think Captain America should never have a beard.
They did a surprisingly good job with Thanos. In comics, it's rare that anybody except Jim Starlin writes Thanos well, but this movie pulled it off. The majesty, the nihilism, the intellect, the arrogance, and the dry humor are all there. They put Gamora into her backstory, which was a nice nod to the source material. And the idea that Thanos had to pay a high price to get all that power was a very Starlin idea. The opening scene was an amazing introduction, especially once it becomes apparent who Thanos is hefting like a small child.
What an epic movie. Sometimes the superhero movies fall down in the middle of the super-fight scenes, like that first Iron Man movie, or even Wonder Woman last summer. Somehow Infinity War pulled it off, with high stakes and personal drama working together to elevate the tension. It was also enjoyable to see so many good actors working together, managing to keep the story human amidst all the CGI.
Despite the name, it appears that this story is also drawing a bit upon the first epic Thanos story, which took place primarily in the pages of Captain Marvel. That story only crossed over into a single issue of Avengers, and yet 7 out of the 8 Avengers in that issue are in this movie, including Mantis. In fact, Thanos only showed up in two other issues of the long original Avengers run, including a brief cameo in Avengers #118.
One big difference between the MCU and the comicbook Marvel Universe is the live actors. Marvel movies have been great, in part, because of the excellent casting. But those actors are human, and they are getting older. It's impressive that the studio planned this far ahead for a glorious send-off for those older actors while setting up this two-part finale and clearing the way for the next generation of Marvel movies.
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- Black Barney
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- Michael Barnes
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Speaking as someone with very definite Marvel fatigue........IT WAS AWESOME!
The movie is a miracle in a few ways:
- in that it is the ten year culmination of what the MCU has been building to- which is Marvel action and characters on screen at a scale and depth of world-building I -never- imagined was possible even 10 years ago.
- In that it juggled so many character arcs and storylines (most of them ongoing from previous films) and it WASN’T A MESS.
- In that it actually made time amidst all of the high stakes, high impact action for character moments and depth, cementing Thanos in particular as a TREMENDOUS screen villain (making me wish even more they could do Doom).
- In that it showed that the cure for Marvel fatigue is...more Marvel than has ever been on the screen at one time.
One thing I thought about was how utterly important the first Guardians film was in making this possible. If that movie had foundered, it could have sunk all of the cosmic stuff right there. Guardians HAD to work for this movie to exist. In a way, I think it may be the most important film in the canon because of this.
So many crowd pleasing moments...my showing was half full, but “WAKANDA FOREVER” had everyone cheering. As did Cap’s first appearance.
I loved all of the character match-ups, some of them were hugely inspired. Strange sparring with Stark was particularly great. Even momentary beats like Bucky and Rocket and the “ladies only” fight with Proxima, Black Widow, Okoye, and Scarlet Witch were all aces.
Setting the big battle with the Genestealers in Wakanda was also realy inspired given the recent success of Black Panther and audience goodwill toward the setting.
As for the deaths- Loki and Heimdall right off the bat and in a very specific way set the stage- it was almost like Transformers: The Movie. No one was safe, and in the end that threat was real.
Thanos was simply stunning, and he beat the MCU curse of weak villains. He was a serious threat, and much like Kilmonger he had an ideology and an emotional center that we can relate to even if we don’t agree with it. An amazing portrayal of a great villain- I can’t wait to see what happens next with him.
Spidey came off really well- his boyishness and naïveté played nicely against the big drama, and his death (?) was unusually affecting.
Doctor Strange, Thor and Cap remain my favorite MCU characters and all three were just freaking great here. The only character I thought was shorted was Banner. It was fun to get him in the Hulkbuster, but after his great turn in Raganarok I felt he should have done more. But that also saves Hulk for next year.
Demerits...I suppose it is pretty full throttle mayhem for 2.5 hours. Some of the Titan action seemed to drag for a bit, and there was a point where after Thanos threw the moon at them where I thought “OK, where do we go from here.”
I would be curious to know what the Prometheus haters thought about the Black Legion’s rolling vehicles.
Anyway, I loved it. It is this generation’s Empire Strikes Back and Wrestlemania 3 rolled into one.
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- ChristopherMD
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Michael Barnes wrote: Anyway, I loved it. It is this generation’s Empire Strikes Back and Wrestlemania 3 rolled into one.
Thanks to that Andre the Giant documentary I actually get that reference.
Also, we're still using spoiler tags afaik.
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- Michael Barnes
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Shit man, sorry...did it again...
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- Black Barney
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(that's why I'm reading this thread, btw, to see if there's anything that will push me to see this (or for sure not see it). Saw Iron Giant on the big screen this weekend instead. I'm sure i made the right choice.
I might see Infinity War this week maybe, might see Deadpool 2 instead, but I think I will mostly like go see RBG
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I saw RBG last week. It's very... bland. She's an interesting person with an impressive history, but the documentary was nothing special.Black Barney wrote: ack! sounds AWFUL
(that's why I'm reading this thread, btw, to see if there's anything that will push me to see this (or for sure not see it). Saw Iron Giant on the big screen this weekend instead. I'm sure i made the right choice.
I might see Infinity War this week maybe, might see Deadpool 2 instead, but I think I will mostly like go see RBG
DP2 is good if you liked the first one.
Infinity War is a blast that deserves to be seen on the big screen.
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