Just watched that one. Messed up
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In the theater I was in, all deaths were on the screen.
Judging by the reviews of people crying over this movie, I would be led to believe they had a different experience
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As a meta, I think it represents the futility of things most of the characters are dealing with right now.
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Yep; it was a cheap ‘switch & bait,’ a flagrant attempt to manipulate an emotional response from the audience with ‘high stakes’ that ultimately don’t mean anything.
My kid cried; I was annoyed.
(In case it’s not obvious, I was less than enthused with the way the whole narrative was handled, not to mention that ending.)
Bring on Deadpool 3, stat.
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Scalzi summed it up very well
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Scalzi actually nails my main issue with AIW;
…in a fundamental way. I left the theater unengaged with it. It’s because I knew, more than in any other film in the Marvel universe to date, that its stakes were false.
We all know that there will be a Black Panther 2, and another Spiderman to follow up Homecoming, so the “deaths” of Peter Parker and T’challa are meaningless from the start, other than just maliciously fucking with the emotions of the fans by making them watch their favorite characters ‘die’. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that favored characters should never die, or that I want Spidey/Panther gone for good. I’m saying if you kill off a character only to bring them back, that negates the total impact of dying because there’s no finality.
Furthermore, once again we have a flat, boring villain with no real motivation for his actions besides ‘he’s evil and that’s what evil guys do.’
Thanos’ whole goal of destroying half the universe “to save it” is ridiculous, especially in the context of the infinity stones’ existence. With that much power, one could theoretically reshape all of existence into a utopia where there is no poverty, suffering or inequality. But that never even occurs to Thanos; for a so-called Titan, his thinking is pathetically human and small minded.
Bottom line; I really dislike it when the whole purpose of a movie is obviously just to be a setup to “make” viewers go see the next installment… which as a fan of the comics, I had planned to do anyway.
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That’s the same link I gave at the other place… I went overboard about the spoilers, because people are freaking right the hell out, even when you tell them you’re going to include spoilers. Apparently, all but the vaguest discussion is under embargo.
Here, we have a smaller more reasonable community. There is wide open, and I don’t need the bitching from someone who felt that “spoiler alert” or spoiler text were insufficient warning (plus, if you just spoiler-text a link, despoiling auto-clicks it) and now everything is ruined.
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I worry for the fate of some of my favourite characters.
Oleg is screwed, I think. He’s come to the attention of the Rezident, and he’s out there all alone.
Paige is just adorable as Paige Jennings, Girl Spy, but will she be thoroughly indoctrinated with Elizabeth’s Cold War mentality just as it becomes obsolete? There’s no way she will ever be as hard as her mother, and she hasn’t the instincts that will keep her safe. If she begins to look like a liability, Claudia is plenty ruthless enough to eliminate her.
Philip has actively sabotaged Elizabeth’s plans for the first time. If he can’t come up with a plausible excuse, that can’t go well.
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That is annoying; but people need to get over themselves - they were forewarned.
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It’s horrible. People are spoiling everything. I’ve learned from the very title of some Infinity War articles that there is at least one post-credit scene. I did not know that; I did not want to know that! And I certainly couldn’t have guessed it.
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Yeah, they usually have two or three.
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Kamahl Naiqui did a great job as blues legend Robert Johnson in last week’s Timeless.
https://www.nbc.com/timeless/video/the-king-of-the-delta-blues/3701502
It’s also a pretty good place to jump in if you want to skip ahead.
BASIC PREMISE OF THE SHOW: a rogue section of DHS fights the Illuminati with time machines
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Thanos “motivation” didn’t bother me; it’s the same kind of cull-the-herd bullshit we’ve been getting in the real world going back to the Spartans and earlier. It’s a poorly thought out motivation but just because we know it’s stupid doesn’t mean it’s not a thing.
I will say there was quite the uncanny valley between Thanos’ profession to being humane versus what he’s done and doing. Whether it’s Brolin or the direction, he didn’t sell the whole Jim Jones/Pol Pot thing. Maybe they should have had Hella escape and do that storyline.
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Nothing about Thanos as a character rang true; not his alleged motivation, not his supposed “love” for Gamora, nada.
The best villians are the ones you can feel some sympathy for, and understand their reasons going dark; ie, Magneto or Killmonger.
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I haven’t mentioned this yet? I haven’t mentioned this yet!
Frank Oz got a bunch of Muppeteers together, and they talked about their careers, how they got into performing with the Muppets, and of course about Jim Henson sniff. The discussion is interspersed with vintage footage, behind-the-scenes photos, and… schematics. The schematics are good for explaining things like the exploding desk.
The video costs about $10 US. If you’re interested at all it’s totally worth it.
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What other films do I have to watch first in order to understand and/or care about Infinity War ?
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Phase Two of the Mega Marvel Movie Marathon is complete (up to Ant-Man).
Strangely (probably because we’re dealing with fewer origin stories), only two more examples to add to the count.
Returnees:
-
Tony Stark: 0
- Still in a stable relationship with Pepper Potts. Damned if I know how, with how poorly he treats get and all the shit he puts her through.
-
Bruce Banner: 4
- Abandoned Betty Ross when running from General Ross
- Potential love interest plot with Martina dropped after escaping Rocinha
- Abandoned Betty again after the fight with Abomination
- Left Natasha Romanoff at the end of Age of Ultron.
-
Thor Odinson: 2
- Lost contact with Jane Foster after shattering the Bifrost (and then didn’t contact her when he came back to Earth)
- Left Earth again without saying goodbye when he learned that the Infinity Stones were in play
-
Steve Rogers: 1
- Abandoned Peggy Carter by crashing a plane into the Arctic and getting flash-frozen for seventy years
- Relationship with Agent 13 neither developed enough nor abandoned enough to count
-
Natasha Romanoff: 0
- Bruce Banner is the only love interest shown, and he left her, not the other way around
-
Clint Barton: 0
- Happily married
-
No love interests shown yet:
- James Rhodes (should have been on the last list)
- Sam Wilson
- Rocket
- Groot
- Pietro Maximoff
- Wanda Maximoff
- Vision
-
Relationship barely beginning:
- Agent 13
- Peter Quill
- Gamora
- Scott Lang
- Hope van Dyne
-
My true love is dead and I’ll never love another:
- Drax
- Hank Pym
So, existing relationships (such as they are) are being abandoned at a similar rate as before.
The are a couple of new relationships which seem to be building up slower and perhaps stronger.
But, for the most part, in Phase Two, there’s too little screen time shared among too many heroes for such relationships to get any depth. Tony continued to be horrible to Pepper in IM3, the Thor/Jane romance was somehow sidelined while at the same time being central to the plot of The Dark World, Cap’s love life was constantly discussed but not developed in Winter Soldier, and Age of Ultron focused on Black Widow/Hulk to the exclusion of all other relationships, and still didn’t gave it spare enough to develop it and make it compelling.
The only two films in Stage Two that had a romantic relationship as part of the plot and actually put effort into developing that relationship were Guardians and Ant-Man.
Oh, and an honorable mention to Phil Coulson, resurrected for the TV show, who can’t be with his cellist girlfriend because she thinks he’s dead.
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I haven’t seen Infinity War, but I’ve seen all of the films leading up to it (except Spider-Man: Homecoming), and judging by what I’ve seen:
Most of Phase One you can skip, unless you really want an in-depth background of what’s going on.
Phase Two had only a few key movies:
- Guardians of the Galaxy, definitely. It’s the first real introduction to Thanos and the Infinity Stones.
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier: gives context to Rogers’ actions in Civil War
- Avengers: Age of Ultron: Infinity Stones again, and giving context to Stark’s actions in Civil War
As for Phase Three, these are starting to be movies that are supposed to lead directly into the action Definite ones to watch are:
- Captain America: Civil War: explains the state of the Avengers going into Infinity War
- Black Panther: the trailers focus heavily on Wakanda, so that would be a good choice
Should watch:
- Doctor Strange: There’s an Infinity Stone in play, and his abilities are among the least intuitive, needing the most explaining.
- Thor: Ragnarok: This plays into (what I’m told is) one of the opening scenes.
GOTG2 I’d give a pass to, and I haven’t seen Homecoming.
Someone else might have a different list (I’m watching them all), but those would be my highlights leading into this specific film, not knowing its major plot points.
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I approve of this list.
Homecoming might add a bit more Spiderman\Ironman background, but it is covered well enough in Civil War
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