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.