Scalzi summed it up very well
3 Likes
Scalzi actually nails my main issue with AIW;
ā¦in a fundamental way. I left the theater unengaged with it. Itās 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 ādeathsā of Peter Parker and Tāchalla are meaningless from the start, other than just maliciously fucking with the emotions of the fans by making them watch their favorite characters ādieā. Donāt get me wrong Iām not saying that favored characters should never die, or that I want Spidey/Panther gone for good. Iām saying if you kill off a character only to bring them back, that negates the total impact of dying because thereās no finality.
Furthermore, once again we have a flat, boring villain with no real motivation for his actions besides āheās evil and thatās what evil guys do.ā
Thanosā whole goal of destroying half the universe āto save itā is ridiculous, especially in the context of the infinity stonesā 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 āmakeā viewers go see the next installmentā¦ which as a fan of the comics, I had planned to do anyway.
5 Likes
Thatās the same link I gave at the other placeā¦ I went overboard about the spoilers, because people are freaking right the hell out, even when you tell them youāre 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 donāt need the bitching from someone who felt that āspoiler alertā or spoiler text were insufficient warning (plus, if you just spoiler-text a link, despoiling auto-clicks it) and now everything is ruined.
3 Likes
I worry for the fate of some of my favourite characters.
Oleg is screwed, I think. Heās come to the attention of the Rezident, and heās out there all alone.
Paige is just adorable as Paige Jennings, Girl Spy, but will she be thoroughly indoctrinated with Elizabethās Cold War mentality just as it becomes obsolete? Thereās no way she will ever be as hard as her mother, and she hasnāt 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 Elizabethās plans for the first time. If he canāt come up with a plausible excuse, that canāt go well.
1 Like
That is annoying; but people need to get over themselves - they were forewarned.
2 Likes
Itās horrible. People are spoiling everything. Iāve 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 couldnāt have guessed it.
4 Likes
Yeah, they usually have two or three.
2 Likes
Kamahl Naiqui did a great job as blues legend Robert Johnson in last weekās Timeless.
https://www.nbc.com/timeless/video/the-king-of-the-delta-blues/3701502
Itās 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
1 Like
Thanos āmotivationā didnāt bother me; itās the same kind of cull-the-herd bullshit weāve been getting in the real world going back to the Spartans and earlier. Itās a poorly thought out motivation but just because we know itās stupid doesnāt mean itās not a thing.
I will say there was quite the uncanny valley between Thanosā profession to being humane versus what heās done and doing. Whether itās Brolin or the direction, he didnāt sell the whole Jim Jones/Pol Pot thing. Maybe they should have had Hella escape and do that storyline.
3 Likes
Nothing about Thanos as a character rang true; not his alleged motivation, not his supposed āloveā 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.
5 Likes
I havenāt mentioned this yet? I havenāt 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, andā¦ schematics. The schematics are good for explaining things like the exploding desk.
The video costs about $10 US. If youāre interested at all itās totally worth it.
7 Likes
What other films do I have to watch first in order to understand and/or care about Infinity War ?
3 Likes
Phase Two of the Mega Marvel Movie Marathon is complete (up to Ant-Man).
Strangely (probably because weāre 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 didnāt 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 Iāll 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, thereās 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, Capās 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 didnāt 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 canāt be with his cellist girlfriend because she thinks heās dead.
4 Likes
I havenāt seen Infinity War, but Iāve seen all of the films leading up to it (except Spider-Man: Homecoming), and judging by what Iāve seen:
Most of Phase One you can skip, unless you really want an in-depth background of whatās going on.
Phase Two had only a few key movies:
- Guardians of the Galaxy, definitely. Itās the first real introduction to Thanos and the Infinity Stones.
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier: gives context to Rogersā actions in Civil War
- Avengers: Age of Ultron: Infinity Stones again, and giving context to Starkās 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: Thereās an Infinity Stone in play, and his abilities are among the least intuitive, needing the most explaining.
- Thor: Ragnarok: This plays into (what Iām told is) one of the opening scenes.
GOTG2 Iād give a pass to, and I havenāt seen Homecoming.
Someone else might have a different list (Iām watching them all), but those would be my highlights leading into this specific film, not knowing its major plot points.
4 Likes
I approve of this list.
Homecoming might add a bit more Spiderman\Ironman background, but it is covered well enough in Civil War
3 Likes
Looking over that list again, I think I was mistaken to omit The Avengers. Itās almost certainly not going to be essential to āunderstandingā Infinity War, but seeing them meet and become a team might be pretty necessary to ācare aboutā whatās going on as mentioned.
4 Likes
Colony is back this week
This is the real X-Files revival. Aliens invade, traitors betray, humanity is enslaved.
Also a metaphor for how America behaves in places like Iraq after the conquering is over.
1 Like
For character development and backstory Iām always a completionist, GOTG2 and Homecoming are fun movies with great lower-tier villains. Homecoming especially.
4 Likes
Just finished this on Netflix:
Not bad. Typical dark murder mystery with a twist.
2 Likes