The Glade 4.0

Avengers: Infinity War

It lived up to everything that was expected of it.

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In time, this too shall pass.

I don't want to talk much about Infinity War, with it still being so newly released. What I will say is that it represents a decade of hard work put in by a group that changed the reception and perception of blockbuster filmmaking in a way that hasn't been seen since...1980, at least. You can carp about Marvel's ubiquity, but the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of films they put out are at least solid and entertaining to legitimately great (there's really only one that I would declare to be legitimately bad, and that's Iron Man 2; even the first two Thor movies' biggest sin was being mostly forgettable). Infinity War suffers only from the surfeit of meta-knowledge that modern filmgoers enjoy; it's difficult to feel certain stakes are very high when you know who's still got films left on their contract, what sequels have already been announced, etc. That's not the fault of this film, though; Infinity War is by turns thrilling, hilarious, and heart-wrenching, and truly is the culmination of the lead-up only having 18 previous films can provide (a benefit, mind, that no other film has ever enjoyed). If you go to see it without being on the up-and-up of the MCU, you will be lost; this is advanced filmgoing, not for novices. Threads set up years ago are paid off, and this film, unique in this regard, relies on that shared cultural experience to raise the stakes for its characters and its audience.

While Josh Brolin's Thanos didn't quite sell me on full-CGI creations being threatening, it got pretty close, closer than any character before; the effects were so good that it was often easy to intentionally forget the pantomime, and Brolin's performance shone through (quite to the film's benefit). Amazingly, few if any of the massive cast felt short-served; for a film with, effectively, 16 leads or co-leads, everyone got their moments, some even getting full-fledged arcs in this one chapter of a much larger whole. The action and spectacle were top-notch, two moments resulted in the entire theater breaking into spontaneous cheers and applause, and moments toward the end pulled vocalizations from unsuspecting audience members. It's been a long time since we were treated to such a cultural phenomenon. Infinity War earns it, and then some.

*Sigh* Okay, I will go see it now. I was living with this attitude of, if I don't see it, no one dies. Now after reading that... I have to go. Thanks FarSky. Honestly, I love the way you write about movies.

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Raell Kromwell

Well, I have two beefs with it, and one is an omission. The other is the obscurity of a reference only the die hard will get. Otherwise, it is, by virtue of all the reasons FarSky mentioned, the best film in the sequence.

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Khross is just pissed Dr. Doom wasn't in the movie to get in Thor's way.

Pretty interesting how the ending

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The Dude abides.

Oh I have a beef alright!

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Raell Kromwell

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Yea, What Lord Doom said as well.

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Raell Kromwell

I'm guessing that's part of what Captain Marvel will bring to the table.

Edit: Also:

Ahh, didn't know Captain Marvel was coming. That makes sense.

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The Dude abides.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I would have rather had this over Civil War or what they did with the Avengers.

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Raell Kromwell

A few other notes on (potential) casualties, per the Russos:


Also...man, **** Star-Lord.

That seems a little harsh.

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No, it is his fault. Totally.

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Raell Kromwell

Harsh, but fair. I mean, I'm not going to get all "Star-Lord is the actual villain of Infinity War!" but...dude. Keep your head in the game and mourn on your own time. The stakes were far greater than just you.

Typical that Lord Doom would defend Star Lord on this, considering Doom had exactly the same role in the comics.

That said though, you kinda gotta figure Strange had already played out every scenario already with that stone. He knew it was going to play out this way.

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The Dude abides.

I saw someone comment on Reddit saying "14 million possible outcomes, and every single one involved Star Lord punching Thanos in the face."

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Not all of them, but the only one that mattered certainly did. That's why Star Lord didn't suddenly find himself in Dubai.

Hideously Ugly Bug Girl was not strong enough to hold Thanos. They were not winning. They did not "almost have the gauntlet off his hand." All they had was false hope. Star Lord did not **** up the plan any more than his inability to shoot Gamorra in a timely fashion did.

Even if they did get the Gauntlet off of Thanos, they still have to keep it from him. That would have resulted in the deaths of people need to stay alive. (Tony, apparently)

Thanos has dealt enough damage to the universe that a completed gauntlet is required to fix his mess. That can't be done if Thanos doesn't complete the Gauntlet, because nobody else is crazy enough to do it. Thanos would also need to use the Time Gem to restore the Mind Gem.

Ms. Marvel is not strong enough to stop Thanos. I know she's currently being hyped up as the biggest badass in the entire Marvel Universe, but really she's just Rogue without the power-stealing. She's strong, but not "push Thanos' **** in" strong. Not to mention, Thanos has Infinity Gems. +1 Ms. Marvel isn't enough.

Grief over Gamorra's death is the chink in Thanos' armor that makes him defeatable. Deep down he feels that he's unworthy of such power in the comics. In the movie, he feels that it wasn't worth the price. Regret is his undoing.

What might have happened differently doesn't normally mean much in an argument, but Strange is in possession of the Time Gem. Strange doesn't know exactly why, but he knows that every possible outcome where someone stopped Star Lord ended badly.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

It was the only way...but still...**** Star Lord. Future Guardian's movies should just star Thor, Rocket and The Winter Soldier.

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Raell Kromwell