So I just saw Endgame...

So I just saw Endgame... May 14, 2019 19:53:44 GMT

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Post by Salzmank on May 14, 2019 19:53:44 GMT

May 14, 2019 19:32:34 GMT Archelaus said:

I thoroughly enjoyed your detailed critique of the film.

Thank you.

May 14, 2019 2:21:49 GMT Salzmank said:

Related to “bored,” there were parts during which I got really confused. That may be because I haven’t seen all of the series, but I thought the movie did a good job explaining stuff that I’d missed (related to Antman and Sherlock Holmes, mostly—Chris Pratt and his annoying gang of aliens don’t play much of a part here). Mostly it was just the cutting between the scenes on the planet, in New York, and in Asgard. The planet stuff went on forever, and I found it boring. I also got confused when it seemed like it was treading over the same ground the last movie had. Also: time travel. The writers didn’t seem to get it either, so I just went along with it. But didn’t the snap require all of the gems? So why couldn’t they have gone back and just taken out one of the gems? Yes, I’m sure there’s a reason.

I'm having trouble trying to follow your second question. The snap required all of the Infinity Stones, in which the Avengers had.

Right, but why couldn’t they just have gone back to 2018, or right before 2018, and just remove one Infinity Stone? Then Thanos couldn’t have done the “snap” in 2018 because, as you said, it required all of them. Which would create an alternate timeline in which no one could have disappeared. It’s not a major deal, because then the rest of the plot wouldn’t have worked, of course, but it just came to mind: there are simpler ways to do this once you bring in time-travel.

May 14, 2019 2:21:49 GMT Salzmank said:

Also, where’d his Narnia-esque villain army come from at the end? One of the guys is his second-in-command, yes (“I herald the coming of the great Thanos”), but I’m talking about the monsters at the end. Of course they had to be there to fight our heroes, but who/what are they?

Thanos's army comes from the Chitauri who are basically his client enforcers when they invade planets and kill off half of the population. The monsters during the final battle you may be referring to are the Leviathan.

The Chiatauri were the bad guys (other than Loki) in The Avengers, right? OK, I just didn’t know they were still around. Were they in Infinity War? If so, I missed them/don’t remember them. Ditto with the Leviathans.

May 14, 2019 2:21:49 GMT Salzmank said:

Thanos. I liked that early death surprise, as mentioned, but they did the big purple guy a disservice: he was a complex, interesting character in the first one, and here he’s a plot device. He even has clichéd villain dialogue to go along with it. (Also: I laughed because what he did in the movie wasn’t too far removed from what he did in fake “spoilers” I wrote as a joke here.)

That's a fine point to make, but I was content with it. It shows how much Thanos has grown since Infinity War. The search for the Infinity Stones took Thanos on a character journey in which he had to make a painful sacrifice. The alternate 2014 Thanos hasn't gone on that journey yet so he's very much an intergalactic despot without the nuance.

In the film’s internal logic, yes, it makes sense, and it’s an entirely fair point. From a writing perspective, though, it just disappointed me that a good character in Infinity War has become a walking cliché. That said, it’s not a major flaw; I just missed IW’s Thanos (and Farmer Thanos in the beginning of this one).