Avengers Infinity War with spoilers

[Matt the Bruins]

There have been pretty loud cheers in my theater, though I can't be certain they're for Thor rather than Rocket or Groot.

[Lord Liaden]

The visual effects added to Thor really bolster his impressiveness and sense of power -- the blazing eyes, electricity writhing around his body, St. Elmo's fire wreathing Stormbreaker.

 

Now if they just have him whip up another tornado like in his first movie, I'll be a happy Thor fan.

[Old Man]

A Thornado, you mean?

[Bazza]

If it takes place over sea, is it a 'shark thornado'? 

[mattingly]

At the beginning of Guardians 2, they were fighting a giant inter-dimensional pink Sharktopus!

[Starlord]

On 6/22/2018 at 5:53 PM, Old Man said:

 

Sigh.

 

Again...a few pages back, bra.....

[Vondy]

I still haven't seen it. From perusing this thread, I'm not feeling like I missed anything.

 

Money saved. Thank you, all.

[Starlord]

That makes no sense to me...but ok.

[Vondy]

3 hours ago, Starlord said:

That makes no sense to me...but ok.

 

After having seen so many Marvel smokers, its not hard to read between the lines and "know" whether it will appeal or not.

I'm not a fan of the Marvel films. I know, on the Hero boards that's heresy, but of 20 films to date I've only really enjoyed six of them.

The others were mostly watchable films with high production values, but in no way left me thinking "Oh Wow!" 

They were spectacular, but not meaningful or innovative or artistically interesting. I can't say as they made me think "I just have to go see the next one!"

Especially a movie with a giant crowded and convoluted cross-over cast. I know cross-over mini-series are a think in comics, but dear God, just no. 

Would I watch it for free on Netflix? Maybe if something else more compeeling wasn't also available. Sure.

The cash cow is being milked until its udders squirt blood instead of milk. I find it tawdry and cynical and off-putting.

I can enjoy a good superhero film now and again, but the "own them all" style marketing with multiple releases per year doesn't make me want to open my wallet.

I want to see something new and fresh and innovative. Most MCU films follow a formula and, quite frankly, are largely overseasoned thin-gruel.

At this point they are insulting my intelligence and asking me to spend on "yet another formulaic superhero blockbuster."

Innovate or die. For me, the MCU is mostly producing corpses at this point. Dead on arrival.  

[Lord Liaden]

This one is not formulaic. This one innovates. It took chances. To me they paid off. YMMV.

[zslane]

3 hours ago, Vondy said:

 

I want to see something new and fresh and innovative.

 

Me too. But I don't know where I'm going to find that very often these days. Especially as a fan of sci-fi, fantasy, and superheroes. Even movies that others have praised for having those qualities (Deadpool, Logan, Arrival) left me entertained but not exactly overwhelmed. But that's about all that I can really expect, what with the way movies are made and all. I've learned to be realistic about these things, and so I can usually find enough to like about the MCU movies to consider my two hours well spent, even if I don't always feel like singing their praises from a mountain top. I can't say the same about DCEU movies, or sci-fi movies in general these days.

[Old Man]

After enduring decades of Hollywood misunderstanding and screwing up superhero films, I’m still thrilled to have the MCU. And I continue to wonder at the lengths to which people will go to find something to hate about them. OMG this film had a sad ending! OMG that film had a plot hole! And someone’s costume is too dark! By any objective measure the MCU is the greatest pop culture victory for the superhero genre in at least thirty years. I intend to enjoy it while it lasts. 

[Bazza]

10 hours ago, Vondy said:

I'm not a fan of the Marvel films. I know, on the Hero boards that's heresy, but of 20 films to date I've only really enjoyed six of them.

 

 

Not heresy. We all like different things. 

 

Which 6 MCU films have you really enjoyed, if I may ask.  

[Starlord]

4 hours ago, Old Man said:

After enduring decades of Hollywood misunderstanding and screwing up superhero films, I’m still thrilled to have the MCU. And I continue to wonder at the lengths to which people will go to find something to hate about them. OMG this film had a sad ending! OMG that film had a plot hole! And someone’s costume is too dark! By any objective measure the MCU is the greatest pop culture victory for the superhero genre in at least thirty years. I intend to enjoy it while it lasts. 

 

Exactamundo.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Quote

After enduring decades of Hollywood misunderstanding and screwing up superhero films, I’m still thrilled to have the MCU. And I continue to wonder at the lengths to which people will go to find something to hate about them.

 

I think its common to do this but you're really overstating things.  People aren't "hating" on movies when they find problems, they're just pointing out problems.  In some cases the problems are crippling (Superman vs Batman) and in others they are just annoyances (Guardians of the Galaxy 2) that don't ruin the movie.  When I say that Avengers 2 was dreary and not well plotted, that means I think the movie wasn't well done, not that I hate it.  Its a movie, not anything more or less; no different than Ghostbusters 2 or even a theoretical, nonexistent Highlander 2.

 

I can still generally enjoy most of these films despite their (sometimes many) flaws, such as Suicide Squad, but my love of the genre and appreciation of finally getting it right on screen most of the time isn't going to shut off my brain or critical faculties.

[Vondy]

8 hours ago, Old Man said:

After enduring decades of Hollywood misunderstanding and screwing up superhero films, I’m still thrilled to have the MCU. And I continue to wonder at the lengths to which people will go to find something to hate about them. OMG this film had a sad ending! OMG that film had a plot hole! And someone’s costume is too dark! By any objective measure the MCU is the greatest pop culture victory for the superhero genre in at least thirty years. I intend to enjoy it while it lasts. 

 

I don't hate them. Five or six of them were truly enjoyable. I just find the vast majority of them unsatisfying. Saying "I don't like them and this is why" is not hate. Its just a statement of personal preferences and/or criticism. Give up the social media wangst-fest and come back down to earth with the rest of us.

[zslane]

"Hatin'" has become the catchword for any kind of negative criticism that gains momentum in the media, social or otherwise. I understand where Old Man is coming from when he leans on that word to describe the sort of backlash the MCU's success (unsurprisingly) attracts. It isn't hate in its truest form, but a kind of snide discounting of all the praiseworthy qualities of the MCU movies while focusing on their flaws, all in service to appearing smarter than the "fanboys".

 

Now, I'm not saying that's what Vondy is doing, not by a long shot. But entities like CinemaSins are cultivating and nurturing an entire generation of unthinking followers who don't know the difference between lame, snarky "jokes" and legitimate film criticism. Their success breeds others like them, and before long you have ignorant "hatin'" as its own form of mass entertainment. Welcome to the 21st century Internet.

[Starlord]

9 hours ago, Old Man said:

After enduring decades of Hollywood misunderstanding and screwing up superhero films, I’m still thrilled to have the MCU. And I continue to wonder at the lengths to which people will go to find something to hate about them. OMG this film had a sad ending! OMG that film had a plot hole! And someone’s costume is too dark! By any objective measure the MCU is the greatest pop culture victory for the superhero genre in at least thirty years. I intend to enjoy it while it lasts. 

 

So just an opinion about how nitpicky people can get, nothing about hating the movies.

 

PS:  Groot's costume is too dark.

[wcw43921]

? : "I Am Groot!"

 

: "Don't you dare use that kind of language with me!"

[Christopher R Taylor]

Quote

 

entities like CinemaSins are cultivating and nurturing an entire generation of unthinking followers who don't know the difference between lame, snarky "jokes" and legitimate film criticism. 

 

 

I agree, and while I don't think anyone is doing that here -- just noting complaints or things that they wish weren't done that way -- it is a real problem increasingly with pretty much everything.  There's a section in Ben Hur where the author notes that it was popular and culturally Roman to be sneering and sarcastic about everything to prove one's elite view of the world and part of the clique.  I feel like that's where we are as a culture now.

Its not that stuff like CinamaSins is a bad thing, its that they're kind of the default.  It was sort of fresh and funny to have the Simpsons and Married with Children show families as a wreck with a stupid dad and so on.  But today, that's the default, its not fresh any more.  Its just bitter and angry.  I think we'd be better off as a culture if we weren't in this place.

[Old Man]

 

First

 

21 hours ago, Vondy said:

 

The cash cow is being milked until its udders squirt blood instead of milk. I find it tawdry and cynical and off-putting.

I can enjoy a good superhero film now and again, but the "own them all" style marketing with multiple releases per year doesn't make me want to open my wallet.

I want to see something new and fresh and innovative. Most MCU films follow a formula and, quite frankly, are largely overseasoned thin-gruel.

At this point they are insulting my intelligence and asking me to spend on "yet another formulaic superhero blockbuster."

Innovate or die. For me, the MCU is mostly producing corpses at this point. Dead on arrival. 

 

and yet

 

4 hours ago, Vondy said:

 

I don't hate them. Five or six of them were truly enjoyable. I just find the vast majority of them unsatisfying. Saying "I don't like them and this is why" is not hate. Its just a statement of personal preferences and/or criticism.

 

I'm afraid to ask what Vondy would write about something he did hate.  Although I bet it would be well written.  That first post is awesome.

[Starlord]

I believe the next movie will not involve time travel, it will involve using knowledge of the quantum realm to travel to alternate realities to collect stones and build another Infinity Gauntlet and change the outcome.  Essentially creating the first MCU retcon.

[Bazza]

Intetesting theory. 

[RDU Neil]

1 hour ago, Starlord said:

I believe the next movie will not involve time travel, it will involve using knowledge of the quantum realm to travel to alternate realities to collect stones and build another Infinity Gauntlet and change the outcome.  Essentially creating the first MCU retcon.

 

I could see them trying something like this... an "in continuity reboot" since so many of the stars are moving on... but I'll be most interested in how the public reacts if they do it. Comic book readers seem willing to put up with a lot of absolutely shite writing and plots and reboots for some reason. I wonder if the general movie going public is so forgiving.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Its a thought but I don't know.  I mean, there's been 3 different actors playing Spider-Man in the last dozen years, and people sort of shrug at that, I doubt they'd throw a fit if suddenly Iron Man was played by some other actor.  I mean those are pretty big shoes to fill but its worked in the past.  Having a huge continuity reboot and introducing new people and background might be a bit of a problem, though.

 

See, part of the reason people watch these films, part of the charm and unique nature of the MCU is its continuity and the way they've built the story.  If suddenly they say "all gone, new stuff, all new backstories which you never saw!" that is likely to annoy, not endear.