Official Movie Review Thread

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Re: Official Movie Review Thread

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Avengers infinity War spoilers







So. Avengers Infinity War, which isn't really an Avengers film or at least not a complete one. Old Moby predicted exactly how it was going to end from the trailers and that it was announced as part i and ii before they changed their mind, so a lot of it kind of felt like treading water to me.

Yes, of course, Thanos is going to get all the stones and use them. Can't thwarts stage 1 after all and really halve the people they dissolved I'm sure have sequels in the works, so no duh they'll be back.

No Hawkeye, only OG Avengers to be missed, though Steve and BW barely figure in the plot, so he'd have hardly done anything if he was there.

It's Tony and Strange, the GotG and Thor who get the meat of things mostly. This is what I mean by not an Avengers movie, they don't assemble, resolve any of their difficulties, come together to beat the bad guy etc, they just continue with their separate stories. So yeah to be clear this isn't bad but it should be 'Marvel's Infinity War Part I' not Avengers.

Now this is based over what is clearly only half a movie, hopefully they'll more addressed in Avengers 4 and it will feel more Avengery, but for now I have decidedly mixed feelings about the film.
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Re: Official Movie Review Thread

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I find it odd that you would insist on calling a movie with pretty much all the Avengers in it not an Avengers movie, just because there's not a scene where all of them show up in the same place. It's still the Avengers trying to stop Thanos by doing Avengers things, but it's not the Avengers because they're not in the same place at the same time? That's a silly way to approach it.

I also dispute that it's "only half a movie". Just because the conflict isn't resolved doesn't make it "half a movie". Fellowship of the Ring wasn't "a third of a movie". Empire Strikes Back wasn't "half a movie". To describe them as such would be to do them a disfavour. They were their own stories with their own arcs, just like Infinity War was.

Incidentally, I'm really looking forward to Tony Stark and Captain America meeting up again in the next installment. That should be an interesting conversation.
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Re: Official Movie Review Thread

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I've tried several time to write a response to that Siege, without coming off as oversensitive or a dick. I'm kind of vexed at the flat contradiction though. I wrote a lot more than 'they weren't all in the same place' and 'half a movie' and it feels bad to have my review reduced to that.

You're not exactly wrong of course, those are good points. If I want to judge Infinity Wars as it's own thing and not as part i of ii, I think, I would be more disappointed by it not less. It's all build up to the forgone conclusion: Thanos gets the stones.

Do you have thoughts you'd like to share about it in full?
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Re: Official Movie Review Thread

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Though to be fair most films are a foregone conclusion just in the other direction.
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And I think that's the main part of what annoys me in your review, the meta aspect of it. It comments on a bunch of things that I personally feel are neither here nor there with regards to this movie - people who aren't in it, movies that are yet to follow, things you can glean from sources external to the movie itself like actor contracts or sequels in the works. Those things have no bearing on this movie in my mind - or on any movie for that matter. If we were to invoke that sort of meta knowledge then 99 percent of all movies can be written off as being entirely without tension; after all it's all built up to the foregone conclusion that the protagonist(s) will win in the end.

Well no shit. If you go to movies to be surprised about that sort of thing then you probably don't go to a lot of movies anymore. I just can't see that as a valid criticism. Did you have mixed feelings about Predator because it was a foregone conclusion that Arnold Schwarzenegger would defeat the creature? Or about Harry Potter because it was a foregone conclusion that - spoilers! - Harry would defeat Voldemort in the end?

Movies as a medium of art have their own dynamic. They usually last between 1 and 4 hours. Protagonists tend to win. Antagonists tend to lose. There are themes that are explored. There tends to be a structure of between 3 and 5 acts. Characters tend to develop along an arc that follows the movie's themes. And so on. That's just the fuckin' medium and its shorthand. Just like books, or episodical TV shows, or goddamn supremacist paintings for that matter.

So, I would say, no; I do not have mixed feelings about Predator just because Arnold comes out on top. The movie thrills because it's not about the end state - that's pretty much a foregone conclusion for anyone that's seen one or two Schwarzenegger movies, or even any action movies in general. It's about the journey to that end. How will Arnold defeat the creature? How will Luke beat the Empire? How will they defeat the shark, outsmart Moriarty, get Broomhilda out of Candyland, kill Immortan Joe - and so on, right up to 'beat Thanos'.

Which, I should point out, contravenes the typical movie dynamic of having the bad guy get beaten by the end, because he doesn't. But that apparently doesn't satisfy either because - again - reasons that appear to be mainly meta. Well, there's no arguing with taste. I have no desire to make you like this movie. But if one of the main reasons for why you don't is - like it appears to be - because you posses all this extraneous meta knowledge that spoils the effect for you then I would strongly advise against consuming that type of knowledge in the future. Because clearly it isn't doing you any favours.

For me, I really liked Infinity War. I liked the acting, I liked the stakes, I liked almost all the set piece fights. I especially liked the small character moments inbetween the explosions: Thor reflecting on all he's lost; Stark revealing the dread and paranoia he's been living with for six years coming up to this moment; even Quill completely losing his shit when he realizes what's happened to Gamora. Those moments have been made possible by a decade of building up to this movie, and it's fucking astounding to just sit there and be so completely taken in by this movie even though in terms of screen presence none of these characters are 'on' for more than minutes at a time before we switch over to the next batch. I liked the recurring theme about what you would sacrifice your loved ones for, I liked the characterization of Thanos himself as a total nutter who nonetheless has a comprehensible set of convictions and a goal that goes beyond the personal aggrandizement of most Marvel villains. It just works as a movie for me, and my appreciation wasn't at all dimmed by the fact that it occurred to me after 1:45 hours that that movie conventions didn't allow for a plausible defeat of Thanos anymore, so he was most likely going to win in this movie - if anything, it just makes me idly wonder how the plot arc will be resolved next Avengers movie.
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Re: Official Movie Review Thread

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I loved it and honestly I don't have a problem with the meta "oh they'll just continue on and in the final episode of the Marvel miniseries get their shit together and fix things." I mean, that applies to other sci-fi superhero epics like Empire Strikes Back and Dragonball lol.

Thanas was wonderful too, such a deranged fanatic. I really dug the metaphysical cosmic warfare between Thanas and Dr. Strange.
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Re: Official Movie Review Thread

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edit: nah, just forget it.
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Re: Official Movie Review Thread

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I just saw Solo: A Star Wars Story and it was actually pretty watchable. Not outstandingly plotted or characterised but the actors were likable and decent enough and it had a lot of action to it. Some character work but it was a bit heavy handed and not special.

For a cash in film that just didn't need to be made, it's not bad.
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Yeah I agree with that summary. It's an enjoyable movie, the setpieces were neat and I liked all the seedy underbelly of the galaxy stuff. It's definitely not bad. My main issue with it is that... Honestly, the character of Han Solo appears extremely stagnant to me. From the start of the film he's already a rogue, he's already cynical and witty, he already comes back for people he likes, he already does the right thing in the end. Nothing important about his convictions or who he is as a character changes between the start of Solo and A New Hope.

I would've liked to see more character development.

SPOILERS IMMEDIATELY BELOW



I think the inclusion of Darth Maul is dumb. I'm vaguely aware that he survived in the EU, which I also think is stupid and a symptom of the SWEU disappearing up its own ass Boba Fett-style, but mainly I feel a movie should work as as self-contained work of art as much as possible. I can give sequels a little leeway because they're at least in the same medium, but I shouldn't have to consume comics or books or TV-shows outside of the movie(s) to understand who someone is or what's going on. The second fricking Maul appeared I could feel my eyes glazing over. My brain was wondering how the fuck he's alive, why he is a crime boss, what he wants with a bunch of hyperfuel, if it's so important why doesn't he just go get it himself because that would've been a cakewalk for a Sith Lord - even a bisected one... I was completely checked out of the movie for a solid few minutes there. The role of secretive overlord would've been better served by almost anyone, including someone we'd never seen before.
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Ye-ah and his whole MEET ME AT DATHOMIR nonsense lines made it worse. Like, whatever that was said could've made more sense in-universe, like "now you are the capo of the organization" or something. The way it was delivered was so lazy and so obviously SEQUEL HOOK WOO that it ruined it. That's aside from the needlessness of Maul being there. Ugh.
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Re: Official Movie Review Thread

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Yeah. We don't know what Dathomir is, if it's a town or a planet or a station, why Maul is there or why it's relevant. Earlier in Solo it's suggested that the crime syndicates are working with the Empire; is Maul? If so, why? There's nothing in any of the movies that suggests he's even alive after Kenobi shanked him, how did he get back to working for Sidious? Sidious after all seemed perfectly happy to replace him with Dooku, who strikes me as far more suitable to running the intergalactic underworld than Maul, who was a decent brawler but never showed any signs of being a competent manager. One images administering an interstellar cartel requires a broader skillset than just proficiency with a lightsaber.

Also, if the syndicates really are working for the empire - does that mean they are stealing hyperfuel from the empire for the empire? That doesn't seem to make sense.

Also are we really to believe Qi'ra is going to get a promotion out of this? If Maul really believes what she sold him, some random guy just killed her boss and all his henchmen and she just happened to walk in on the corpses as the sole survivor. If I were Maul I'd write off that branch of my organization as a total loss - I'd summon Qi'ra to me so I could bury her and tie up all loose ends, not promote her. What has she done here to earn a promotion? The entire steal-the-hyperfuel plan just got bungled twice. At least if she'd told Maul she'd killed Dryden Vos because he was clearly incompetent that would seem like the sort of thing a Sith would appreciate. Just being lucky enough to survive someone else's onslaught - really doesn't.

These and many other questions linger after the end of the movie.
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Re: Official Movie Review Thread

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So all the nerd movies are out at the moment.

Deadpool 2 is... fine. It's what you'd expect from Deadpool with twice the budget. I got a few laughs out of it but the plot is fairly basic and predictable. Domino is excellent, the returning X-Men are kind of underused. There was one sequence I was spoiled on but even if I wasn't I'm not sure the effort would be worth the pay off.

Don't regret seeing it, not sure I need to see it again.


Considering seeing Infinity War in cinema again.
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As expected Jurassic World 2 sucked lol.
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I don't think I've seen any jurassic film apart from the first one on the telly/video as a kid.

I saw a late trailer for Fallen Kingdom and it seem to reveal what should have been a secret twist.
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I haven't seen the first Jurassic World and have no plans to see the sequel. Something about those movies (or rather their trailers) makes them look so... flavorless, repetitious and unnecessary. Here's the place with the dinosaurs in it, there's the big amoral corporation running it, big shock: the big corporation is into shady thing!, oh look the shady thing made the dinosaurs get out, cue the running and screaming. Repeat for the sequel. It's like eating microwave pizza: on paper the ingrediënts are there but the end result is just not exciting, especially not compared to the fresh Italian original.
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If it was a straight documentary on the dinosaur-infested island, or a straight "conservation effort for dinos" without the shitty evil corporation GMO weapons nonsense, it might've worked better... I don't know. Like, what if there was no twist, what if we just followed the life of people who actually settled on the island and found a way to live with dinos in peace and conserve them? Of course, that's not blockbuster material. Man, a My Neighbor Totoro set in Isla Nublar/Sorna would've been great. My Neighbor Stegosaurus.

On a separate note, Ant-Man and The Wasp was solid fun and I really dig the direction they took it and how it was resolved. Anti-grimdark yet touching on sad and terrible implications of the setting.
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Captain Marvel Trailer:



Please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck.
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It's looking very good, and Marvel hasn't let me down in years. The spliced falling-and-getting-back-up over the years footage is particularly awesome. Very clever way to show character very fast!
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Get hyped?
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They know how to cut a trailer alright :-D hell yeah I'm looking forward to it. Popcorn event of the year!
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Watching Spiderverse tomorrow. Can't wait!
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let us know how it is! I've heard it's pretty good.

Just don't tell Harry.
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It was amazing, at the very least on par of The Incredibles and The Lego Movie, and in a way having elements of both - Incredibles' heart and reverence for the superhero genre, and Lego Movie's ridiculousness and playful meta-ness/intertextuality. And it goes further than these in talking about how superheroes and their stories can grow, be spread and shared by countless people who can then be moved to make their own additions to the tapestry of the superhero in terms of "the character," "the lore," and "the story."

In-character, in-universe and out-of-universe, it does this by having Miles for example initially as a spectator and admirer of Spiderman, and by having him become Spiderman and interact with the other depictions of Spiderman who themselves struggle with living up to the role in their own way in their own stories and realities. So you've got Spidermans being Spiderman and Miles trying to become Spiderman. It's done very heartwarmingly and cleverly.
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Us is really, really amazing. It's terrifying but also gonzo absurd, like Get Out but so much moreso, perfectly balancing the pure visceral horror aspect, the heavy ass themes, and... a premise that would be preposterous and can't be taken seriously if it weren't for the said balancing act. I really dig that Verhoven/Carpenter-ian 80's style sheer commitment to a premise that takes it to parts unknown, to something that would be ridiculous if it weren't for that commitment and utterly competent execution. If it wasn't done so well it would've been a laughing stock, pure bullshit, but it did it so finely that the components reinforce each other, becoming such tight fits that you're just sucked into the mess as it gets bloodier, as it gets more heart-racing, as it gets utterly crazy.
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I think I feel the opposite with Endgame than Infinity War, I was too hyped for IW and came out disappointed after a first watch, and appreciated it more on rewatching. For Endgame I was blown away by the scale and fanservice on first watch but a day later can't stop finding more bits I didn't like.

It really is an epic right though, wacky hijinks more characters coming back than you could possible have expected. Fanservice moments you saw coming but still think are awesome. It's a great ride start to finish.

That said, I don't really like the way they ended a lot of the character arc for the OG Avengers. Thor and Cap especially. And there is a feeling that this is the end for all the MCU.

It didn't stick but AoU did a handover to the New Avengers while retiring the older ones. Here it's definitely the old generation's swan song. (Chiefly for Cap IM and Thor since the other three have reduced roles by the end.) But there's less a sense of handover to the new generation for me. Aside fro the way they did the credits.

And there's nothing in the end credits. Not even an X will return.
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