Cuthroat, brutal, and fun as hell

Rating: 9/10 (28 April 2018)

The hype train behind this movie was insane. You should have been there, it was such a ride. We were losing our minds at this image, and crying over that shot from the trailer, and speculating about every little thing. It was something special to behold. So now that this gargantuan movie is here, was it worth it? Was all that hype warranted or did it all go to waste? I'll say what I can here, but to put it simply, this film gave me everything I wanted and more.
Guess I'll just start with the bad, because no movie is truly perfect, and this one is no exception. There's one shot in the beginning between Tony and Pepper that constantly blurs in and out of focus, which I would guess is a problem with the whole thing being shot with IMAX cameras. They're great for the action scenes but really poor for scenes of two people talking. I don't think they do enough with the characters they're given, mainly because I've followed Marvel movies religiously for close to 8 years now and would have just loved to see all the witty banter they go through. And yet there's not too much of that. You have all these A list actors, and you do... pretty much nothing with them. A little annoying but whatever. There is stuff, but to me they could have gone farther still. And the last issue is the Soul Stone. They throw it in, but I'm guessing only for fanservice and to go through with the ending. The problem is we've been looking for the Soul Stone for 6 years now and no one knows, and now it's Gamora who's known this whole time? Yeah, that's kinda an issue.
Really all that stuff is me nitpicking. What this movie doesn't do so well here or there it makes up for in spades with all this really cool stuff. Every action scene is superb. And trust me, there's a *lot* of action scenes. There's one at the start, then there's another in New York, then there's another on the ship thing, and another in Switzerland or wherever, and a really big one on Titan, and a really *really* big one on Wakanda. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say the whole movie is one fight scene honestly. And not just one long boring fight scene, they do so many wonderfully amazing things in it that saying anything here kinda defeats the purpose.
The characters don't need too much more fleshing out, as we already know who these people are from other movies. And that was really my biggest concern going in, that they would give everyone an extra backstory. But the film goes, "you should know who these guys are by now, don't expect us to waste precious time on them." The only character this really happens to is Gamora, but she never had that big of a backstory to begin with, so it doesn't truly matter. Besides, she dies anyways. And not just at the end, which I was surprised by.
Speaking of the end... I love it. It's so bold and brave of Marvel to literally erase every character we've cared about for the last 6 years. The only people that end up alive are the original six (I'm going with Hawkeye/Antman being Schrodinger's Cat, where they are both alive and dead until further notice), Rocket, War Machine, and Nebula. And I agree with it, mainly because deep down we all know Avengers 4 is probably going to undo at least part of the damage. Peter Parker dying isn't the end of Spiderman, because Spiderman is a suit, not a person. (STILL WAITING ON MILES MARVEL). Dr. Stephan Strange, Sorcerer Supreme dying isn't the end, Sorcerer Supreme is a title. T'Challa dying isn't the end of Black Panther, they've already announced a sequel within like a month of his movie, and besides, Black Panther is just another title. A kingly status, not a person. I love the ending just because of the sheer ambition and bold choice made, but not everyone did clearly, as I could tell people walked out really really sad. I don't blame them, it sucks seeing them die. But that's exactly why they did it.
Thanos is the coolest villain Marvel villain... ever really. I'd say better than Loki, better than Ego (whom I've learned to love), better than Michael Keaton that one time, better than literally every Marvel villain. He steals the show, and in a way you can understand his thought process. He thinks what he's doing is right, wiping out half the universe so that the last half have a better, more prosperous life. And in the end he wins, and his ambition is realized. Was what he was doing right in the end? To him maybe, to us maybe. And every fight scene involving him, except maybe the very very last one where he walks up to Vision and just kinda blows through the remaining force through sheer over-leveled might was absolutely fantastic. He is far too powerful, but everyone against him puts up one hell of a fight.
So I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and I can tell a lot of other people did as well. It's not a perfect movie, honestly to me Iron Man 1, Guardians (both), Avengers 1, and Dr. Strange are still better, and none of those top Dark Knight, but still. I love this movie. And you should too, if you've been like me for the past year. Go watch it at your earliest possible convenience!.. just remember to bring tissues.