Adios Marvel Universe!

Rating: 6/10 (3 May 2018)

After being on Marvel train since 2008, I am finally hopping off because I am burnt out on their formulaic superhero movie plot. Black Panther was the best Marvel movie to date because it took a chance and stepped out of the traditional superhero movie format and told a compelling, yet relevant story with a great hero and a well-rounded villain in Killmonger. Its weakest moments occurred when it had to conform to the Marvel formula. Thor: Ragnarok was also a great movie because it stopped taking itself too seriously and was fun and refreshing. Yet, this movie rubbed me the wrong way. Don't get me wrong. It's a good movie because Marvel played it safe again with its formula. Thanos was a great villain and this was really his movie. The Russo brothers already showed their greatness when reinventing Captain America with the excellent sequels Captain America: Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, which was the real Avenger 3 and way better than this movie. I can tell from this movie like with Joss Whedon's Avengers 2, the brothers creativity was stifled by studio heads thinking more about milking the movie for as much of the billions its worth and will make regardless instead of creating a great movie audience can enjoy.
I have four main annoyances with this movie. The First Annoyance: Infinity War was advertised as not being split into two movies anymore and it was only going to be one movie. Which is why the ending was confusing along with the post credits because the studio did not inform the public it was going to be split into two movies leaving the audience scratching their heads after expecting a complete movie. The remaining audience members who stayed behind to watch the post credits laughed at Samuel L. Jackson famously about to curse being as confused as we were about the ending. As we exited the theater, one brave audience member bravely asked out loud if anyone got the ending. Everyone burst into laughter because none of us did. The Second annoyance: There was no need to have a second movie. Just like Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part One and Two, this movie could have been completed in one movie. There is no need for a second movie because thirty minutes more and the already long movie could have ended in one satisfying movie. The ending is like watching the final act of a movie and then the film abruptly ending right before the final scene. It was a cheap shot from the executives to get more money out of the pubic and introduce new Marvel superheroes when the movie was already oversaturated with unnecessary superheroes who only spoke a few lines to say, "Hey, I'm in the movie." The only relevant characters in this movie are Thanos, Gamora, Dr. Strange, Tony Stark, Thor, and maybe Vision because he is an Infinity Stone carrier. The rest was completely unnecessary filler. The Third Annoyance: Defying the laws of Physics. I am no genius but if Thanos if stronger than Hulk and Thor, then how can Iron Man and Captain America survive a punch from him? Shouldn't they both be dead? Oh and speaking of death. My Final Annoyance: The Deaths. It's quite obvious who's coming back for sequels to their own individual movie franchises and who didn't renew their contracts? Why make the ones you know are coming back for sequels disappear and then keep the ones who didn't renew their contracts? It's like they are afraid to kill off Tony Stark and Captain America. Robert Downey Jr. is in his fifties now, and Chris Evans is tired of the superhero gig just like Hugh Jackman was of playing Wolverine for seventeen years. Give them a noble death and passed on the torch to the next generation. Yet, both characters survived moments that should have killed them. Another complaint was that the deaths in this movie had no emotional meaning or impact. You know it's a superhero movie and if characters are popular enough, the studio heads will bring them back from the dead in the sequel or starring in a TV show. So moments when you should mourn the lost of a character, you feel nothing when that character is killed off. Which made the ending more bizarre on the studio's part. Diehard Marvel fans are going to say it's the greatest movie because they have been conditioned to love Marvel and go to every Marvel movie, even waiting during the five minutes of credits to see two extra scenes. Yet, for someone who is burnt out on seeing grown men running around in their underwear fighting each other, I'm hopping off the train. Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok were both great movies, yet, I don't appreciate the stunt the movie executives pulled, and I feel like I wasted two and half hours of my life. I finally understood the ending, but it still could have been wrapped up in one movie. So if you love Marvel, go watch the movie. If you're a casual fan, wait until part two comes out and watch this movie right before you go see part two.