Just like a lot of people this weekend I checked out Infinity Wars. I have to go with the crowd and say it did not disappoint. And that's going thru the Culture litmus test: that is, 'was it as good as Black Panther?' or close?.... and it was. Cause I tried to watch Ultron after Black Panther and that shit was gahbige. But Infinity Wars wasn't perfect either.
The action was on point. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo gave a much better depiction of the battle scenes as something that's more suited in reality. I know it's a fantasy flick, but I like it when the action is believable and not some fairytale looking stuff, or a concentrated bowl of hyperbole. I found the fight scenes to be believable and more importantly, they seemed to fit the conflict, like the hard battle was fought for a reason and the villains weren't easily vanquished. This for me helps to reinforce in the viewers mind why the heroes are necessary. Cause the villains are powerful as shit.
The battle at Wakanda I'd have to say was disappointing for me tho. It really didn't help to reinforce the notion from the previous film the dominance of Wakandan technology. Here we have this reservoir of the most precious and powerful material earth has to offer and the best they can do in a battle with organic opponents is do some Kung fu??? It seems to me that the power of the Wakandan technology should have easily over taken organic beings easily, yet the battle was so hard fought. I couldn't help but wonder why my man T'Challa's armour didn't perform so well in the conflict either. For a suit that was supposed to give him the ability to store and release kinetic energy, he ate a lot of shots with no feedback. This is the power of the Panther? Not in the last movie. And that's what left me like, naaaah. Yall fucked up on that one. They lost the city to a bunch of animals, while being
renowned for being tamers of beasts. Just didn't flush with me.
The scene where Thanos sacrifices his daughter also raised my Illuminati sensors. In the seemingly millions of videos out there talking about blood sacrifice in order to have riches and fame, here we see this character faced with the same decision on a cosmic scale. And he chooses to offer her as a sacrifice for his destiny, with a tearful eye tho, which I thought was a great choice for a villain. The fact that he empathizes and has a feeling of sadness but still commits the act I think makes him even scarier. If he can kill his own daughter, your ass is toast. Imagine in Star Wars when the Emperor is frying Luke with the Force and Vader is standing on the side looking torn imagine if he came over and cut Luke's head clean off in that scene. He woulda been the greatest villain in the history of cinema. While Thanos does have that universal profile of being a villain of epic proportions, for me he comes off a bit like a thug. Vader was a commander of a military that was a part of a government that imposed its will on subjects thru law. Thanos is a terrorist, a person acting violently because of his own personal beliefs. It's like Mao Tse Tung and Bin Laden.
The prevailing belief that drives THANOS has a eerily similar counterpart in the world we share currently. Thanos' over all goal is population control, because the resources of the universe is being over run by the needs of the organic beings in it, like his own home planet. Likewise, the same idea is running thru the upper parts of governments right now with large endowments like the Bill Gates Foundation allocating money to this goal. Gates has even gave talks where he states what will cause the reduction of the population of the planet, a virus strain totally resistant to current scientific capability. Or more accurately, current scientific disclosure. The satisfied look of Thanos when the deed is done is probably secondary to the fact that the audience is left with the notion that the world did not end. It is a new world, waiting for a New World Order. Philosophically, I'm torn between the messaging; population control is evil and the ones carrying it out are villains against humanity... yet your most powerful heroes are helpless to stop it. Is this a seed sown for us to accept at a later date? Is this the ill subliminal? Time will tell. Although if it is, I don't think we're gonna like the ending of that story too much.
I hear a lot of people remarking on the ending of the movie. 'Aw man, that's something you wouldn't expect from a hero movie!' to 'Wow I can't believe it ended like that!' Maaaan, please. The ending was nothing but the exact same ending from The Empire Strikes Back. The heroes are hurt, the resistance is in shambles and the Empire has won this war and moved on. I read director Joe Russo say they were aiming to elevate Thanos to the Darth Vader level of villain. I didn't know they had the same goal for the movie. Well, maybe that's unfair to say the movie in its entirety, but that ending was written by George Lucas. In the words of the current popular meme, prove me wrong.
Overall, it was a great movie and I enjoyed it a lot. I have a projector in my house so I watched it at home after ordering it thru Xfinity. I'm def gonna watch it again with some friends, enjoying some 'vegetables'. Movies are so much better with 'vegetables'.
Here is an excellent video i found giving a great backgrounder if you're like me who doesn't have the time to be fully versed on the entire Marvel Universe these days. Great video.
