So if you haven’t seen Avengers Infinity Wars yet, then you’re probably one of 7 people in the entire United States. But just in case:
Spoiler Alert
SPOILER WARNING
There be spoilers here.
And if you’re the rest of the planet, then you know that the ending to this movie is both sad, and frustrating. It’s painful, and yet satisfying.
First off, they DIDN’T do what they could have done, which is to stop well before Thanos even got all of the stones. So, for that, I’m thankful.
And they also made good on the promise that the comics (and seemingly the contract negotiations with the star actors to eventually leave the series) made… which is that they kill of some of the characters. They did that. They did it from the start of the film, with Thanos’ hand around Loki’s throat, they did it in the middle with Thanos throwing Gamora off the ledge in Vormir, and of course, they did it in the end when Thanos snapped his fingers and killed off half of the universe.
So in that they did good.
But do you even buy that shit? Do you, for one second believe that most, if not all of those characters are going to be brought back, with little more than a scar and an emotional complex?
I mean, I get it, you’re supposed to suspend your disbelief and accept the story that they tell you. And just like at the end of EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, you must KNOW in your heart that Han is going to be rescued, but it’s devastating to see. And yet, I felt empty at the end of this one. It’s just the first half of the movie though. There is a second INFINITY WARS movie coming out next year. We know this.
So at the end of this one I felt nothing. I wasn’t weeping for my fallen heroes. I wasn’t worried about their fates. And I wasn’t disappointed that the directors were cowards. They weren’t, because they did the worst thing they can do to the fans. They killed off the heroes. But they did it in a world where we know they come back.
In the movie’s defense, I went back. I paid my money for a ticket, got a solid 4 beer buzz, and went back in to love this movie all over again. But the problem with viewing number two is that you KNOW what’s going to happen… and what happens is sad from start to finish. Some of the brief joys of the first viewing are the sprinkled in comic quips from the actors. Those are fun. But the second time around, you know what the jokes are (because there were so few to begin with, they’re easy to remember) and you know how they all die all the way through the movie.
I can’t wait for the final film to wrap it all up, and I truly love this series, but for now, I feel vacant and empty and hollow.
Can’t wait for ANTMAN AND THE WASP.
How did you feel? Am I crazy? Were you balling your eyes out and sad for a week? Tell me below!