Avengers: Endgame (Russo Bros)

[Ezee E]

I mean, what would you prefer them do with the stones? Destroy them so they could never be used again? Keep them together in a new Avengers base? That's really the only two options.

Destroying them would've made the most sense to me. Would've taken someone sacrificing themselves again is all.

[Milky Joe]

but if they don't have the time stone then Dr Strange can't bargain with Dormamu and we're all toast

[Dukefrukem]

Destroying them would've made the most sense to me. Would've taken someone sacrificing themselves again is all.

But then we wouldn't be able to use them in future (current) story lines.

[DavidSeven]

This exchange explains it (it's purposely vague and probably nonsense, but it's the rules that are defined by the film):

Banner: [pleading with The Ancient One for the time stone... ] Please, please, please...

The Ancient One: I'm sorry, I can't help you, Bruce. If I give up the time stone to help your reality, I'm dooming my own.

Banner: With all due respect, I'm not sure that science really supports that.

The Ancient One: The Infinity stones create what you experience as the flow of time. Remove one stone and that flow splits. Now, this may benefit your reality but my new one, not so much. In this new branched reality, without our chief weapon against the forces of darkness, our world will be over run. Millions will suffer. So, tell me Doctor, can your science prevent all that?

Banner: No, but we can erase it. Because once we are done with the stones, we can return each one to it's own time line at the moment it was taken. So, chronologically, in that reality, they never left.

The Ancient One: But you are leaving out the most important part. In order to return the stones, you have to survive.

Banner: We will, I will. I promise.

[Ezee E]

Sounds a whole like Back to the Future to me, but on a different timeline. Meh.

[Thirdmango]

I'm a huge marvel fan and I didn't like this movie overall. It was too bloated and too much fan service, movie winking at me and just too much.

[Dukefrukem]

I'm a huge marvel fan and I didn't like this movie overall. It was too bloated and too much fan service, movie winking at me and just too much.

What fan service didn't you like?

[Ezee E]

The only fan service that came across as forced was the sudden lineup of the women characters all in a row when they made their attack. I don't have a problem with superheroes, but the moment where one-by-one they got in a line was kind of laughable.

[DavidSeven]

The only fan service that came across as forced was the sudden lineup of the women characters all in a row when they made their attack. I don't have a problem with superheroes, but the moment where one-by-one they got in a line was kind of laughable.

That was a big misstep. Not the sentiment behind it -- there was a similar, but effective, shot in Infinity War -- but the way that shot came together in Endgame was completely inorganic and pandering. I'd agree that was the only big fan-service-y moment that they totally botched.

[Milky Joe]

That seemed like less a moment of fan-service than one of simply pandering.

Though admittedly it pissed me off because Daisy Johnson wasn't there more than anything.

[Ezee E]

They may as well have had Beyonce's "Girls Run the World" drop in for that moment.

[Dukefrukem]

Seriously? I recognized what Disney was doing there, and it immediately left my mind 10 seconds later. You guys sound so angry.

[Skitch]

And you sound so ultra-defensive of any Marvel criticism it's hard to even discuss MCU with you. Not everything they do is above minor criticisms.

[Ezee E]

Seriously? I recognized what Disney was doing there, and it immediately left my mind 10 seconds later. You guys sound so angry.

This doesn't anger me a bit. It's just eye-roll worthy.

[DavidSeven]

I wouldn’t dock the film a grade for it, nor am I against the sentiment behind it. The practical logic of the lineup and the emphasis on the shot were just a little silly.

[MadMan]

I liked this a lot, but Infinity War was better.

[Dukefrukem]

I wouldn’t dock the film a grade for it, nor am I against the sentiment behind it. The practical logic of the lineup and the emphasis on the shot were just a little silly.

Why is it silly though? The film just killed off the most famous female superhero in the MCU (without a funeral like Tony gets at the end) and the way to honor her was to put in that scene. That's silly?

Even if the movie was attempting to setup A-Force? That's silly?

Forced fine. But silly?

[Lazlo]

I dunno, that moment really did something for me. I thought it was really emotionally stirring and had me sitting there like, hell yeah, this is rad.

[Wryan]

If something is forced and obvious pandering (every single Marvel woman was close enough on the battlefield to converge at that one moment? for real?) then sure it can be called "silly." Calling it inorganic fits perfectly to me as well. There have already been a few thinkpieces written about how the moment is nice and all but fairly unearned, and I don't disagree. And it didn't strike me at all as a moment glorifying their fallen sister or something like that. (Having said that, I think the complaint that we didn't get an explicit funeral for Nat is also a bit unfair--the movie isn't going to interrupt the narrative for two funerals [tho maybe do both at the same time?], and the scene immediately after they all return is the equivalent moment of mourning; if they can continue to show the fallout from losing her, I think that would be okay.)

So.....are we not really gonna get any Hulk Smash anymore? I didn't care for this Hulk. Seemed like they were making fun of The Smash. My friend, who loves Hulk and Marvel and has read basically everything Hulk, said this wasn't Smart Hulk--this was just Green Mark Ruffalo.

[Dukefrukem]

So.....are we not really gonna get any Hulk Smash anymore? I didn't care for this Hulk. Seemed like they were making fun of The Smash. My friend, who loves Hulk and Marvel and has read basically everything Hulk, said this wasn't Smart Hulk--this was just Green Mark Ruffalo.

Yes please be done with Hulk Smash. I want Future Imperfect Hulk. https://www.amazon.com/Hulk-Future-I...gateway&sr=8-1

[Pop Trash]

Call me David Ehrlich, because I'm fairly meh about Infinity War (I liked it even less when I watched it again a few days ago) and kinda loved this?!

The most earned protracted ending since LOTR: The Return of the King. We all knew [REDACTED] was coming, but it doesn't stop the tears.

The first hour in particular hits a groove of good moment after good moment. Oddly, I kept thinking of Wes Anderson -The Royal Tenenbaums in particular- in the parallels of a ragtag family that all peaked early reuniting under peculiar circumstances. Maybe it's just the Kinks deep cut. There's also some Richard Linklater DNA here on the emphasis that time changes everything.

More than ever do I view this as a (doctor) strange consortium of great actors from the indie film world of Sundance and TIFF circa the '90s and '00s. Who would be their Thanos? Harvey Weinstein?

There's fan service in the back end that feels like Ready Player Avengers ... but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't work like gangbusters. Sundries that normally I would be rolling my eyes at gave me genuine pleasure.

[Grouchy]

People, this was great. I wasn't such a huge lover of Infinity War, I didn't find Thanos as compelling a villain as many people did because his motivations are somewhat feeble and strained, so I was glad this movie dispatched him so quickly for most of its runtime and focused on the post-world snap. How they managed to keep that from leaking and built the entire marketing without revealing what the movie is actually about (Back to the Future with superheroes) is an achievement on itself.

[Dukefrukem]

Was waiting for Trans to chime in on this and saw that he might be done with MC. Fuck.

[DavidSeven]

So.....are we not really gonna get any Hulk Smash anymore? I didn't care for this Hulk. Seemed like they were making fun of The Smash. My friend, who loves Hulk and Marvel and has read basically everything Hulk, said this wasn't Smart Hulk--this was just Green Mark Ruffalo.

As a person whose first exposure to Hulk was the "Merged Hulk" (Hulk's body w/ Banner's intellect) of the 90s comics, I enjoyed this spin on the character. That said, I think they deviated enough from that story to make the return of "Smash Hulk" perfectly feasible. Rather than merging Hulk and Banner, it seems they just enhanced Banner, which suggests that the savage version might still reside somewhere inside him.

[Pop Trash]

Was waiting for Trans to chime in on this and saw that he might be done with MC. Fuck.

He's on letterboxd unless he quit that too.