Movie Review: Infinity Wars (warning spoilers)

It finally arrived...well he finally arrived!

And he didn't disappoint at all!

From here on out assume that everything I say is a spoiler.  Do NOT read on if you have not seen the flick...you have been warned

Okay where to begin with this movie.  I'll start with saying that there has not been a better Spider Man on the screen that I have seen.  The scene at the end where he is saying he doesn't want to go...as heart wrenching as #10 saying it.  Wonderfully done young man!

The start of the flick was shocking to say the least.  I wasn't expecting the removal of one of the major fan favorites like that, but honestly Loki has probably lasted longer then needed.  However it set the tone for the flick which was needed.  Too often in these flicks you don't feel your favorites are in danger because they're the heroes.  You actually felt like the heroes were in danger....and they are!

I would like to say there is something bad about the flick but I can't really pick anything.  Maybe the pacing a slight bit but even that I can't truly say.  At no point did I think this needs to move on.

The amount of screen time that Dr. Strange got was even an okay thing as his character worked much better in an assemble cast like this then it did one its own.  While I did NOT like his stand alone flick he was good here, especially playing off Spidey and Iron Man.

The inclusion of the Guardians was done perfectly.  Star Lord and Drax and....well all of them didn't seem overshadowed by the other characters which could have happened very easily given the star power and screen time the others have had over the last ten years.

Have I said how heart wrenching the final Spider Man scene was?  Seriously!

It was nice to see Agent Hill and Fury at the end as well.  I would have liked to see Coulson and the Agents of SHIELD referenced or even better show up but that is just me wanting to tie things together even more and I really REALLY like the Coulson character.

I liked that they continued to have Thor be funny but show a "human" side in his scene with Rocket.  It is rare for me to feel for a superhero, or in this case a god, in a flick but you felt for him.  Having his eye back I didn't like however, I thought the eyepatch was a good look for Thor.

Seriously how great is Tom Holland?

Oh here is a question for you all, if Thanos can turn back time and bring Vision back from the dead why not do it for Gamora since he, seemingly, truly loved her?

It is interesting that we are basically back to the original Avengers cast now plus Ant-Man (we assume since his movie is next) minus Loki and Fury.  The GotG cast is gone, Spidey, Black Panther and Falcon are all gone.  Well we still have Capt. Rocket so we have that going for us though!

Another surprise to me is that Hawkeye is not in this flick AT ALL.  I guess when I ran to the restroom they reference him and Ant-Man but still could have had a shot of them in there (and maybe they did and I missed it but it doesn't sound like it).  The directors have said there is a reason for this but still kind of weird.  Ant-Man I'm okay with, even though I really liked his character, but Hawkeye is an OG brother!

Oh...how good was Brolin as Thanos?  I love a bad guy that isn't maniacal sometimes.  I mean the crazy lets destroy the Earth bad guy is fun and all but Thanos isn't that.  Thanos truly believes what he is doing is the right thing...and part of him is right.  Much like a plant, sometimes you need to trim things back.  You can't allow things to grow out of control like life has in the galaxy/universe.  I guess I would be a servant of Thanos in that I kind of agree with him....and like most cowards I'm going to go with whatever might keep me alive!

Overall I would give this flick a rare 10/10.  Seriously wonderful and so well done.  The folks at Marvel Studios continue to one up themselves each time they release a film to the point where there is going to be a huge disappointment at some point because of it.

Black Widow is such a slut!

A friend recently asked why I don’t do a blog.  I responded that I used to but had stopped but didn’t expand on it.  The reason I stopped was because I was afraid I was offending people with what I was saying.  I am harsh rude and crude at times and I was afraid I’d hurt someones feelings.  It was a moment of weakness I won’t have again.  I lost my way and tried to be less “Gene” like and more “PC”.  I am not PC, as I said a few years ago, I am a dinosaur who refuses to evolve.  I will die a dinosaur.

The reason I am writing this blog is because I like to do it.  I like to write and get my ideas and opinions out there.  I liked the sound of my own voice...so to speak...and I might even start podcasting again.

Okay today I am going to talk about the Avengers, sort of but not really.  The Avengers is what prompted this story….well not really.  This great article but a friend of mine did.    

I have come to realize that I look at the world differently than most people.  Perhaps I don’t have the rose colored glasses others do or perhaps the problem is that I do!  I don’t try to put a statement on everything that is done.  The perfect example is Black Widows “treatment” in Age of Ultron.  This article is well written but I think is missing the point of a lot of what is done in the flick.  

Also I don’t believe that Natasha was actually tending bar in the one scene but making a drink for her and Banner as I don’t remember seeing her making drinks in the other scenes during the party but what do I know, I was there to see an enjoyable movie about not real things not pick it apart to further my own agenda!

Sorry about that, that “real” Gene come out for a second.  If you haven’t watched Age of Ultron yet do not read on as I will be talking about things in flick.  The big idea in this flick is that all of the Avengers are attacked on a personal level by the Scarlet Witch (played by the lovely and extremely talented Elizabeth Olsen).  Each member of the team see something that shakes them to their core, be it a possible future or the past or what they fear most or...well you get the idea.  Widow is reminded of her past.

Before this is happens we also see a budding romance between Natasha and Banner.  Natasha has the ability to bring Banner back when he has “Hulked Up (Brother)”.  We also know that it was Natasha who has spent the most time with Banner (on screen character wise).  

Okay before I get to what happens next with Natasha lets look at her character so far.  She is a deadly assassin who answers the phone while being tortured, faced the Hulk with little fear, is willing to use her feminine charms when needed, has a bad past, has had her moments with Captain America, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and seemingly has/had a relationship with Hawkeye.  I am not sure what could be done more to make her a stronger character.  Oh lets not forget she tricked the trickster god into telling her his plan.  Pretty weak characteristics to me!

Back to our new story.  We find out that during Natashas training she was forced to become sterile and, here is what a lot of people hate, she uses the line “You’re not the only monster on the team.”  Yep, that makes Joss Whedon a sexist.  

Or you’re missing the point and forcing that line to fit your own narrative!  Of course I could be doing the same thing here, only one person knows and that is Joss.  I took it to mean many things.  She is a monster for what she allowed to be done to herself.  She is a monster for what she has done to others.  She is monster because she does what has to be done including allowing herself to be mutilated.  I never thought it meant she was a monster because she can’t have kids in the way some took it.  She is a monster so she can’t have kids, do you see the difference.  They explain that they sterilize the women so they won’t have the distraction of children.  This scene takes place after we’ve seen how much Hawkeye’s (Yes he has a family) kids love her and how good she is with them.  

Throughout the entire film the idea of our heroes being monsters (perhaps to stop the monsters) is brought up.  Banner especially is aware of this and that is what Natasha, in my opinion, falls in love with.  The fact that Banner feels about himself (the monster) that she feels about herself (the monster).  It is about two people who can’t find love because of what they think they are  finding love because of what they are, human.  

At no point did I feel Natasha was playing the damsel in distress for the sake of it.  In the first Avengers film it was Hawkeye who had to be saved by Widow.  This time it was Widow being saved by Banner.  To further the love story and because it made sense!  Just like it did for her to save Hawkeye last time.  Or to save Cap in Winters Soldier or the various other times she has saved people.  

I look at this “controversy” as manufactured by people looking for something to bitch about.  It is like people getting mad at Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner joking about Widow being the “slut” of the Avengers.  They are laughing as they say it for one and two it is kind of true.  She is the one character that has been in all of their lives because she is the one S.H.I.E.L.D agent so Fury sends her.  She uses her skills, whichever are needed to get the job done.  Sorta seducing Stark, playing on Caps values and whatever else is needed.  Again that doesn’t make her a bad character it makes her a well written smart character.  

I wish this was about the movie.  About how the writing felt forced at times and that the characters were almost caricatures of themselves.  The fact that this felt more like a holding midseason episode of your favorite TV show instead of the end of Phase 2 and moving into Phase 3.  No instead it is talking about how much of a sexiest pig Whedon is.  I mean did you see that show of his Buffy, what a pig!  

Could Black Widow have been written better?  Of course she could have!  You also need to realize you had ten “main characters” and that doesn’t include Fury, Hill, War-Machine or Falcon.  This movie did more to make Widow seem human and maybe that is what people are upset about.  They didn’t want her to be a character, just a kick ass chick in leather.  

I will be honest, as much screen time as she has had throughout the Marvel movies I never wanted a Black Widow flick.  Why?  I knew little about her, she was just what I said before, a kick ass chick in leather.  We’ve got other movies for that.  However now I kind of do.  Delve a little more into her past.  A little more with Hawkeye and her “debt” she owes him.  Also a great way to further the Hulk/Widow storyline would be her hunting for her true love.  It doesn’t always have to be the guy chasing the girl does it?  Oh wait that makes me sexiest to think that a girl would need a guy doesn’t it?

There is one other option, one that hasn’t be thought of yet.  Here goes.  It was a fucking superhero movie and none of what has been said was thought of.  It was written to entertain people not to make a political statements!