Avengers Infinity War Review

Hey, this is Steve Blum, and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Hello and welcome

to another episode of the Cinema Geeks. I am

one of your Cinema Geeks optimists, Solo. And

joining me today, after a small hiatus, is...

Miss Hard Candy Mandy. I'm back, bitches! Okay.

Movie Revolve Dan, hello Dan. Hey, I am also

back. Bitches. Because from last time. With no

hiatus. And also, Fritley Sant, hello Matt. Hey,

I don't feel so good! That's not funny. That's

what she claimed as far as her reason for missing.

Claim! For speed. Bitch, I had a 101 .1 temp.

I was sick like the entire week. Don't judge.

Oh, mine wasn't a dig at Amanda, it was more

of the movie related. Ah, that works too. For

those of you that were wondering what we were

going to cover today, we got a actual current

movie review that we are going to do in true

geek cast fashion. There was a comic book movie,

guys. That happens every once in a while and

we usually cover it. So we're going to be talking

all about Avengers Infinity War here on episode

171. Obviously most of you have already seen

the film or at least probably have seen the film

It's made how much Dan? I think you said like

a nine billion dollars. I think they had a meeting

you make a new number for it Didn't they it was

like a kajillion. There's a symbol. It's like

a symbol formerly known as I guess one thing

that we will get out of the way since it is a

little bit later in the movie was released not

quite a month ago, but a couple weeks have passed

for sure. This conversation that we're going

to have today may include spoilers. We're not

going to have a non -spoiler section and a spoiler

section. We're just going to have a free -form

kind of discussion about the movie in general.

And if something is going to come up that is

spoiler -related, we're just going to go with

the flow and talk about it. So if you haven't

seen the movie, we would suggest going to see

it first before you listen to this episode, because

we may spoil one or two things along the way.

But at least we're not doing what I saw. happen

on Twitter. I don't know if any of you guys saw

this or had it happen in your like circle of

friends or people you follow on Twitter, but

there was literally like a guy out there that

it was like two days after the movie had been

released, so it was like Saturday or Sunday,

I think it was Sunday, and he was intentionally

posting spoilers. I know a lot of people do that,

but his reason was because if you hadn't seen

the movie in the opening two days, you weren't

a big enough fan to deserve not having it spoiled

for you. Who is this? Do you know this person?

I don't remember the handle. Sorry about that.

Sorry, I'm sorry. I don't remember the handle.

It was not movie rebel Dan. But I was like, when?

I guess, you know, you can't use excuses as far

as like work or... Life or anything of that nature

if you're a Marvel fan, you're seeing this opening

day or the second day I guess there's a two day

grace period, but we've given you like over a

two week grace period So I guess we're not quite

as douchey as that guy was So we're gonna go

around here first and just kind of get our general

thoughts and then we're gonna start breaking

it down and getting going more detail but I guess

my my first question for you guys is you know,

obviously this was a culmination of 10 years

worth of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies 18

previous films before this one and lots of storylines

I mean more than two dozen superheroes that we've

been introduced that we've seen different parts

of their characterizations storylines, etc Some

have interacted with each other some have not

so this is a big kind of Culminating event so

to speak and Dan will start with you was the

payoff worthy of that much built up? Did you

feel like you got? the right dose of epicness,

of grand stage, of kind of tying things together

in this big universe, and kind of just general

thoughts of the movie when you saw it? I think

so. I think the payoff was certainly worth it,

because I think what that 10 years has done specifically

is within that time, what Marvel has, I think,

succeeded at really well is even when some pieces

of their movies don't work, whether it's their

villains or what have you, Ultimately, what has

worked this entire time is their ability to build

their characters, their heroes from the Guardians

of the Galaxy to Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain

America. And I think with that, that was showcased

here. You build up those characters to a certain

point, even those that have only had a film or

two. And when you get to see them interact, there's

just a joy within that because you've been invested

into their stories. They all have their own unique

personalities. And seeing some of them clash,

seeing some of them in a way work together, you

know, something like Captain America and Black

Panther and how their personalities are similar

and how that interaction goes. I thought that

was intriguing and I think the biggest thing,

of course, is knowing that with this. It was

all on the shoulders, of course, of Thanos, you

know, the character that was hinted at at the

end of the first Avengers film, the person who's

supposed to be behind many of these storylines,

you know, the chase for the Infinity Gems or

stones or whatever they're calling them nowadays,

and, you know, would he be worth the wait? And

I think that was what I was most concerned about,

because Thanos is, you know, a character that...

His motivations when it comes to the comic books,

I wasn't sure if they would necessarily work

for the general audience. It's a little bit different,

it's a little bit, you know, his desire to kind

of court death and it can work in the pages of

a comic in some ways. didn't know if it would

work on screen and what they did I think smartly

enough was adjust those and kind of make it more

palatable and and I think make him in a way a

better villain because he is a little bit he's

not sympathetic but he is the hero of his own

story where previously he's more an apathetic

character where he just you know he just didn't

care like he wasn't necessarily he was evil but

he was more so like he had a discontent he for

the rest of the world other than himself he just

wanted what he wanted and that was that so i

thought they did a good job of establishing him

as you know a threat a physical threat one that

you felt like you would need this entire cast

of 12 000 characters to to fight off but also

just now they smartly think made it his movie

and made him one of the better Marvel villains,

especially those that have only been in one main

film. So yeah, I ended up walking away. I wouldn't

say it's Marvel's best film. I still think the

highs of the first Avengers may be a little higher.

It's much more of a joyous movie. But I thought

ultimately I walked away very satisfied with

what they put together. You know, Dan mentioned

the Avengers, obviously the first film, and Amanda,

I think that was probably the last time that

we had this much of a build -up in this universe.

Like, obviously the first time we were going

to get the Avengers together was a huge build

-up and an epic event that people were looking

forward to. I think this is probably the closest

we've come since then of having kind of that

big culminating event. Did you feel like it paid

off and lived up to the hype that everybody was

kind of having around it as it was leading up

to the release, and what were your general thoughts

of the movie overall? I would say that the build

-up definitely did something for this film. I

mean, we all have characters that we love maybe

a little bit more than others. We all have characters

that we really wanted to see match up in this

film. So I think it gave us what we wanted, but

it left me wanting so much more of it. Like this

felt to me like a... like a mid -ground movie,

or like a connective movie. It didn't seem like

it had real closure or anything. It was more

like, what's next? I want to see what's next

now. Like, this is not done. I know this isn't

over. So give me what I want to see. So it's

going to be hard waiting for the next installment,

definitely. But it gets me excited for Captain

Marvel and some stuff we're going to see coming

here pretty soon. But I was definitely positive

on this film. I didn't feel... That positive

leaving the theater just because it was so fucking

sad. But, uh, Peter Parker... Did you spend 30

minutes in your car in the parking lot crying?

I feel like I should have. I was just like, wow,

I don't know. I don't know how to feel. But sad

right now, so... Matt, she kind of almost painted

a picture of something like the Empire Strikes

Back there. Is this the Empire Strikes Back of

the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Yeah. I don't

think there's anyone denying that, though, right?

Like... Like absolutely like it ends on a downbeat

more than any Marvel movie ever has like I Mean

even even ones that end like pretty Negative

like say I don't know like cap to like there's

still a glimmer of hope at the end If anything

this one ends on like an even worse thing where

it's like, oh man, that was really bad And then

here's an ass after credits scene where it's

even worse. Look at that guys Matt, what were

your overall thoughts of the film, and did you

think it lived up to the hype? Oh, absolutely.

They went harder than I ever expected. I would

argue it's better than the original story. It

had me way more excited. I think they did an

amazing job. I don't want to get ahead of myself,

but I got real hyped for it, especially when

we did our little March Madness brackets. because

it turned out that my opinions were very different

than everyone else's opinions and I was looking

for a good Avengers movie, especially after Avengers

2 wasn't great and Civil War wasn't called the

Avengers. So I'm glad to have a new Avengers

movie and be very proud to go and see it. Dan,

have you read the original story in the comics

and would you agree with Matt that it's maybe

a better take on that story? I think so. In a

way, it makes a little bit more sense in some

of the things that happen, like the motive, the

justification for some of like Thanos actions,

like why he would allow certain people to live

like, you know, when you have the ultimate power,

like he does. Though it's not really, I would

say even fully an adaptation of the Infinity

Gauntlet, because it's really like the ending

of this movie is the ending of the first issue

of the Infinity Gauntlet. It's more... It's more

of an adaptation of the Thanos quest, but I thought,

you know, like I mentioned, with the adjustment

of motivations, it made what he was doing, his

actions make more sense, like why he would not,

for example, kill Thor at the beginning of the

film, because, you know, his desire wasn't to

kill for pointless reasons, like he would kill

when he thought was necessary. And, you know,

he even... you know leaving it up to chance at

the end for his ultimate you know choice rather

than like picking and choosing who he was you

know and thinking he was more of a hero of his

own story would justify that like why he would

allow certain heroes to live instead of like

killing everyone so I do think it it it fixes

some of the problems per se of that I think maybe

one thing that that may have done a little bit

better but obviously it's a lot easier in a comic

is maybe juggle, give some of the characters

more characters, you know, moments. But there's

also a lot of weird things that go on in that

story that you forget about until I went back

and reread it. There's like stuff that takes

place on Earth. There's a lot of strange things.

But yeah, I do think if you watch this movie

and go to read Infinity Gauntlet, I don't necessarily

think a lot of people would think of it like,

what is this? This is very different. Gotcha,

gotcha. Yeah, I haven't ever read that one, but

I'm intrigued to see the differences. You mentioned

the opening sequence with Thor. I gotta tell

you, when I was sitting in the theater, I did

have a moment during that sequence where it was

like, it was almost the same type of feeling

that I had at the end of the first season of

Game of Thrones. Like, we were like 10 minutes

into the movie and I was like, I'm done. If this

goes this way, I'm done. Like, I'm not wanting

to watch any more of this if they're gonna kill

Thor right away. But obviously, luckily, I didn't

have to leave the theater. Not that I would have,

anyways. But I did have a moment there where

I was like, oh, I don't like where this is going

at all. Speaking of characters, we brought it

up a little bit that they're juggling a lot of

different characters, a lot of different superheroes

that we've been introduced, as well as supporting

cast, et cetera. That was another question that

probably a lot of people had because obviously

we had with Avengers you know the first time

where we saw a bunch of those guys in the same

movie but this is like that on steroids because

of the sheer number of characters that we're

gonna see in this film and I was wondering how

what your guys take was as far as characters

that you thought worked well in this film whether

it was because they they added to their character

arc overall throughout the MCU whether it was,

you know, characterization moments or just moments

that you liked from those characters or maybe

characters that didn't work as well. And then

kind of overall, in a general sense, how do you

think they did with balancing the sheer number

of characters that they were dealing with here?

And did it work 100 % or did you feel like some

got left behind? Amanda, what did you think as

far as did you have standouts that you really

enjoyed watching in this film or how did the

character balance work? I think Star Lord and

Stark were really awesome to see together and

then Also Thor with the Guardians was great,

but I didn't feel like I got enough of any of

their matchups I I don't think you're gonna it's

not possible for you to feel satisfied I don't

think with with what you get with all these characters

being thrown in together and Not getting enough

of them crossing over Dan or Matt, do you agree

that it wouldn't be possible to be satisfied

with the amount of characters they're trying

to stuff into this, even though it is a long

film, but just one film? I think it would. I

think you're not going to be able to have everyone

have a complete arc. You're going to have to

pick and choose who you're really going to focus

it on to make it more meaningful, unless you

make an 18 -hour movie. I thought it made sense

in the way of who they partnered with who to

get the most out of those moments. I mentioned

Captain America and Black Panther and Scarlet

Witch. I thought it was smart in the sense of

grouping all those people together because they're

soldiers. There's a war. They're not really focused

on in those moments about their internal struggles

or what they need to do. their personal stakes

are they have a mission they need to accomplish

it like every it's all about business and doing

what needs to be done so I understood why with

their story it was you know it was more action

-based because that's that those were the stakes

that they had and they they were the type of

people that put things to the side and focusing

on things and they'll of course make them much

for jokes because that's what you have to do

but where you know Tony Stark and I think Dr.

Strange had a little bit more back and forth

because they're the two people with the biggest

eagles in the room in every room that they're

in. So what happens when they clash? And I thought,

you know, knowing this has been this 10 years,

it all started with, you know, Tony Stark, Robert

Downey Jr. Nine man, making him the focal point

or making his story a little bit more the focus.

I thought was smart as well as Thor. But yeah,

I thought like I thought the choices made sense

of like who they decided to focus on more so

than others. Matt, what do you think? Do you

think the balance was all right or do you do

you agree that those that were I kind of like

what Dan is saying like those that didn't get

the more kind of character arc moments were in

a part of the story or in the proper setting

where that wasn't necessary or that was not possible

because of like Dan saying the battle and that

type of thing. Did they do a good job of kind

of positioning people accordingly or do you think

they could have done better as far as giving

us more from certain characters? Oh, I think

they did a magnificent job. I love it. I think

Dan's really right about putting people in their

place. And what's great about all of that is

the two, I don't know, the character areas that

I enjoyed the most haven't even been mentioned

yet. Because I absolutely love the hidden romance

of Vision and Scarlet Witch, as well as everything

they did with Tom Holland for that whole dang

movie. He was so good. Will say one area where

I feel like they messed up which is the most

easy to overlook is Wong who was like like Incredibly

important for like 30 minutes, and then he was

just like alright guys I'm going home, and they're

like yeah sure see ya and then like he didn't

hear anything from him for the rest of the movie

Yeah, like it was weird like what like he should

have been like I need to be like it wasn't even

like I need to stay there to defend the thing

because the thing the thing wasn't there He's

gonna be in the Wong Solo film, that's for sure.

Oh man, I hope. I'll watch it. You know, you

guys are bringing up a couple of different relationships

and things that we've seen that kind of planted

in other movies or maybe even explored in a little

bit more depth, as well as some new dynamics

that we've seen. Like Dan mentioned, obviously

we get Doctor Strange and Iron Man, which is

a combination we haven't seen before. Amanda

mentioned a Thor with the Guardians, and it seems

like you guys are in a... favor of those relationships

and kind of how it worked and kind of seeing

those for the first time as far as the MCU goes.

I was curious as far as some of the other stuff

because Matt touched on it a little bit. We had

the Vision and Scarlet Witch dynamic. We had

the kind of the reaction to Civil War where we

have a little bit of maybe not interaction between,

but the relationship between Iron Man and Captain

America. You have Hulk, who had obviously had

a previous connection with Black Widow. You obviously

had the idea that Captain America and Bucky,

you know, had a whole film and a whole lifetime

of a relationship to build off of. How do you

guys think those worked and do you agree with

those that got more time, those that got less

time? Did it feel awkward? Because I know a couple

people have complained a little bit about brushing

over maybe the first time Hulk sees Black Widow

or brushing over the first time Captain sees

Bucky. Do you think there was room in this movie

to explore those moments a little bit more or

do you think it was unnecessary? Amanda, start

with you. I would have liked to see those moments.

Definitely. I did think it was a little weirder.

He was like, hey, I've been gone for a while.

She's like, all right, down to business. There

wasn't any exchange of emotion there. And I get,

you know, things were getting pretty hairy, but...

Be that as it may, you're still a human and you

still have emotions towards other humans. So

I would have liked to see that. Did you have

any that you liked more so than, I mean, I know

you mentioned obviously seeing Thor with the

Guardians. Was there any other that stood out

with you from a character moments or any individual

characters that really stood out to you over

the course of the film? As far as their interactions

though or just characters? Just individual characters

or reactions between two or... Any of that type

of stuff? I think that seeing the relationship

more between Thanos and Gamora was pretty heavy

and also seeing more of Nebula was pretty cool.

Seeing the torture scene with her was pretty

crazy and now knowing the bond that the sisters

have, it was pretty hard seeing some of that

stuff. So, I like that we did get a deepening

of some of these relationships. Matt, what do

you think? Did they do a good job on which ones

that they did kind of spend some time in, like

the Gamora, Nebula, or obviously you said you

liked the Vision and Scarlet Witch, but do you

think any of those other ones were glossed over

a little bit too quickly? Oh man, I never once

had that thought of like, oh, that didn't feel

natural, or oh, like I would have wanted more,

other than the persistent I would have wanted

more of everything. just because I was so enamored

with this movie. I do really enjoy the Thanos

family and how they go deeper into all of that.

That was pretty interesting and fun. Really,

I think the one that hit me the most was Iron

Man and Spider -Man. Just how much they've come

from that hug, no, I'm just getting the door,

to the fucking hug they share at the end of this

movie. That is I mean clearly character development

between the two of them like and they did an

amazing Emotional job to show that that distance

they've traveled. I don't know. I I think I disagree

with Amanda on Well one like do we know that

Bucky and Cap haven't seen each other at all?

Like I mean, they're both hanging out in Wakanda

I imagine they would have seen each other even

if they weren't you know living with each other

it seemed like the impression from both the Black

Panther and Some of these films that they were

keeping him somewhat hidden from everybody and

somewhat Secretive, but was it more common knowledge

to the rest of the Avengers that he was there

the whole time I guess I didn't know that for

sure Yeah, I guess they don't really explain

that and that would be nice But at the same time

what are they gonna cram in here? I I think that

if if I'm going to give leeway to anyone not

having like a normal emotional Connection it's

going to be Black Widow and the Hulk One, because

Black Widow's kind of been trained from her earliest

of life to not have emotions and not show emotions.

She shows him with Hulk, though. She let him

in. So there was no even flicker behind her eyes

whatsoever. I mean, did they? Because here's

the thing that I kind of disliked about the relationship

in the previous movies was it seemed less loving

and affectionate and more like... I need to be

the one that bring the Hulk down because someone

needs to do that and the Hulk likes me. I never

really felt like it was a super romantic connection.

It felt more like a relationship out of necessity.

What about what she shared with him as far as

her reproductive situation? I feel like that

was something that you wouldn't share with somebody

you're the security blanket for. It also seemed

like they alluded to some things when Hulk is

blasting off into space at the end of one of

the previous films that there seemed to be some

emotional connection there that she was feeling

during that scene, during that sequence. Yeah,

I'm not saying that they don't like each other

or or even love each other. I'm just saying they're

not a PDA type of people, right? They're not

the the loving embrace. Oh, I haven't seen you.

Oh you hang up first. No, you like that's not

certainly running across the beach into each

other's arms moment But something like her be

pissed at him or something. I don't know So you're

just looking for some type of reaction rather

than there's a battle going on i don't have time

to talk to you today uh... that you can keep

going with that but i mean where am i going well

i thought i don't know if you had it i don't

know if i cut you off or let you finish that

thought dan you wanna jump in here do you have

any reactions to the hulk black widow stuff or

kind of the other one i was interested to get

your take on is you know bounced off of captain

america civil war where you have this big division

between the avengers and kind of you know both

sectioning off uh... do you feel that it's uh...

good enough I guess excuse that we have this

big battle going on so we're not going to deal

with that type thing or Do you feel like they

could have done something with that? Like I don't

know if it's an excuse. Maybe it's a compound,

but I feel like they're saving the like inner

relationships like it like those moments for

the next one because you realize like the You

know the original Avengers are the some of the

only ones that are left and It seems like that

piece like that Tony Stark piece in Captain America

like that's I feel like is the finishing piece

of both of their arcs so it makes sense to me

of why you keep them separated and and then like

the closing moments will be that team coming

back together in order to overcome and defeat

Thanos in whatever way they do next issue and

I could all next issue jeez next next movie and

and I could see uh too I do think like I would

have wanted to mind if there was a little bit

more uh exploration of the the Black Widow Banner

relationship, especially, you know, they even

hinted at it within Ragnarok a little bit But

I have a feeling again that'll probably be a

piece of what happens with with the next film

and like I can see Her being the person that

actually brings the Hulk out For whatever reason

either it's through like her, you know being

able to you know Convince the Hulk to coming

out or she's in danger. So that whatever whatever

reason that that may be but I did think it was

interesting that a lot of that drama was not

really focused in on. Part of me had me worried

when I honestly thought, oh man, Iron Man's gonna

die at the end where you see him get stabbed.

I'm like, oh man, that's gonna be... I was like,

wow, that's a bull move. And I was a little bit

disappointed because there wasn't that closure

there, so I'm kind of happy that didn't happen.

It does feel like, you know, this is one part

of a two -part movie. So a lot of that, you know,

certainly a lot of that is on set and there's

probably a little bit more that they could have

explored. But I kind of understand why and I

think making you want it more is not necessarily

a bad thing. Depending on, you know, for me it's

not, but I can see for some where you feel a

little cheated in having to wait another movie

to see that, you know, that come to its conclusion.

I just think you're smart, Dan, because everything

you're saying makes sense to me and stuff that

I didn't think about beforehand. But another

question I wanted to ask you before we move on

to the next part here. Going back to Vision and

Scarlet Witch, do you feel like the writers and

directors, et cetera, the people behind the scenes...

I thought that those other relationships that

we had just been talking about were already established

enough, like we already kind of know what's going

on with Black Widow and Hulk, we already kind

of know the rift between Captain America and

Iron Man and some of the other ones that we've

talked about. Like some of those were already

established enough in those other films, so this

was a way to establish more of the Scarlet Witch

vision, which maybe hadn't been developed as

much, or do you feel like they spent too much

time with that and could have cut away some of

that time to give to some of these other characters?

I think it depends on how you how you tend to

like to view your films because like you know

as someone who likes serialized storytelling

as someone who reads comic books and someone

who would like you know is used to this it I

understand that but I could see for some people

who think like when it comes to a film that it

should it should be a complete piece and not

one piece of an ongoing thing why for some it

wouldn't work But I think we allow serialized

storytelling for all other forms of fiction from

novels to comics to TV shows. So why not films?

But if you're a purist or want organically construct

everything, maybe that wouldn't work for you.

We're not wanting to watch 18 movies or whatever

it is in order to understand how many pieces

of this. So yeah, a lot of those things, I think

there's a lot of things going into this that

are already established. If you're not okay with

that, I mean I think it's more of an obviously

subjective thing, but I thought to me it focused

on the more important things, and it didn't feel

like it was being redundant, and for me I prefer

that. Alright, last couple things character wise.

I want to flip it to the other side. I know we've

already talked a tiny bit about Thanos, etc.

But I want to get your guys' take because obviously,

like Dan said in the opening, some of the complaints

that we've heard over the years for a couple

of the different Marvel films here and there

has been about the villains and if they were

effective or not. So we get a dose of villainry

here. We get obviously the main bad guy here,

Thanos, but we also do get the Black Order and

those kind of minions that are involved in that.

I mean, how do you think the villains worked

in Infinity War? overall, were they believable,

were they intimidating, and what did you like

and dislike about the villain aspect of the film?

I loved Thanos, and I loved that you felt for

him. I was starting to believe in his cause and

him, and as much awful shit that you know that

he's done, in this you really felt for his cause.

So I liked that as much as we hated Thanos, it

made you... question that and kind of get on

board with him and I don't know kind of root

for him a little bit you're rooting for genocide

sort of But as far as his like little the black

order or whatever his little minions they were

not as effective for me the only one that really

was was the Squidward guy that got sucked out

the ship He was pretty intimidating. He was crazy

and he looked freaky and his voice was scary.

The other two were just way too heavily CGI'd

and I really didn't care about him. I wanted

to get, because obviously Amanda and I are coming

in with not as much comic book knowledge and

not as much maybe superhero knowledge as Dan

and Matt, you guys are. I'm wondering if this

is something that is a more effective, I guess,

quadri of villain m - for somebody that knows

the backstory or knows these characters compared

to someone who's coming from an outsider because

I kind of felt the same way as Amanda I loved

Thanos and obviously a lot of times when we're

talking about these movies if you can have a

villain where you somewhat even if you don't

agree with their their means or their methods

that you can somewhat understand where they're

coming from and you kind of get the logic pattern

obviously those are a lot more effective and

I think they did that wonderfully with Thanos

but when it comes down to these four guys and

I'm gonna or three guys and a girl and I'm gonna

say one of them Terribly, but we have Proxima

Midnight, Ebony Maw, Kull Obsidian, and the last

one I'm not gonna be able to say right, Chorus,

Glaive, Clave, something of that nature. Is that

something that requires more knowledge to appreciate?

those characters because I kind of felt like

Amanda that they were somewhat generic outside

of maybe the two Proxima Midnight and Ebony Maw

I think were okay, but the other two just seemed

completely generic CGI bad guys to me. Matt,

let's start with you. Did you have previous knowledge

of any of those characters and did it make those

scenes more effective for you? Oh, I have no

idea if these characters existed outside of these

movies. I don't remember seeing them ever, but

I think that really they just needed them from

a storytelling standpoint to be like Like, because

Thanos can only be at one place at a time. So

they're like, well, for action economy, we need

to add a couple of minions. That makes sense.

Although he did seem to get around pretty easily

at the end of the film, as far as from place

to place. I can't imagine why. Dan, what did

you think? Did you have more knowledge of these

characters, or are these characters that existed

outside of the movie? I assume they are. Yeah,

they're from the Infinity storyline. That's a

little bit, which is weirdly younger than the

actual Marvel Universe itself. It's written by

Jonathan Hickman. And within that, they have

much more story. Two of the characters are actually

married. The one character that I can't think

of his name that has telekinesis. He actually

is more magic -based in the actual comic itself.

And they have much more backstory. There's much

more character to them there. They are really

actually kind of intriguing characters, the way

they're able to build them up. But with this,

as Matt said, I think they're James Bond henchmen.

They're Gloria Frey henchmen. They're there just

to identify as a physical threat. But you know

much more about Jaws in whatever Bond movie he's

in outside of the fact that he's a tall dude

that can bite things. And that's really kind

of what they're there for. I mean, in a perfect

film, maybe if this was, you know, we got a little

bit more, we'd get a little bit more backstory,

as I mentioned, like the two of the characters

are married. That's not even mentioned in this.

and you take what say a combination of like 12

words for the most part. So yeah, as full characters,

they're not, but they're certainly, you know,

they're plot devices for the most part and maybe

they could have done a little bit more to make

that a little bit more effective, especially

with like to kind of give you a better idea of

like what exactly they're bringing to the party.

But you know, I think I prefer them than just,

you know, seeing more of the Chitauri show or

something like that. I definitely agree with

that. I do think Proxima Midnight kind of had

a cool look and I think they did a decent job

with Ebony Maw as far as the counter to Dr. Strange

I guess so to speak or kind of that that interaction

that they had towards the beginning of the movie

to kind of show somebody that had kind of in

that same world as far as the powers and the

telekinesis and that type of thing so I thought

that character was cool I thought it was unfortunate

he was the one I guess the first one that was

out of the movie but I guess that is gonna happen

in a war type film like this I want to give you

guys each a chance just anything character related

before we kind of move on to more of the story

and some of the elements like the visuals and

the humor and that type of stuff so anything

that you guys didn't get to talk about character

wise ones you liked ones you didn't like favorite

character moments of that type of thing or anything

in general. Amanda, anything you didn't get off

your chest as far as a character you really enjoyed

from the film? No, I liked all of them. You liked

all of them? Every single one? Except for those

bad guys we talked about. Alright, Matt, what

about you? I really liked Ebony Maw and I wish

that he would have gotten an action figure and

I said since he died he's like a way less likely,

or probably died, who knows. Maybe he just formed

a bubble and he just couldn't get back to that

light speed ship but like yeah i mean maybe he

is though i mean he was definitely using something

similar to the force right like so maybe maybe

he's flying out there and we'll see him in guardians

three or whatever who knows if a film did that

like if there was a scene with him floating back

i can't even if any movie's going to have a guy

get blown out of a ship and then hit another

ship's windshield and then be a villain is definitely

Guardians. Dan, what did you think? Any other

characters that you wanted to highlight or just

performances from an acting standpoint that you

thought were fantastic? Speaking of characters

in the Guardians, I did pretty much love all

the interaction between Thanos, not Thanos, Thor

and all the Guardians, especially Peter Quill,

like those were some of the funnier moments within

this that felt right, you know, just like how

they interacted with one another and what was

said, but he's like, that sounds made up. It's

like all words are made up. But I just, I don't

know why that line really stuck with me, but

it did. And then this is maybe more plot related,

but I did find it interesting that a lot of the

biggest plot pieces were Hinged upon like the

relationships of these characters whether it

was scarlet witch and vision Gamora and Peter

quail, you know even Gamora and Nebula I can

like how it was all about like them with no willingness

to save or not save them for whatever reason

and I can see for some like if those relationships

aren't Once you care all that much about you

know the vision and scarlet witch for example,

there wasn't a lot of time spent with that Previously,

we got a little bit in Civil War, but I thought

Elizabeth Olsen sold it really well. I thought

this was the best performance she actually put

in as Scarlet Witch. It helped that she dropped

the accent. I don't care why, it just makes more

sense. It's kind of like Halle Berry did for

Storm, even though that didn't make that any

better. But that's besides the point. But I thought,

like, she really sold it. And too, like, I thought

it made the character of Scarlet Witches become,

you know, really sympathetic, and considering,

like, everything she's gone through within these,

from her brother dying to, like, accidentally

killing, you know, all those people, you know,

in the Civil War. So I felt like in... it's been

even how vision calls it out like how it's unfair

that this is something he has to do i thought

that she was much more of a bigger piece of this

and i expected going into it uh... which makes

sense because you know both of those and is a

pretty great actress uh... so that i thought

that was at work really well and there's another

point i want to bring up but it slipped my mind

i think one of the other things that i was kind

of impressed with was the amount that they propelled

two or three characters that I had already, well

one of them I had already liked and one of them

I was kind of indifferent to, but I thought this

movie elevated them big time to kind of some

of my favorites in the series and kind of the

most intriguing going forward. I thought they

did a remarkable job with both Thor and Doctor

Strange as far as, and I know I'm not the first

person to say that, a lot of people have said

that about the film, but I just agree with all

those people that are saying that. I think they

did a lot for those two characters and kind of

propelling them up the list as far as most interesting

or most intriguing characters in this universe.

or at least moving forward I thought that was

impressive and then like Matt said Tom Holland

was fantastic in the movie overall so I really

enjoyed that I could have maybe used a little

bit more from the likes of someone like a Black

Panther or Captain America but we just got Black

Panther film and like Dan had mentioned they're

kind of in a different type of setting within

this film that's not going to allow for that

so I can kind of understand why and we've already

had three Captain America films so not that you

necessarily need a whole lot more of that character

building but I thought it was just kind of interesting

the way that they kind of elevated Thor and Doctor

Strange for me at least. Speaking of Captain

America, Red Skull showing up that was like a

legitimate like holy you know moment for me like

I was not expecting that at all and I thought

it it also kind of makes sense they made him

kind of look like Death to begin with and calling

back, I think, to the comic origins. So I was

happy to see him. I don't know if we'll ever

see him again in any shape or form, but it was

kind of cool that, you know, that they brought

that now for the next Avengers and you just need

to get Abomination from the, you know, Hulk movie

everyone forgets it exists and it'll put that

together. I thought the other thing that was

kind of well done and executed as far as the

red skull thing was how dark those scenes were.

So at first it's like, is that red skull? I think

Amanda and I were looking at each other like,

is that who we think it is type thing? So I thought

that was pretty effective as well. Dan, you had

mentioned a moment that was funny to you, and

obviously humor plays a big part in the MCU.

Obviously a lot of people kind of equate the

MCU to lighter, more comical, entertaining fare.

And certain movies have had humor that has worked

more than others. I was wondering what your guys

tape was on the humor overall the type of humor

and and I guess maybe the Hit -or -miss ratio

like did it did it work for you overall? Was

there some that really stood out to you or was

there some that you kind of felt were? Not your

style of humor Amanda did you find this movie

as funny as let's say maybe like the Guardians

standalone films? I mean, it was pretty close.

It's been a while since we've seen this now,

so It's kind of hard for me to pick out moments.

Matt, what about you? How did the humor work

for you overall, and was there any standout jokes

for you? Because I have one, and I just feel

bad that it's the one because it's going to make

me sound like an immature juvenile. Oh, man.

Is it the nut chin part? Yeah, I could not stop

laughing at the nut chin or the ball sack chin.

Wow, like I totally forgot about that until just

now. I loved the humor. They did a good job because

it's a very down movie. Like it's a 100 percent

downer movie, like by the end. But like they

did a good job of like hitting you with a little

bit of humor every so often to make sure you're

not just like drained by the end. Like it's not

like old boy. Where I needed to I get the end

of old boy. I needed to take a shower I felt

so just down on the dumps, but this one they

did a way better job I mean maybe you know not

so much for Amanda But but at least for me like

I wasn't happy by the end of it. I wasn't cheering

But I also like I still could enjoy the moments

like all all of All of the character interactions,

right? We've mentioned a dozen times now that

Thor and the Guardians was just choice, and Doc

Strange and Iron Man just being bumping heads.

But all of it, Spider -Man making retro references,

it's so great. I don't know, I loved what they

did with the humor. I never once... felt out

of place. Like, I know a lot of people complain

about these movies, like, ah, it was too much

humor. Especially, like, in the Guardians ones,

which we've made the comparison to, because they're

in it. But, like, I never once was like, ah,

I don't know about these jokes. I was completely

impressed with the number of jokes I felt like

landed. Like, I don't have any that stuck out

to me that was like... I mean, there might have

been some that weren't as funny, but I didn't

have a single one that was like, oh, that's lame

or that's immature or that's... I mean, if you

can pull off a ball sack joke and I don't find

it immature or lame, I guess, in that moment,

just because of the way it was delivered, I guess

you're doing something with that. Dan, what did

you think of the humor overall? And I guess...

Another question, too, is how many films do we

have to see Drax in before it becomes believable

that Batista is that funny? I don't know. I guess

one for me. After that, I was pretty set into

it. Yeah, I thought the humor also, even when

it wasn't always laughing, although I was laughing

more than I wasn't. It just felt necessary because

it's like, I just need some joy within this.

And like you mentioned Tom Holland, like I loved

like when they were, was it like magic kick?

Like I thought just like, just, just the calm.

You know, from like, you're embarrassing me.

You're embarrassing me in front of the wizards.

I mean, I'm not going to just try to quote everything,

but I just thought like how they were kind of

just the fact that you were having like, you

know, space man. guy who looks like Grimace and

all this and just just calling it out I think

makes it work that much much better and you know

even and how the character all the jokes felt

appropriate for the characters even you know

even like Captain America getting the opportunity

to have a joke where it's like you know I am

Groot and I am Steve Rogers it's just it just

fits that those characters which again it goes

back to what I said in the beginning where that's

what made these movies work is that they are

able to you know understand the characters and

why people appeal them. So yeah, those are some

of the moments for me. And I never felt like

a joke was out of place. And eventually, when

we got to the point that we did, I think that,

you know, they dialed back and were able to separate,

you know, when things got serious, they got serious.

And I never felt that there were jokes that undercut

any moments or, you know, downplayed a serious

moment where it shouldn't have been there. So

Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I was just

impressed, like I said, and like you guys were

saying, the way that it felt natural and the

way that, you know, some films have been criticized

because it went back to the same joke or the

same type of joke too many times or something

was getting old or something was too juvenile.

And I just felt like it's weird because there

were so many jokes put in here and there were

so many references, but it all just still felt

natural to me, which I was impressed at it. And

yeah, I believe that that Batista is that funny,

but I still have to think back and be like, this

is Batista that has that good of comedic timing

and delivery. these lines and I'm impressed every

time just the same. Real quick before we get

into any story you know and kind of plot points

and that type of stuff I want to get your guys

take on more of the visuals whether it's visual

effects, whether it's CGI, whether it's ability

to follow like the action and the fight sequences.

Matt how did you feel like from a visual standpoint

watching the film worked for you overall? You

know like when there's too much of a shaky cam,

too much of a moving camera like and it's hard

to follow a scene I'm one of the first people

speak up I hate that like that's like the main

like one of the biggest problems with like the

Star Wars prequels where it's like it's zooming

up on people's faces and just flashing light

it's like I'm not seeing anything but like This

movie does some amazing things. The one -on -one

between Thanos and Iron Man, where Iron Man's

nano armor is changing with every move the two

guys make, it was so well done, so perfect, very

easy to follow. I loved it. It was so good. They

really spotted on the fight scenes in this movie.

Amanda, I know you had mentioned off air a little

bit that some CGI aspects, did you feel like

it was too heavily CGI in some points or did

you feel like it was just minor moments and overall

it was fine from a visual standpoint? I think

some of the stuff on Wakanda, like with those

creatures and then bringing in the heavily CGI'd

bad guy minion bros, that was just a little bit

much. I think the only time it really took me

out of it though was just some of the fight scenes

with the minion guys. Okay. Dan, what did you

think of from a visual effects or action sequences,

CGI standpoint, did it work or was there too

much CGI at points or what do you think? I mean,

there are points that I think weren't as sharp.

Specifically, I'm thinking of they still haven't

like got the making the head in the Iron Man

armor look all that real like within the when

Bayer was in the Hulk armor like some of those

like bits and pieces like it it just felt you

get to kind of see the green screen there a little

bit too much but I don't know like I thought

the CGI was necessary I don't know like you're

not gonna create those aliens in real life so

I don't know like I never felt that there was

too much there it felt fitting for this and I

thought you know most importantly the stuff with

Thanos was just Really impressive and I was a

little bit worried about that because when he

showed up in the past like he's little looked

a little bit off He's even with his helmet. It

looks a little bit weird But there are some moments

where like, you know, he needs to emote and James

Rowland, you know I we didn't mention him but

he was great like I was really impressed with

the performance he gave and the motion capture

that was done because it was great like it you

see he gave him a personality was not expecting

and even you know which legitimately just his

face emoting it it had had those moments and

without that i don't think he's nearly the character

that he is but you know so i think a lot of the

effort went into that Maybe some of the moments

in the background and stuff like that weren't

weren't as impressive But like, you know, there's

art like CGI ronios that look full they were

with Black Panther So that I mean, I thought

I was fine with most of the special effects.

Yeah, I agree Dan I think the the stuff that

you would probably critique and have gripes about

like Amanda was saying is more some of the the

smaller things like the the background characters

or some of the alien creatures and that type

of stuff, I think the The crux of this movie

from a visual standpoint was if they were going

to be able to pull off Thanos or not, because

I think a lot of people had those questions going

into it based on sneak peeks of him in other

films, etc. Was, are they going to be able to

pull off this look? Is he going to be believable?

And how is that going to work? And I think where

it mattered most, they did get it right from

a visual standpoint. Moving on into story plot,

that type of thing, pacing, anything like that,

guys. What did you think of the story overall?

Was there any plot holes or problems with the

story that you guys? had? Did you feel like it

clicked along at a decent pace? I know one thing

that I somewhat had a gripe on was the the pace

in which we were shifting from one environment

to another and I know you have a lot of characters

so you have to have them somewhat split up but

it just seemed like every other second we were

giving another planet or something with a with

a title flopped in front of us. One of which

I don't understand why we had to put Wakanda

on the screen like the word Wakanda. Everybody

just saw Black Panther. We knew what that was.

But I just thought it was a little jarring from

a pay standpoint as far as just going from here

to here to here to here to here and kind of keeping

track of everything that's going on. I felt like

every time that I was getting comfortable in

one environment, we were immediately jettisoned

out of that environment to another one. I don't

know if there would have been a feasible way

to stop that. given what they were trying to

do in this film, but I wanted to see what kind

of your guys' take was of the overall kind of

story arc and how things went from that point.

Matt, we'll start with you. Well, to hit your

first point, like, I guess your middle point,

I don't know. Like, they have to show Wakanda's

name. Because if they don't, it's gonna be like

freaking Rogue One, where it's like, hey, there's

this trading post, hey, here's this rebel thing,

hey, here's this thing, hey, here's a planet

we're not gonna tell you, and hey, it's important,

because Darth Vader's got a giant castle, good

luck, you'll find it in a source book somewhere,

or you'll be guessing. Only true fans get to

know this planet. Like that crap bothers me Like

I was so happy when I saw Wakanda like even if

I recognized it even before they put it up there

I think it would have been different for me at

Black Panther hadn't it just came out like two

months ago Sure, but like you can't promise that

everyone's gonna watch him in order ten years

from now or you know now we had one of our guys

we are friends that we go to a trivia with Kevin

Amanda and I go to a trivia with some people

like he just saw the avengers and it was his

third or fourth mcu movie he's seen like he he

doesn't know what a wakanda is oh man i don't

know i didn't have any trouble following it um

you know other than maybe a little bit during

that that fight scene at the beginning with with

ebony ma where it's like okay so now they're

in the park okay now they're in the building

now they're on the street but like as far as

the overarching things like I don't know like

it cut fast but like it was less disorienting

than and I you know I keep going back to it because

I've seen it a million times but like like the

prequels of Star Wars like they'll do a cut like

to a new planet every two or three minutes sometimes

and like it's jarring and they don't have those

those little titles of where you are and it becomes

a mess but this one like I had very little issue

and I think they I think When they did have issue,

they kind of played it up with the reality gem

and they made it interesting. Yeah, that's true.

I did like how they worked with some of the gems.

I guess that could be another thing that you

guys could discuss too. I guess the way that

Thanos had to go about getting the different

gems and kind of somewhere easier than others.

And obviously we had a lot to do in a short time

period. So did they handle that well as far as

the speed in which he's obtaining these? Obviously,

I guess the only weird part for me is it's been

like... Again, 18 films in 10 years, and he wasn't

having a whole lot of luck, it seemed like, and

then in one film he gets them all. I don't know

if that could have been done differently, but

Dan, what do you think of the overall, I guess,

structure of the story and anything that's been

brought up so far? It did move faster than I

was expecting. Like, I thought after the first

scene, you know, with the opening with, you know,

Dan, I was going... through all Asgardians and

whatnot that it would like okay well now we're

gonna go to Earth and now we're gonna get the

teams together and figure out the plan and you

know they're gonna look at all this like nope

here they are they're already they're already

at Earth oh we're out of like it did like go

from beat to beat rather quickly like it especially

you know as it was establishing where everyone

was gonna have their final throwdown with Thanos

forces and you know there were a lot of things

at play like There was, and maybe a little bit,

no time to breathe for the most part, but I thought

it did do a good job of stopping here and there

to have some important character beats, especially

in the beginning when you get some of the interaction

between Scarlet Witch and Vision, some of the

Thanos moments, especially the Thor moments,

as we mentioned. So there were times here and

there, but it was very packed. For two and a

half, two an hour, two hours and 30 minutes,

it did go by rather quickly. I do wonder on a

rewatch if it would feel like a little bit more

aggressive in that pacing. But for me, I guess

I was so anticipating what was going next and

wondering, seeing these people die, seeing these

characters die, it had a level of anticipation,

worry that I haven't had with a Marvel film.

So I wasn't even. I didn't feel lost because

I was just really curious about how this was

going to end. I thought I had an idea of where

it was going. I thought, okay, this will end

with he gets three of the gems and then next

week he'll finish them. Or knowing the trailer

is waiting, okay, well, it can't be done yet

because Hulk hasn't shown up and I saw the trailer

and Hulk was in that. So sometimes showing that

watching the trailer can be a benefit because

it completely subverts your expectations. So

yeah, in long story short, yes, the pacing was

really fast, but I thought, you know, overall

I never felt it was overly too daunting to kind

of keep up with. Amanda, what did you think?

Were you on the edge of your seat the entire

film? Did they ever have a moment where you were

bored or how did the story overall work as far

as Thanos getting the gems and achieving what

he did at all in one film? It is a tad bit unbelievable

that he hasn't been able to do that in how many

years now I mean like the whole time Gamora was

growing up right and then all of a sudden now

He's got all of them and a few days, but then

When it comes to the pacing I felt like it was

moving super fast I don't know if it's because

I was trying to soak so much up and I like a

short little clip that I felt like I was like

wait I I was just getting into that And I was

really interested in that. Now we're moving and

I want to go back and see more of what we're

seeing. Did you feel like any of the emotional

beats that you might have been getting between

character moments and things like that were jilted

because you didn't get enough time to like resonate

on them before you were moving on to something

else? Like Loki's death? I didn't feel shit for

Loki's death. I thought that happened pretty

fast. That's interesting because I guess we can

kind of go into that a little bit as far as the

emotional beats of the film because for me that's

one of the ones that there was Two deaths that

were way more emotional for me than anything

else that we see in the film, and they both happened

in basically the opening sequence, which were

Loki and Heimdall. Those two affected me way

more because I felt like they got to resonate

a little bit, and we got to marinate with it,

I guess, for a second, and there was a little

bit more of a drawn -out scene for that. Dan

and Matt, what do you guys think as far as Loki's

death? Do you feel like it was rushed, or any

of the deaths overall? Do you feel like... you

know, where did the emotion work and where did

it not work for you guys? Oh man, I didn't feel

like it was rushed when we were watching him

get strangled to death for like a minute and

a half. Like that felt like that drug on for

forever. And then what was even more ridiculous

was how like, yeah, he's dead. They wanted to

make it because it was like he strangles him

until he stops moving and then he keeps holding

him by the throat for the rest of like the next

half of the scene. Like like, yeah, he's dead

guys. He's dead. What about any of the other

ones? Like, obviously we see a number of different

deaths both in the opening, you know, partially

way through, and then obviously at the end there's

a big emotional wallop there. Which ones worked

the best for you, Matt, and which ones did you

feel like could have used more time or did they

all handle pretty well? I think the one that

had the biggest emotional impact, surprisingly,

like, because if you'd told me before I went

in, hey, this is the death that's going to hit

you the hardest, I would have been like, no way.

Was freaking the vision just because like we

have this like they build this relationship up

the whole movie and then like they have Fucking

the dudes like lady friend kill him and then

like they know it's just reverses time and goes

I you you have to deal with the emotional weight

of killing your so But then also I'm going to

kill him a second time. So enjoy seeing him die

twice real quick Well, it was also like you let

him sacrifice him and it was pointless because

I'm just gonna do this anyway so that was definitely

a little more of like a gut punch from like from

her if you're looking at it from her character

standpoint any other ones that resonated the

most with you I mean spider -man like like even

though it like it went fast and fucking Black

Panther I had that I had they've got me they

got me real good where um you see it with Okoye

right like going through the things and then

i'm like oh no they're gonna kill Okoye and then

she hits Black Panther and then he dies and it's

like what like i i almost jumped out of my seat

i did not expect that like i i don't know that

there was any one of them that didn't hit me

but they're those are certainly the ones that

hit me the hardest I think for me, I don't know,

like I said, the Loki and the Heimdall one worked

the best for me because I felt like they got

just enough time to actually give us a chance

to think about it beforehand, afterwards, and

that type of stuff. The end deaths did not have

any emotional impact on me whatsoever. And I

don't know, and it's not because I know that

they're not, you know, dead forever, etc. etc.

It had nothing to do with that. It was more so

the corner that they kind of put themselves into

with how fast they had to go from one to another

which there was no other way to do it because

obviously he snapped his finger and we have to

have them all happen right away but it was again

because we were jumping from one to the other

to the other to the other i didn't have a time

to to have that emotional response except for

maybe a little bit like you guys were talking

about with uh with spider -man because they give

him a little bit more of a of a moment than they

did with the rest of them. But that was the reason

why I felt my emotions were a little bit jilted

from that was just because of how fast they were

happening. That in the moment, I didn't have

that chance to have that reaction. Obviously,

afterwards, you can resonate that however you

do and sit in the parking lot or resonate at

home and kind of reflect on it. But that's why

those ones at the beginning had a little bit

more of an effect on me than the ones at the

end. Dan, which ones worked for you and which

ones didn't? I don't know. Actually, it was interesting

because the ones at the beginning didn't as much

because I felt like that was a little bit inevitable.

I felt like that, based upon the ending of Ragnarok,

I'm like, okay, well, Logi's going to die and

knowing that Hemdel, even though I love Idris

Elba, I like that character. I just never really

felt a huge connection to Heming. He's always

felt kind of... never really figured out what

they wanted to do with him. For me, it was all

about the Peter Parker Tom Holland performance

in that moment, especially what it means for

Tony and how they built that up. From his opening

line, talking about how he sees himself as a

dad, how he's been going through all this. from

his vision back in the age of Ultron, knowing

that, you know, seeing all of his friends die

and from seeing death at the beginning of Avengers

and dealing with the fact that like the person

that he's been like a father figure to is like

dying in his arms and like all like what it meant

for him and what it meant in the way that Tom

Holland sold it. I just thought that was by far

even though, you know, obviously We know spiderman

homecoming 2 is coming. I thought in the moment

that didn't matter because it sold it both On

the character standpoint and performance standpoint.

I thought that was effective. I also thought

the gamora moment was worked really well um You

know and it again went went to sell the character

of Thanos to add additional layer to him and

That's one like I could see gamora never never

coming back uh, and uh, you know what what because

Knowing Zoey Saldana is going to be doing the

Avatar movies if they ever come out. So I have

a good feeling that this might actually be her

last hurrah with this. And I think Matt brought

up a good point regarding the vision sequence

too, knowing that you see him die and then it's

like, yeah, well, too bad, and turns things around

and does it again. That was a pretty... uh...

got punched moment to uh... so and i i think

to at the end i was just i was just surprised

that uh... i was interested in seeing in my audience

and just come like okay why see what they're

doing here i know this is going to go there are

people who are like audibly angry and my in my

theater that they're they're leaving it where

they did and it was a good type of anger like

how could you do that like how what what is this

you know the fact that they would and uh... and

then at the end even throwing in the Thanos will

return just just i think to you know rub it in

a little bit more so i just was really you know

the the deaths of the whole i thought were effective

in the fact that they're just gonna leave it

there you know it's it's been a big thing when

people talk about no one ever dies in marvel

films and i'm sure it'll be a complaint when

many of those people come back uh next movie

but I thought it was kind of a bold move to say

yeah we're gonna we're gonna leave it here and

we're gonna we're gonna see Empire Strikes Back

and we're gonna raise you and I remember not

to bring Batman or Superman into this but I remember

how big of a deal some people thought it was

that they killed Superman at the end and it's

like yeah well we killed like everyone so or

half people or half or half the people so I just

thought that was you know Like, wow, they're

leaving it there. I didn't expect them to do

that. I thought you would get to the point where

it's like, oh no, he's got his third gem and

he's gonna get his fourth and fifth one next

time, but they went all the way with it. Yeah,

I thought, oh, go ahead, Matt. I like, I wanna

jump on the back of that at Batman v Superman

comment. Not to dogpile on a terrible movie,

but like, I just do that in for abandon. um like

like at the end like they kill superman but then

at the end they're like but is he dead like at

the end of this one they kill off half the universe

and then it's just they know it's like gardening

like f you like just like you say you say dc's

uh dower huh I do like a couple things that have

been brought up here. Dan said that obviously

at the end they say you know Thanos will return

Thanos will return and not only was that like

an extra like exclamation point on it I thought

that was a genius move too to kind of really

highlight this as Thanos's movie and his kind

of story because I think that that is something

that they did very well with this one. I'm wondering

do you think people would have had different

reaction and obviously the story and what's gonna

happen in the future films dictated what they

had to do but if obviously we're gonna have half

of the people get killed which is obviously something

most of us didn't predict we were talking about

like oh which two or three characters are gonna

die and my prediction didn't even appear in the

movie but uh um no i don't think anybody had

this many people dying in it but do you think

it would have been more effective for some people

had they been able to have the half that died

been the more of those that were being predicted

to die kind of thing like you know if you have

captain america iron man hulk not necessarily

all the originals but or more of the side characters

or something like that like was it problematic

making Spider -Man and Black Panther two of the

ones that you killed off in this knowing that

those were two of the most recent additions to

this I'm not saying that affected me I'm just

saying obviously there's been a lot of people

complaining oh we know they're coming back because

we have this movie that movie could they have

avoided that altogether by doing a different

selection of who disappeared I mean obviously

you know Samuel L. Jackson has been around for

a long time and some of these other guys have

been around for a long time or you would have

had like had Hawkeye been in the film he's more

of a somewhat of a not as essential character

as some of these other guys like I guess according

to some so could they have picked smarter or

were they handcuffed by what was happening in

future movies so that's just how it had to be

Dan what were your thoughts on that? I think

it was again going back I think what's gonna

happen in next film was that the fact that knowing

that some of their contracts are up they've been

in this that They didn't use those characters

because I have a strong feeling in next film

that many of those characters will die in it

be permanent so perhaps but like I would have

I would have hated if like the way that Captain

America dies in this was like because of rank

because of that finger snap and and then I would

still know he's coming back like it's still I

don't think it would have if it was like that

happened and you know character every character

that you was killed were characters like okay

well that's how they're gonna end Tony Stark

being Iron Man that's how they're gonna end Captain

America being Captain America and you know Drax

or something of that nature if they just pick

pick and choose like okay well they're not doing

Black Panther go there's Black Panther 2 or Spider

-Man I thought they the choices they made will

lead to a better film next time. Even if that

means, yeah, people have an idea that, okay,

these people are coming back, I'd rather do it

the way that they did because that would be a

really unsatisfying way for me, in my opinion,

to kill some of the major characters just to

bring them back, to potentially have them have

a send -off next movie anyways. No, I agree.

I think they're the ones that are making the

decisions. They have a reason for it. And they

know what kind of all the cards are down the

road. So it's obviously going to make sense.

And it comes back to this point where some of

these are not. I don't know if you can view this

as a standalone film, obviously. It's something

that's been built up for a long time for a reason,

and it's something that's going to continue on

for a good amount of time still, so you kind

of got to view it in that respect. Let's go around

just one more time, final thoughts, anything

that you haven't been able to get off your chest,

nitpicks, favorite moments, anything that you

haven't been able to talk about, or just your

overall grade, I guess, for Infinity War. Amanda,

what do you think? Dude, I think we talked a

lot about this. I don't... I don't know if there's

anything more I need to say that everybody on

the planet has already said. Drax, his ability

to stand very still is outstanding. I'll say

that. Are you excited for what's coming next?

Yeah, dude, I'm not looking forward to waiting.

I mean, I feel like we were waiting forever for

this and they're like, oh, hey, wait, you're

going to wait some more. Obviously there was

an end credit scene as well, you can comment

on that too if you want. Matt, what are your

thoughts overall on the film and closing, and

what's your excitement level for the next couple

of Marvel films coming up? I'm always at maximum

excitement for the Marvel movies. I'm super curious

about what they're going to do with Captain Marvel.

I'm curious as to what they're going to do with

Ant -Man. Is this going to be set before? Yeah,

they said it's set before. Like, how much before?

Is it going to explain where Ant -Man was during

this? You know, very curious about that. Is Hawkeye

going to be in that one, maybe? But, like, I

don't know. I don't have anything to say about

it that I haven't already said, other than just

saying, like, hey, this is really good. And,

like, if you haven't seen it, what are you doing?

One, not seeing it, and two, listening to this.

Dan, I'll let you close it out then as far as

your final thoughts on Infinity War and the direction

that we're headed here in, Captain Marvel or

some of the other Marvel films that are coming

out and leading up to the second Infinity War

film. Yeah, it makes me wonder kind of, you know,

this was originally titled, you know, Infinity

War Part One, and then... they changed it and

then they're gonna come up with a new title and

they said well the next title would give it away

so it helped me it hadn't me like racking my

brain of thinking what that could they call it

because they've usually you know each movie's

been typically titled after some sort of major

comic even if it didn't follow that comic story

like age of ultron for example so i was just

trying to think of what it could possibly call

like something like avengers disassembled which

was like the end of the Avengers title that led

into New Avengers, which could kind of fit. It

could also be Avengers 4 Ever because Avengers

and then it's Avengers 4 and then forever, which

would be a horrible pun, but hey, there's worse

things. Part of me thinks it might be called

Heroes Reborn, which was a story in the 90s,

but because that way, I think the benefit of

calling it Avengers Hero Reborn is that it's

like, yes, we know that, you know, these people

are coming back. Let's get that out of the way.

But it's the journey of how we get there that's

important and so I just not that like a title

matters but it had me racking me up racking my

brain of what could they possibly call it at

the end of the day watch it just be affinity

more part two and and that'd be it but uh I'm

I'm excited, yeah, especially for Captain Marvel,

you know, the sea, because it's been a character

they've been trying to make a big deal in the

comics for some time, and she's never really

gotten to the level of like a Wonder Woman, but

maybe a movie would put it away. So, yeah, I'm

really excited. I want to see it again, and I

haven't seen it a second time. I haven't had

the opportunity, so. But I do wonder like what

will be kind of those standout like moments that

that will live on like we've seen with the You

know vendors original film. I think a few have

I think are already especially all the memes

that have been starting Yeah, I'm really I'm

excited to see how this all ends knowing that

next you know this time next year will be seeing

the actual conclusion and what that means like

how How exactly do they go from here? Has to

be excited Yeah, I agree and I think maybe one

of the best things that did come out of this

was The Disappearing Beams because there's a

lot of creative people out in the world that

have been making those into some very humorous

things for sure. Obviously did very well at the

box office, did very well at Rotten Tomatoes

as well, currently has I think like an 84 % on

Rotten Tomatoes and is second on the year right

now behind Black Panther but obviously has not

had the same amount of time that Black Panther

had to make money so two films already over 400

million for the year and very soon to films over

500 million. So we'll be interested to see what

is left for the Marvel Cinematic Universe still

this year and then obviously moving into next

year with Captain Marvel and Infinity War or

whatever they name it. I'll talk more about that

at a later point. When we come back next time

for another episode, we'll be going back to our

Kevin Smith retrospective. We are up next is

Jersey Girl for that retrospective, so that'll

be coming up there. I also have some fun other

things planned here that you guys might want

to keep your eyes out for as we continue and

put an exclamation point on the video game. Spotlights

and move on to some new spotlights possibly which

is something that you may be able to take part

in So keep your eyes peeled for that type of

stuff Amanda if someone wants to tweet to you

a question or comment based on anything you said

about infinity war How would they do that? You

can reach me on the Twitter's at hard candy Mandy

eyes. No eyes. Dan. How about you? I am over

a volt Matt I'm at friendly set I'm at Optimus

Solo. The show handle is at Cinema Geekcast,

so you can tweet us all and en masse, I guess,

if you want to. Also, obviously, keep an eye

out for all the other things that are happening

at Geekcast Radio Network, including a lot of

content coming from Dan in the realm of comic

books with his other show and a lot of interesting

things that he's been doing over there, so keep

an eye out for that as well. So that does it

for this week. Tune in next time for another

chance to listen to the Cinema Geeks.