Avengers Infinity War - The Flaws
Avengers Infinity War was released a few months back, directed by the Russo brothers, Joe and Anthony Russo, dominated at the box office and earned a huge name in the hearts of both fans and critics alike. DC fans couldn't do anything but stare in awe because this movie was perfection. This movie gave us a feeling of actually going through pages of a comic book only that the comic book pages now were seen in live action. Infinity War, in my opinion, is the best 'comic book movie' ever made and it's going to be hard for Avengers 4 to live up to the hype but I'm sure the Russos are going to surprise us again.
But no movie has ever been without any flaws and people can always find something to hate and complain about. People are different, opinions differ, no one can like everything but Infinity War, however, as perfect as it may seem, it wasn't without its flaws and I'd like to point out a few of them in this article. A spoiler alert for all those who haven't seen it yet.
STEVE ROGERS - CAPTAIN AMERICA
This is by far my biggest complaint about Infinity War and I really thought they wouldn't screw him up but they kind of did. The trailers showed us Steve going toe to toe with Thanos and in the movie, Steve was the last line of defense. I had huge expectations and I was so sure they were going to carve out another great storyline for Steve but in the end, I was left with nothing but disappointment.
Russo brothers did make the greatest Marvel movie of all time before this, Captain America The Winter Soldier and Steve were great in Civil War too, both character-wise, plot-wise, we just couldn't help but idolize Steve. After all, his story is one of the best in the MCU. They managed to stay true to his character all this while. That scene in Civil War when Steve said 'I can do this all day' gave us all goosebumps because after almost a century now, Steve's spirit to remain righteous, patriotic, protect his friends and his love for Bucky never changed even after transforming into a super soldier and waking up from such a long period of hibernation.
His introduction scene in Infinity War was great, he looked so cool with that beard, we just loved the black suit overall, and it was so satisfying to see him try and stop Thanos towards the end but it just wasn't enough. There was very little character development which the Russos are usually more than capable of doing. They made Tony so cool, his nanotech-powered suit could literally do anything he wanted to do but the fact that he still had so much ego and needed some recognition for whatever he did was so evident when he was conversing with Doctor Strange in the spaceship, even Strange asked him how he could 'fit his head' inside that helmet. It just shows us that Tony Stark is still Tony Stark arrogant, intelligent, egoistic and cool, still the same old genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist. That consistency was noticeable in Infinity War even after 10 years of Stark's introduction in Iron Man. I guess that consistency was missing from Steve Rogers in Infinity War. He literally says only one dialogue that's worth remembering 'We don't trade lives' after that we don't really hear him say anything cool. Winter Soldier was full of great writing and that wasn't the case in Infnity War.
I know that this is a movie with a huge runtime and a lot of heroes to fit in. But I'm not complaining about Falcon, Bucky or even Black Widow who are still important characters. This is Captain America I'm talking about and it's not unfair on my side to have insanely high expectations from a founding member of the Avenger, he is the first Avenger after all. Iron Man and Thor were at their best and Steve should have been but just wasn't, not even mediocre he was just a dude running around with a beard and his good looks don't compensate for the fact that he was barely in this. Avengers 4 is Chris Evan's last Marvel movie and I hope that the Russos don't disappoint us there. Russo's made Captain America cool I'm sure they can redeem him in Avengers 4. The fact that Steve wasn't as cool as Iron Man and Thor in Infinity War will remain a permanent scar in my heart as well as in the hearts of fans all over the world.
BRUCE BANNER - HULK
Marvel cheated us by showing Hulk running in that last Infinity War trailer. That scene was never seen in the movie but it looked so cool. Infinity War started off by showing us Hulk toss Thanos and fans were on their feet after seeing that scene. A couple of seconds later, Thanos beats Hulk and lead us to believe for a moment that Hulk died in that fight scene. Heimdall then uses his power to send Hulk back to earth to Doctor Strange to warn the Avengers of the incoming threat to earth.
It's understandable that Hulk needed some time and was hesitant to come out because Thanos completely humiliated him. Very few people can actually stop Hulk let alone destroy him completely. Banner calls Steve, goes over to Wakanda and gets into Veronica, the hulkbuster suit to fight Thanos's followers. Towards the end, I really expected Hulk to come breaking out of the hulkbuster suit to give us an awesome entry because not very long ago did we witness that beautiful scene where Thor landed in Wakanda with Groot and Rocket. We were seeing the full might of the Avengers until that scene. I guess that much time should have been enough for Hulk to come back after that beating from Thanos.
Hulk was already made a laughing stock in Thor Ragnarok but that period just continued here as he was used for nothing but a few cheap laughs in Infinity War. It's sad to see such a serious Avenger who beat the life out of Loki, Thor, Iron Man and the entire Chitauri army now struggle to just transform into his usual self. I hope they can redeem him in Avengers 4. They also made Bruce Banner look like an idiot in front of Shuri. I know that Shuri is great and all but a guy with 7 PhDs, who helped create an artificially intelligent being, Vision with Tony, an expert in gamma radiation and the ability to transform into an enormous green rage monster is definitely smarter than the princess of Wakanda. That scene just didn't work for me, Marvel better make up for it. I want to see some justice done for his character.
NO ANTMAN AND HAWKEYE
Hawkeye and Antmann were on Steve's side in Civil War and they were both rescued by Steve towards the end. They were apparently on house arrest in Infinity War. The end of the world should have been a good reason for both of them to resurface and assemble. Tony's absence was huge news, I understand if Antman doesn't want to help out because he hates Tony but Clint always considered Tony as his friend, I expected him to contact Steve somehow and offer his assistance after knowing that Tony has gone missing.
Another thing which bothers me is the confusing timeline. Ant-Man and the Wasp showed Scott Lang finish his sentence towards the end of the movie and then get stuck in the Quantum Realm towards the end. In Infinity War, we were told that Scott was on house arrest. But Scott was actually free exploring the Quantum realm in Ant-Man and the Wasp which then showed us what happened after that snap. So what was Scott doing all that time from when he was released till then snap. I'm sure Steve could have used all the help he could get. Was the end of the world not a good enough reason for Scott to contact Steve? This was clearly a huge mistake that Marvel made and if I can figure this much out, I'm sure there are plenty of people with the same question. I'd like o see Kevin Feige explain this.
THE AVENGERS DIDN'T ACTUALLY ASSEMBLE
Story and plot are more important than visuals any day but it would have been nice to see the Avengers assemble together. Tony, Peter, Strange and the guardians were on Titan fighting Thanos and trying to protect the time stone while Captain, Black Panther, Bucky, Banner along with the others were in Wakanda trying to protect the mind stone and Thor was with Rocket and Groot trying to forge the Stormbreaker in Nidavellir from the heart of the dying star. When you actually think about it, they were three strong awesome storylines and combining them for just a cool shot for the purpose of marketing would have been obsolete from the perspective of the plot so they're justified in not having the Avengers assemble.
Thor joined the team in Wakanda but the rest of them were stuck on a one way trip to Titan. I would have at least liked to see Tony Stark and Steve Rogers get together and sort things out after that huge battle of egos in Civil War. After that scene, things were changed permanently in the MCU, the Avengers, as Tony rightly points out 'broke up' after Civil War but it would have still been great to see all of them assemble to fight Thanos before half of them were turned to dust in the end. The Russo brothers have said that things will have consequences and that we shouldn't hope to see all the Avengers return in the next one.
THANOS WASN'T ACTUALLY EVIL
This will be my last complaint against Infinity War. Let me start by saying that Thanos is the greatest villain in the MCU and I don't think they could have done a better job for any other villain. His cause was justified and many of us actually agreed with him in destroying half of all life through mass genocide. That's how a great villain is made, its when they actually start making a lot of sense and start earning the support of the audience. As Tom Hiddleston rightfully says, 'every villain is a hero in his own mind' and that's exactly what Thanos was, or at least thought he was. He quotes that 'the hardest choices require the strongest will' and he made extremely difficult choices, he even murdered his daughter while getting the soul stone.
The MCU has been teasing us Thanos right from The Avengers, we also saw him properly in the Guardians of the Galaxy and at the end credits scene of Age of Ultron. All that is great but did he live up to the hype? Most of us would agree that he did because Thanos won in the end. He got all the Infinity Stones and snapped his finger destroying half of all life, unbiased, rich and poor alike leaving us with few of the original Avengers.
Let's talk about what we expect from a villain in a comic book story. We have a hero and the villain usually attempts to kill the hero eventually. Thanos finished off half the Avengers but the real question here is, did he actually want the Avengers gone? We had many scenes where Thanos fought against the guardians, then Tony, Peter, Strange, Nebula, he then fought some Avengers in Wakanda, he had Thor left for dead in the very beginning. But he only fought them because he wanted to get his hands on all six Infinity stones, not because he wanted them dead. His objective was to eliminate half of all life and nothing else. He had plenty of opportunities where he could have just finished them off if he wanted to but he wasn't actually evil. He used the reality stone to turn Drax and Mantis into clay but didn't kill them. He spared Tony in exchange for the time stone. If he wanted to, he could have murdered every single Avenger with those Infinity stones.
Maybe I'm being too shallow, failing to appreciate Thanos's main goal of eliminating half of all life. But I just can't help but think that Thanos is actually the hero not only in his own mind but in the minds of the entire audience. In the dark knight, I wanted to see joker dead for all the chaos he caused but after Infinity War, I actually started rooting for Thanos and I can see that he is starting to make so much sense. Maybe comic book movies today have evolved so much that the villain turns out to be the hero, just like they did with Thanos.
Thanos showing mercy doesn't make us hate him, and it just shows us that he will stop at nothing to obtain those stones, ready to even murder his daughter but never for a second did he want to unleash fury against the Avengers which would have been nothing but the Avenger's extinction. I guess this part of his character does indeed make him the hero of the story.
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