Endgame was a mistake

I’ve now seen endgame twice. I’ve had over a week to think about it and see what people are saying and my conclusion is: Screw Marvel. 

It’s not our fault Marvel wrote by committee. It’s not our fault that too many people had their hand in the decision making and screwed it all up. It’s not our fault they all bought into the theory that there was nothing more important than surprising the audience.

And that’s actually the biggest mistake and where it all went wrong. The quest for surprise twists and shocking moments was so enticing that everything else suffered. Actors didn’t get to see scripts, false scenes were shot, characters made crazy decisions so no one would expect it. The whole thing went off the rails and much like the Titanic, the behemoth was too big and unwieldy to stop before disaster struck.

And Endgame is a disaster. 

Jeff Winger doesn’t die in Community. Michael Bluth doesn’t die on Arrested Development. It wouldn’t make sense. The genre is a comedy and there are tropes and conventions one must stick to. 

What are the conventions of a superhero movie? There is a hero. He is beset by obstacles. He overcomes obstacles and saves the day. There’s a nice summary in Lie to Me, an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Giles reassures Buffy that, “The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguishable by their pointy horns or black hats, and we always defeat them and save the day! No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.” 

And I’m going to completely leave alone the fact that it’s Joss Whedon. That’s a whole other rant someone else can deal with. 

So, who lived Happily Ever After in our superhero movie? After the battle was fought who got their reward? As far as I can tell, no one. They couldn’t get a reward because the desire to shock and have an unexpected outcome overrode story considerations. 

Thor wanted to be a worthy king. He was sent to Earth to learn and grow, to become worthy of kingship. How did it end? He decided he couldn’t hack it and gave up the throne even though his world and most of his people are now dead. The issue of Thor’s PTSD being mocked for laughs is a separate issue but actually buttresses my argument that no character arc mattered because the surprise was everything. 

Hawkeye lost his family and became a mass murderer. His reward is getting his family back but he is now burdened with his past. Living with what he did is not a reward. Hawkeye as a murderer is, I guess, surprising, even if it is tired and uninteresting.

Natasha wanted to atone for the bad she had done and become worthy of love and family. Her relationship with Hawkeye and Steve, in particular, show her making the right decisions and living as a better person. Her reward? Dead. And again, we have a separate issue of fridging. The side by side comparison of her death and Gamora’s is truly nasty. Additionally, the lack of mourning, of recognition for her sacrifice is disgraceful. And surprising! 

The number of pages I could write about Steve and what happened to his character would rival the Mueller Report. Steve was a man out of time who adapted and found family, who could get up when the odds were against him. Returning to the past negates his arc. But it was a surprise.

Peggy lived a life and had children. He wouldn’t insert himself into that. It’s the sort of thing Loki would do, not Captain America. The fact that Peggy would shoot anyone who tried to reduce her down to a trophy is apparently irrelevant. The fact that she found love with a disabled WW2 vet proving that the handicapped are worthy of love is apparently irrelevant too. Those character arcs were thrown out so we could be surprised that Steve went back to the past. 

As a woman with children, I can tell you there is no way I’d swap them out for some guy no matter how good his biceps (or ass) were. He and Sam searched for Bucky for two years and he just left him. Scott, Wanda, Hawkeye and Nat broke their word, violated laws and betrayed their friends for him and he left them to try to rebuild a ruined world alone. He told Bucky he was with him to the End of the Line in two different movies! The sentence literally means he will stick around. 

Cap didn’t stick around. Surprise!

Hulk is an odd one. His conflict has been making peace with the monster inside him. The surprise twist was that he did that. Off screen. And maybe that was a happy ending? But, he seemed like a bit of a jerk. He wasn’t kind like Bruce (Scott will grow who cares if he’s a baby.) and he found the Hulk’s actions to be gratuitous and shameful. He was essentially a new character.  The old one was eliminated for the surprise.  

And then there is Tony. Tony didn’t start out a hero. He made the ultimate sacrifice for the world. His reward is death, leaving a widow and a child fatherless. Surprise! Bizarrely enough, his character was also thrown away for this movie. He actually wasn’t much of a hero. He was willing to get people back so long as he kept his daughter. Half the universe for one kid. The chaos and misery he allowed to occur in order to keep Morgan not heroic. When one decides the world can burn for one person (you know, trading lives) than the character isn’t a hero. Does that count as a surprise?

And these poor actors who get told by children and adults that they look up to their characters and that they’ve gotten through struggles because of how they identified with the characters, what about them? They go to Children’s Hospitals to give hope. Endgame was an utterly hopeless movie where even the people who won lost. Surprise, the actors lost too!

Everyone deserved better and the sooner we all accept the movie for the miscalculation it was, the happier we will all be. 

What I think is funny/don’t get is that all the anti-Endgame complaints are the same as what they did in Rangarok, but everybody thinks that shit was okay then. Actually, people went fuckin’ nuts for it, shouting how great it was.

Character development and canon (from the MCU or comics) was willfully and deliberately abandoned, with near zero interest in the source material, with TW saying himself, “I ignored the source material and even the first two films." He basically gave zero fucks and ended/cut off any character developing moment with a joke. Example: Asgard literally is destroyed and instead of a poignant moment- moment interrupted by a joke. And everyone thought this movie was genius then. They’re still praising it.

But in Endgame, they got it all wrong. Really? Everybody sees a train wreck, but not where it dereailed?

Don’t waste your energy @ing me. Won’t change my opinion like mine probably won’t change yours. It’s okay to be disappointed. I’m just saying, why didn’t anyone care when they purposefully made everything so OOC then?

if you didn’t already think thor ragnarok was one of the best films in the marvel cinematic universe please consider: this picture

This has the same aura as the birth of venus

I’ll never be over all of this. Just for you @whostheblondegirl tee hee

C’mon. Like all I do is send you porn...

am i the only one who found loki’s characterisation in thor: ragnarok a bit off? like i get that taika wanted to make loki into this more lovable, less antagonistic, laidback trickster and rewrite him, but whether or not you liked that initial portrayal of loki, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s canon regardless, and so, even if loki’s initial characterisation wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, completely changing his personality and motivations is always gonna read as ooc because we’ve had three other movies which characterised loki completely differently. 

Loki was easy to take. But everything you said about Loki is what I and the hubby thought about what he did to Thor.

Hamm at the Movies- Thor: Ragnarok

Hello everbody! Hamm at the movies here! Sorry for the delay in typing this up; other commitments got the best of me and I wanted to put exactly how I felt into words as best as I could, so this took some time to write. Look for a review of JUSTICE LEAGUE in the near future as well. And I’ll do my best to get that one to you faster!

“Thor: Ragnarok”- I want to start off this review by giving a little day dream and it involves what I would do if I had a time machine. And trust me, I’ll get to the Thor review, but I need to elaborate a bit. Now, I would do a few things and they are, in no particular order: A. buy stock in Apple, B. witness any sort of dinosaur era, any of them, really, C. catch a live Beatles show, D. tell the young me not to eat at that Ponderosa Steakhouse (long story) as it will be a disaster, etc. and there are many more. I would say that somewhere down my list, around letter Q, I would visit Christopher Nolan in the early/mid 2000’s and let him know that while I admire his idea of creating a serious, brooding Batman film saga, that the character is in fact, a comic book character, and it is okay to be outlandish, have villians that are not the usual caliber/cartoony (Clayface, Solomon Grundy, etc), and to most of all, respect the material and to make really good Batman movies, not just mob movies with the occasional Batman cameo/growl. Now, I know many folks are thinking that I’m crazy, that Nolan’s Batman’s movies are classics, etc. Don’t get me wrong: they are good. But, admist their problems, they created one fatal issue and that is what I’m going to call: the Nolan Effect. Since Nolan’s Batman films came out, many superheroes tried to mimic the dark and brooding feel that Nolan’s films had. The problem is: not every superhero fits what is trendy and successful. This brings me to “Thor: Ragnarok” and the tonal issues that plague it. I don’t blame Nolan on this one, but I have to look at the “Guardians of the Galaxy.” That film was a monster, getting strong reviews, huge box office profits, and by some chance in hell, making Groot and Rocket common household names. And why not: GOTG is a great film; it’s colorful, fun, exciting, funny, and full of off the wall craziness that suits the characters insanely well. It is true to the characters and story. James Gunn NAILED it with that flick, and to an extent, with GOTG: vol 2 (a bit too funny/Drax infested at times). Enter the previously described Nolan Effect: this formula works for this (these) character (s), so it must be applied across superhero films. So, following suit from its fellow Cosmic Marvel film series, the new Thor film takes cues from GOTG and adds in more color, silliness/quirkiness, and humor. The problem is though: it really disrupts the flow of events and takes away from the emotional impact of what we saw on the big screen, leaving viewers with a hodpodge experience.

The film opens with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in quite the jam. He’s deep underground, in what can only be described as a Hell-ish chamber, dealing with the giant demonoid creature of Surtur, who is just counting down the minutes until he can be unleashed upon and destroy Asgard. Thanks to some quick thinking, Thor is able to escape Surtur’s clutches and return home. Upon his arrival, he finds Odin (Anthony Hopkins), lazily enjoying a play honoring Loki’s honorable sacrifice from “Thor: the Dark World.” And remember too (spoiler from T:TDW): Odin is really Loki and the real Odin is MIA. After a few more steps, Loki is fully back in the picture and the two brothers set off to find Odin and deal with a series of events that is triggering Ragnarok, which is essentially the Norse apocalypse, or for the film’s sake, the end of Asgard and it’s way of life. The two soon find themselves dealing with Heal (Cate Blanchett), a God in her own right who has an insatiable desire to kill, murder, maim, destroy, etc. You know, the usual stuff. During a fight with her, Loki and Thor are shot off into space and find themselves on Sakaar, home of the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), who runs a gladiator style tournament of champions. Here, Thor is taken captive and forced to fight his old pal, the Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). Not only does Thor have this to contend with, but meanwhile, Hela is terrorizing Asgard and it’s up to Thor’s ragtag group, also consisting of Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), to help stop her.

Per the usual Marvel fare, the movie is a lot of fun to be found here. There is an abundance of humor (get to more of that later), which for the most part lands. One point of humor comes from Korg, (voiced by writer/director Taika Waititi). He has this delightful New Zealand accent and has an ability to toss out pretty good one liners and observations. He is joined by Miek, a fellow bug warrior. And for fellow comic book readers, these two names (and the new planet) will make you salivate as it leads us another step closer to the never going to happen “Planet Hulk” storyline. That storyline had the Hulk being betrayed by Earth’s heroes and shot into space where he lands on a planet is forced to do battle in a gladiator style arena, which leads to the Hulk joining a revolution to overthrow an evil tyrant. So, as you can, see, several elements of that story line have been adapted into this film, using Thor as the main driving point. This helps bring in some great fight and action scenes involving Thor and Hulk in the arena. We also get some really cool action sequences that feature Loki, Thor, and Valkyrie as they fight their way to Hela and attempt to stop her plan of destroying Asgard. The cast is also pretty terrific here as well. Hemsworth’s comedy chops are let off the chain here, giving him many times to use his comedic timing and humor. Hiddleston could play Loki in his sleep and he has great chemistry with Hemsworth during their shared screen time. Blanchett is a great and formidable villain in Hela as she loves death, mayhem, and chaos and will do anything to achieve her goal. Ruffalo is solid here and his Hulk and Thor share some great scenes where they bicker and fight like siblings. And why not? The Hulk is immensely popular on Sakaar, almost revered. He’s cocky, got some swagger in his step, and is able to finally able to be away from pesky humans and Puny Banner. So, naturally, he isn’t too sure of Thor’s plan to get off the planet, but with Banners insistence, the two join forces. Tessa Thompson nearly steals the show as Valkyrie as she’s badass, feisty, and has an inner turmoil when it comes to helping Thor and Hulk. Jeff Goldblum is a huge highlight here as, well, he’s Jeff Goldblum, and his Grandmaster is a narcissistic and opportunistic ruler who only has his own self-interest at heart. Hopkins is here for a bit and while it’s short, his interactions with Loki and Thor makes for some heart of the story. These moments with Odin and his two sons are actually unexpected and bittersweet and allow the film to have some emotional resonance too.

And that leads me to some gripes I had about the movie, namely: the humor and forced jokes. It’s common knowledge at this point that you are going to get some laughs during Marvel films. You’ll get jokes, quips, one liners, zingers, etc, and I think, at the moment, we as an audience expect it and know full well going in that it’s going to be here. The problem here is that in “Thor: Ragnarok,” it’s really, really distracting and causes an odd shift in tone for the film. At the heart of things, Thor isn’t an incredibly funny character. At least, he’s not supposed to be. And I understand that the comic and film versions will differ and he has developed a sense of humor over the course of the films, I get that, but here the film suffers for its over-stuffed jokes. A few of the more dramatic moments are undermined by a zinger and it’s really frustrating. We have invested nearly a decade and 16 (!!!!!) films into these characters, so when we are delivered a dramatic moment or payoff, it should hit home, but T:R works to keep things too light and airy. You barely have a moment to process what you’ve just seen as you’re hit with a joke, pause for a chuckle and then whisked away to the next point in the film. Don’t get me wrong, some of the jokes work, but you’ve thrown so many during the film that it almost feels like a standup routine. And you have to realize: serious stuff happens in this movie. Characters don’t make it out, things of a sad/destructive nature happen (trying to be spoiler free!), and we, as an audience, should feel those intended emotions of loss, sadness, and pain; only, we don’t. It’s overshadowed by jokes and it sours things. Also, there are times when none of the death/loss is really mentioned again in the film; when a character falls, it’s not really referenced, there’s no sort of fallout, and it is frustrating when none of the surviving characters even mention a character that has fallen in battle. Of course, I don’t want things to be a completely sour affair and to be totally dark, but Marvel has shown that you can balance humor and drama. Even the first “Iron Man” had humor, but also had dramatic moments where Tony is coming to grips with his new found mission. I get that this film serves as a soft reboot of the Thor flicks and that, according to reports, things needed to be different after the last Thor movie was given a mediocre reception by fans and critics, but this tone and direction has me concerned.

In all, “Thor: Ragnarok” has good moments. It’s fun Marvel goodness: solid action, characters we know with a nice mix of new arrivals, inside jokes to the previous flicks, and it moves things along to the impending Infinity War. However, Marvel needs to step back and calm down with the humor and concentrate on making stories that connect. These are characters we know pretty well and the emotion of the events in the films should resonate with us and them. But it doesn’t and the film becomes forgettable. As I was typing this review, I found myself nearly forgetting the movie, and I had seen it fairly recently. A movie whose origin is based on the fall/apocalypse of Asgard should have some staying power. But instead, I’m drawing a blank on things. And personally, this sucks for me as I was REALLY stoked when I saw the teasers for the film. And, being a lifelong Hulk fan, I was excited to see elements of Planet Hulk being tossed in the movie too. But I left feeling underwhelmed, slightly bored, and wondering if I’ll have to hear more one liners and zingers when Thanos unleashes madness in Infinity Wars next year. And frankly, that makes me really nervous. Rating- **½ out of ****