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so that was Endgame
I have abouuut ten A5-size pages of notes--I take notes while I'm seeing movies in theaters, it helps me pay attention and I can just about barely see what I'm doing at the Drafthouse--and I will probably scan some of them when I can actually process things again and write up a longer post.
Right now I'm wandering around a little bit stunned--I need to eat and probably sleep before I have total processing power; I was actually low on both things going into the movie and I did not eat all that much while I was in there despite being in a theater that serves quite good food and actually ordering some. And then I woke up after six hours of sleep the night after, and I still haven't eaten yet.
First impression: my god, was that a movie about trauma and going on despite it. I was not expecting them to actually make the Snap count, but that they pulled off pretty effectively.
Nebula broke my heart and still breaks it, and now I'm completely heartbroken for poor baby!Gamora wandering around in the universe, too. And Peter. I don't know how Peter is going to cope, and I suspect him of snapping and trying to gnaw off Thor's head at some point.
And Cap's ending rings really hollow to me--largely, I think, because I don't know how Steve is going to pull off Not Doing Things in this brave new world where he's, what, hidden living with Peggy? In the center of SHIELD, knowing Hydra is there, and not being able to tell her about the rot in her organization? Completely cut off from changing things? I love the symbolism of him dancing with Peggy, I love him getting to Go Home--although I don't understand how he can do that without Bucky following him, I really don't--but I don't know what a life for himself without public good works looks like.
There are things I really like about this movie. There are things that ring hollow. And there are a lot of things that have me just sort of... sitting in shock, and terrified and worried about how certain people are going to go on. I think that they did a decent job of wrapping up most of the Phase 1 characters on Earth; I think there's no wrap-up at all for Team Space, and for those of us who are most invested in Team Space... yeah.
I don't know. I'm not processing on all cylinders right now, and I'm not really delving into my Nebula and Gamora feelings, because those are the ones closest to the center of my heart. I might need some distance. Hard to say.
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First impression: my god, was that a movie about trauma and going on despite it
Yeah, and also a film about family, especially fathers -- altho Thor and Frigga was a nice contrast -- Clint and his daughter, Scott and his daughter, Tony and his daughter, Tony and his father, Thanos and his daughters. HMMM I sense a pattern. Feige kept comparing it to the TNG finale in interviews, and the Russos said that for every other film, they'd kind of been looking forward and building -- and this film looked back and tried to sum everything up. That struck me as really true, and not just with the callbacks. It's definitely a story about Tony Stark, and kind of summarizes how the MCU wound up being about Tony Stark (from being started by Tony Stark's movie). (My secret theory is that Tony Stark is driving how people react to this movie. If they were kind of brought in by Tony, they are largely satisfied, except for the Tony stans who are really pissed he died, despite it being telegraphed all the way back in Avengers. If people are instead invested in other characters, they are more than a little freaked out for various reasons. But it's just a theory.) A film about legacies, and saying thank-you, and in doing so a film that also reveals whose legacies are seen as important and who is publicly and fulsomely thanked.
Nebula broke my heart and still breaks it,
Karen Gillan and Chris Hemsworth can fight it out for Best Performance Delivered Under a Ton of Makeup but I think she'd win. That moment when she says "He won't let me," OW OW OW OW. I wanted Nebula and Gamora to kill Thanos TOGETHER! Not kill Nebula's shadow-self. Is that going to fuck Nebula up?? and WHY WAS GAMORA NOT WITH THEM AT THE END. They could even do a fucking thematic echo with Nebula extending her hand! Do I have to wait until GOTG3 to see all this slightly resolved??
And Peter. I don't know how Peter is going to cope, and I suspect him of snapping and trying to gnaw off Thor's head at some point.
Whyyy did Thor not stay with the Asgardians. Why. Having Val as Your Majesty is kind of all very nice, but it's another forced HEA for me. I never got the feeling she needed or wanted to be a leader, it wasn't something she struggled with like Thor did, and her entire arc was about something different. (It was....interesting, how the women like Nat and Val were trying to hold the relationships and societies together, and the focus was not on them at all.) The whole "for the first time in a thousand years I don't know where I'm going and it's awwwwwesome" thing just does not fit for Thor, IMHO.
It's like Steve settling down with Peggy. It's sweet but seems so OOC for him -- WTF is he going to do about after five minutes? The Steve Rogers who took on the world when he was a tiny angry chihuahua? The guy who's all "I see something going south I have to do something about it"? You CANNOT convince me Steve would not be there helping people pick up the pieces, ESPECIALLY WHEN HE KNOWS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE, coming back after a long absence to a totally changed world. And Thor is obviously in great anger and self-hatred and grief about how he's felt he has utterly failed (mostly it's played for laughs but CHems is devastating) -- as a king, as a brother, as a son, as a leader, as an Avenger, as a warrior. Everything. So a pep talk from his dead mum (which was beautifully done, but "EAT A SALAD"??? FUCK YOU, SCREENWRITERS) and he fights in the big battle to get everyone back and that's....it? Except Steve at least is framed with the HEA of finally getting the girl and settling down and having a long heterosexual monogamous marriage. Thor just kinda gives up and then at the end he's....happy with it. IDEK.
Dr Hulk is maybe the most intriguing example of trying to integrate who you want to be with who you really are, and what that looks like as a success in life (as opposed to sacrificing yourself to prove that you're more than the "monster" they made you to be, or sacrificing yourself because you've been so damaged by your PTSD and Thanos being in your head for so long). But that's really blipped over and mostly played for laughs. Clint is the one who like Thor flips over into his opposite self (stable family man who brings in strays to roaming mercenary dispensing rough justice) but he uhhh just kind of flips right back once his family is restored.
I'm a little astonished at how much of a critical puffing this is getting in the press, given how dismissive they were about earlier, much better movies in the sequence. Maybe mainstream critics are partly just relieved they won't have to sit through any more Avengers movies.
It was a very "I'll break my staff, Bury it certain fathoms in the earth, And deeper than did ever plummet sound I'll drown my book" kind of story.
WELL I GUESS I HAD A LOT OF FEELINGS THERE sorry to unload /o\
I did actually like a lot of it! Just....a lot of character choices they made soared right past my DNW and into WTF.
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I have tried to watch Guardians of the Galaxy twice but never managed to see more than 30 minutes before being too bored and switching it off. But after seeing Nebula in this film, I am actually interested in seeing more of her. Her story line was actually one of my favourites in the film. I am curious to see what they will do with her next and might try to watch GotG a third time, hehe.
You make a good point about the downsides of Steve choosing to live with Peggy. I was happy about the ending initially although somewhat surprised by his choice. Your point clarifies why I was surprised. I do not think he would be able to take it. It remains to be seen if he actually did or what. (I would be very surprised if this was it and they never showed young/present!Steve again in a MCU film...)
I am very interested in your notes and/or a longer post on your thoughts on the film!
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-Peter Quill is about 200% less obnoxious, I swear, especially re: flirting with Gamora
-Gamora actually appears to reciprocate interest in flirting, which is very unclear in GOTG1; GOTG2 is entirely why people gave a shit about Quill and Gamora in Infinity War.
-GOTG1 has far less focus on Nebula and Gamora, who are my personal bulletproof faves
-GOTG2's plot does a lot of toxic masculinity deconstruction, which also does a lot to mitigate Rocket's particular brand of asshole.
-tiny bb Groot bouncing around being a small and very angry tree toddler being coparented by a band of four assholes living in a camping trailer: infinitely better than Lorge Groot looming over everyone
-I would say GOTG2's B-plot is explicitly Nebula and Gamora negotiating their sisterhood. (The A-plot is Peter Quill and his daddy issues plus negotiating generational patterns of abuse, neglect, and the kind of toxic masculinity that leaves you isolated and unable to form meaningful connections without risking status, life, and limb. There are also themes of chosen vs. birth family woven throughout.)
To be clear, I was pretty "oh okay, cool" and not suuuper invested in the Guardians after GOTG1; GOTG2 lured me out of fandom lurking and gave me massive emotional feelings about Nebula and Gamora and their own arcs of dealing with the essential trauma of Thanos, and how Thanos stood like a shadow over their relationships with one another.
GOTG2 takes place a whole three months after GOTG1, and I think you can get a pretty good sense for who the characters are if you start there. And you get 200% more Nebula in GOTG2, plus a lot of focus on Gamora and who she is and why I'm sitting here rioting about her having had three incredibly important years of her life erased and then released into the galaxy to rediscover herself.
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