Get the Popcorn! It's the Movies Topic!

[DeviantProtagonist]

Just saw Civil War. Really shat over BvS. This is how you fucking write a film, people.

My favourite scene by far -- and perhaps of any MCU film -- was Stark's revelation it was Bucky who murdered his parents; that initial apprehension, coming down to outright agony made for a harrowing sight.

Right then and there you knew everything shattered, and there couldn't possibly be a more viable way to establish the climax. Genuinely hard to see, yet it made me appreciative of Downey so much more.

On a lighter note, the Vision and Scarlet Witch interactions were adorable, yet palatable. Nice to see that kind of growth overall. To also risk sounding like a creeper, the latter has some rather nice legs.

... Moreover to sex appeal, holy hell at Aunt May. Holy hell.

[DeviantProtagonist]

Saw Infinity War, and since it's been forever, man do I need a place to gush:

For what doubts I had with Thanos' handling, the first five minutes pretty much dashed them; between getting Hulk's ass thoroughly handed to him -- even an extent of frightening him to reemerge from Banner -- and ending Loki's life, you knew right then the score this villain sat down. The tone couldn't be established better.

Could one really say villain, though? Thanos seemed morally gray than anything else, which lends to another beauty in how even he wasn't immune to sacrifice. Huge props to the Russo brothers for Gamora's death, as it was indisputably my favourite scene; they brought out Thanos as much more a sympathetic character.

Very worthwhile pay-off to a decade-long franchise. Likely seeing this again.

[Naryoril]

As for the scene you like so much:

I have the opposite impression. It came pretty much out of left field, there wasn't nearly enough build up to that point. And the little build up that there was didn't feel believable to me, i always thought Thanos was just acting nice to Gamora right from the beginning to keep her as a plaything. I actually thought he will not get the stone, because his feeling are not sincere. It didn't feel to me like he really made a sacrifice, despite the "random" tears.

As for the morally gray in his beliefs: I don't really buy that either. It might be the case for worlds that are struggling with their resources, but i bet there are tons of world where it isn't an issue at all. And for some worlds half the population is probably still too much, while on others only a little bit less would have done the trick as well. Add that to the fact that he never even tried to find another solution, what he is doing is just indiscriminate slaughter, maybe not pitch black, but far away from gray.

[DeviantProtagonist]

I've felt the build-up was appropriate; Thanos sought the soul stone for some time, what with torturing Nebula to unravel Gamora's long-kept secret location. Once getting there, we're given a lot of exposition by none other than Red Skull, who also states that the soul gem mandates a cost of someone dear -- this case being Thanos' adoptive daughter. At the beginning, Gamora had once been loyal to him and efficient -- moreso than other daughters Thanos took under -- so his following regret of ending her life does feel justified, even with the lack of reciprocation.

In regards to indiscriminate slaughter, that's the thing: it's indiscriminate. What felt notable is how Thanos often struck down those who defied his plan, not necessarily out of malice. One could also attribute his lack of solutions to Thanos' homeworld, trying to stave off ruin... only to fail; this would sully his perception. Another point is when Thanos gave Tony a gesture of respect, since the latter held so well against him on Titan -- he even outright says he'll ensure Earth's survival, once his task is done. It's sort of a twisted form of chivalry, which comes unheard of.

As an aside, many thanks for fixing spoiler tags Yunabecco. :3

[Naryoril]

What i meant as missing build up is that to me it didn't feel like Thanos felt much for Gamora, it felt like he always just viewed her as a tool, and sacrificing a tool isn't what should get you the soul stone. Maybe i'm wrong there, maybe sacrificing an effective tool is enough, but then Gamora's speech that Thanos will never get the soul stone wouldn't fit.

As for the slaughter: First of all, it's still a slaughter. And with the "indiscriminate" part i meant that by killing half of the population of every planet he is also killing countless people where there is absolutely no "need" to do so, even in his twisted logic.

As for "ensuring Earth's survival": He isn't doing that for Tony or anything, it's what he thinks he does by killing ever second living being, so he'd do it whether Tony had opposed him or not.

I get what the scriptwriters wanted to do, they wanted to put him into a morally gray area, but to me it doesn't work out, they did a bad job at their attempt. The writers of the Witcher games (Witcher 1 in particular) did a much better job at this. One scene that stuck to me: In general non human races are oppressed and are subject to heavy racism, as a result there are rebel/terrorist groups of elves and dwarfes. One of these groups raids a bank and takes hostages. You are sent in by the human army to negotiate with them, to ensure them they will not be harmed if they release the hostages and pull back. You can kill them or negotiate with them. If you do negotiate, after they released the hostages, the human army charges in and wants to kill them, ignoring their promise. What do you do now? Do you help the terrorists and bank robbers to escape as they were promised or do you kill them? They are terrorist that have killed innocent people before after all. Imo THAT's a well done morally gray situation where you feel for both sides.