Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1773

LEGION Finally Made Syd More Than a Manic Pixie Dream Girl

It is hard, as a woman, to be wholly knowable. We are bodies of locked doors, of spiraling caves, of dead ends. Not by accident, but by practice. And sometimes, for the more burdened of us, getting inside means playing a game. If you can’t crack the code, entry is barred. You can enjoy our scraps, but the feast is canceled.

There is the question, when it comes to media, if women characters operate under these conditions are merely flimsy cardboard renditions of the female experience. Male creators project, and have thusly created an entire trope of misbegotten, alien paper dolls: the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. These fictional women are spontaneous, sexually available, mystically enlightened. They aren’t real, but occupy some sanctimonious space of the male imagination. Nevertheless, they persist.

For a while, it looked like Legion‘s Syd Barrett (Rachel Keller) might be one of these fairy tale girls. She is beautiful, distant, quirky, shelled. She loves our troubled protagonist (soon-to-be antagonist?) David Haller (Dan Stevens) for almost no reason at all and with no substantial build up. “He’s my guy,” she says every time someone questions her devotion. The only emotional link between the two is a shared history of mutant trauma: he is a schizophrenic psychic with wild, uncontrollable power, and she can’t touch people without switching bodies with them. It’s a classic couple conundrum in the vein of Pushing Daisies, a story of lovers who can’t share physical contact without enormous personal cost. But the construct hasn’t served Syd well. She comes off passive and detached, and her love feels shallow. In season one, she functioned as a prize for David, some pretty thing he got back after traipsing through the dark tunnels of his psyche.

But there’s always been something fascinating about Syd, a buried story begging to come out. And finally, with the beautifully repetitive and incisive “Chapter 12,” we got a deeper peek at her traumatic and lonely life before David, starting with her literal birth.

This sort of over-the-top visual scheme might nag in other programs, but there is something touching and intimate about how it connects Syd both with David, the audience, and her single mother (Lily Rabe). Syd emerges from some other realm where she lives in iglooed confinement, symbolic of the cold and distant life she is about to endure. There is no laborious explanation for why she was born mutant, or when she first found out; no cloying dialogues between mother and daughter, no insights from anyone around her. Instead, we see her loneliness in a Bon Iver-scored opening montage: a little girl peering at her goldfish through a glass bowl, and then, a bit older, reading Rick Moody’s The Ring of Brightest Angels Around Heaven–a novella about the aching detachment of adolescence–with gloved fingers, admiring her mother across the room.

David is observing her this way, the history of her life, from a young child to the woman he’s come to love. They discuss the nature of these mental loops in a special museum room, where an exhibit of Egon Schiele paintings serve as tantalizing clues into Syd’s interiority. Together they look at Schiele’s Self-Portrait.

David: “You like this painting?” 

Syd: “You don’t?”

David: “Well, it’s –”

Syd: “It’s what?”

David: “Well, it’s trapped in that negative space. No feet, no hands. Mouth covered. No way to communicate or connect. It’s –”

Syd: “Honest.” 

We don’t know exactly why we’re here or what we’re looking at, but that doesn’t matter. For the first time arguably ever, Legion has made impressive use of its chaotic visual storytelling. Here, it functions not as obfuscation, but as a window into Syd’s internal anxieties. It is the opposite of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl story. Here, a woman is offering her darkest secrets, her deepest fears, in the hope that the man she wants to love– that says she loves, without real conviction but because she hopes it could be real–might puzzle her out, and might love her both despite of and because of the dark corners of her soul.

Narratively and visually, the episode is reminiscent of Michel Gondry‘s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And that’s not coincidental: Ellen Kuras, the cinematographer on that 2004 film, directed “Chapter 12.” She infuses it with the same sort of intimate purpose. Just like Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet explored each other’s cavernous pasts and all of the ugly things they hid during their relationship, “Chapter 12” is about exposure by way of characterization. Syd shows David the early traumas of her unwanted powers: the schoolyard bullying, the lonely and distressing way she lost her virginity, her hospitalization for anti-social personality disorder, and how she self-harmed with scissors.

By episode’s end, David and Syd finally crack the code together. They understand what they mean to each other. This is no longer the hollow love story we’ve been forced to endure. It’s two characters who are finally fully exposed, who have challenged the nature of their pairing and are ready to move forward together. As Syd explains, “Love isn’t going to save us. It’s what we have to save.”

Images: FX

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Will AQUAMAN Help the DCEU Get Back on Track?

Warner Bros. screened Aquaman footage this week at CinemaCon and fans were really digging it. My man! On today’s Nerdist News Talks Back we discussed if the movie will help right the DCEU ship, along with Hank Azaria saying he’s willing to step away from Apu on The Simpsons, and Nickelodeon bringing back Double Dare.

Dan Casey was in the host chair today, and he was joined by Nerdist News writer Joan Ford, video editor Adam Murray, and producer Jason Nguyen. They dove intoreactions to the Aquaman and Shazam footage shown in Las Vegas this week. Aquaman is being praised for its look and feel, with Jason Momoa also being credited for his portrayal. How does this have us feeling about the movie?

They also talked about Hank Azaria’s comments on Colbert that he wants to do the right thing when it comes to Apu on The Simpsons; he’s even willing to step away from playing the character. After the show itself totally botched this, was this the right move for Azaria? How much of the problem is on the series and the writers, and how much is on Azaria?

Finally, Nickelodeon announced it’s bringing back Double Dare with 40 new episodes this summer. Were we fans of the original and which version of the show was our favorite?

Nerdist News Talks Back airs live Monday through Thursday at 1PM PT on our YouTube and Alpha channels, then we wrap up the week with our hour-long Nerdist News What the Fridays at 1PM PT, only at Alpha. So always tune in live and dive into the waters of the internet’s best daily pop culture talk show by being a part of the conversation.

We want to hear your thoughts on today’s show though, so talk back to us in the comments below.

Images: Warner Bros., Nickelodeon

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Does AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Live Up To the Hype? (SPOILER-FREE)

We have seen Avengers: Infinity War, and we can’t wait to tell you all about it. But Thanos demands our silence, so this post will be spoiler free. Fan anticipation is at an all-time high, and our reviewer Drew McWeeny likens it to one of the greatest sequels ever made. Infinity War is also certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, but it hasn’t quite hit the critical highs of Black Panther. However, the real question on everyone’s mind is whether Infinity War can possibly live up to the hype and massive fan expectations after ten years of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Today’s Nerdist News is going cosmic to render a verdict.

Join guest host Dapper Dan Casey as he runs down the early reviews from prominent geek outlets across the web. “Emotionally, narratively, visually, Avengers: Infinity War [is] a very impressive piece of entertainment and storytelling,” said io9. Somehow, it left me exhausted and excited at the same time.” CinemaBlend chimed in by praising Thanos as “one of the most terrifying and fascinating villains in modern blockbuster filmmaking.”

However, not every critic felt that Infinity War delivered a singular movie experience. Slash Film and Us Weekly argued that the film was difficult to judge without seeing the conclusion, and that it lacks closure. But the vast majority of the reviews have expressed admiration for what Marvel and the Russo brothers have managed to achieve. You’ll be able to decide for yourself tomorrow!

Are you excited to finally see Infinity War? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: Marvel Studios

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Images from WESTWORLD’s 2nd Episode Promise Reunions Old and New

Westworld‘s deadly season two premiere spanned multiple timelines, and it looks like the show’s second episode of the season, titled “Reunion,” will continue to explore connected stories separated by decades, because it’s going to bring characters together in the past and present.

The most exciting still from this week’s episode features a meeting between Maeve and Dolores, who has Teddy armed and ready nearby, out in the park. This takes place after Ford was killed but before we see Bernard wake up on the beach, in that mysterious two-week span we have a lot to learn about. Beyond Teddy having his gun pointed at Maeve, it looks like Dolores doesn’t trust her either since her hand is on her holster. We’re fairly confident whatever the issue is Maeve will be okay, since they ultimately are on the same side, but whatever issue Dolores has this meeting ccould give us insight into why she was seen on tape hunting down other hosts.

We also have another shot of Teddy from a time when the park was functioning and he didn’t look so rough. Could this flashback help us explain why we last saw him dead in the river?

Speaking of looking better, we also see Dolores in normal people clothes, but thanks to episode one‘s post-credits sneak peak at the rest of the season, this looks like it happens many years ago at an event hosted by young William (played by Jimmi Simpson). That is likely to take place after young William’s events of season one, which is why this looks to be one of the reunions that give the episode its name. How might the memory of this excursion influence what Dolores plans to do to get out of the park? And how does it shape how she thinks about William now?

But that won’t be the end of Williams’s story in this episode, because we also see the older Man in Black version. But just like Teddy this looks to predate the robotic uprising currently taking place, because he has no scratches on his face like he does in the present.

We’re not sure any of these reunions will lead to good things for anyone, except for the one where two robots pull a gun on another one.

Westworld is a really weird amusement park.

What do you make of these images? Tell us in the comments below.

Images: HBO

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BAD SAMARITAN’s Robert Sheehan On How to Properly Valet Your Car

If you’ve ever had to valet your car, you know there’s a sort of etiquette involved that can be hard to figure out. Do you leave it running or do you hand the keys to the valet? Do you…well, actually that’s kind of it, as far as I could think, but it turns out it’s a much more complicated scenario. Robert Sheehan, the star of the upcoming thriller Bad Samaritan, plays a valet in the movie and has a whole list of very specific things you’re supposed to do when leaving your car in the capable hands of someone else.

Valet your car much? Here are a few priceless tips from #BadSamaritan star @RobMSheehan. In theaters May 4th. pic.twitter.com/nzZIdC20sR

— Bad Samaritan (@BadSamFilm) April 24, 2018

Well, that’s…yeah, I maybe wouldn’t do ALL of those things. They would not make for a good day for you, but they do make for an interesting premise of a movie. Sheehan and Carlito Olivero play valets who get treated particularly badly by a rude restaurant patron (played by David Tennant, in nearly full Kilgrave mode) and decide to go rob his house while he’s having dinner. The only problem–aside from the law-breaking–is there’s a lot more at the man’s house than meets the eye, and our titular Bad Samaritan will have to decide whether to help and implicate himself in burglary, or do nothing and, well. It’s quite a pickle.

You can watch the full trailer for the movie right here.

Bad Samaritan comes to us from director Dean Devlin, who most recently directed Geostorm, and will hit theaters on May 4. Who’s afraid of the big, bad David Tennant? Well, us, surely. Also, maybe don’t do anything Robert says in the video. Go park at a meter.

Image: Legion M

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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New Book Explores the Real Murder That Inspired TWIN PEAKS

When David Lynch and Mark Frost’s revolutionary television series Twin Peaks premiered 28 years ago, the world became obsessed with the mystery at the heart of the show–the murder of all-American beauty queen Laura Palmer, whose body is discovered washed up on a local shore. Although seemingly “the girl next door,” we discover as the series unfolds that Laura lived a double life, a double life that ultimately results in her untimely death. What most fans didn’t know at the time is Laura Palmer was based on a real person who lived and died a century ago.

Now, via the The Hollywood Reporter, a new deep dive into the real life, unsolved crime that inspired the classic TV series is getting the Metabook treatment from David Bushman, the author of the Twin Peaks FAQ, and Mark Givens, host of popular Twin Peaks podcast Deer Meadow Radio. The pair are investigating the unsolved murder some 110 years later, and the book is titled Blonde, Beautiful, and Dead. It’s scheduled for release sometime in 2019.

In 1908, 20 year old Hazel Irene Drew from the New York resort town of Sand Lake was found murdered, lying in a local pond. No killer was ever caught, and the murder became part of the local lore. Mark Frost’s grandmother Betty Calhoun would tell her young grandson stories of the girl who wandered into the woods at night and never returned, capturing his imagination, and ultimately leading to the creation of Twin Peaks. In an article in The Washington Post, Frost said “I’d heard stories about [Hazel] all through my growing up, because she’s supposedly haunted this area of the lake. So that’s kind of where Laura came from.”

In a statement, co-author David Bushman said “like the character of Laura Palmer, the young woman at the center of this mystery led a sort of double life and ultimately met a tragic fate. Her story is a provocative tale in its own right.” Like other Metabooks, Blonde, Beautiful, and Dead will feature a musical score. Composer Jacob Yoffee has released the theme for the story which you can listen to below.

Are you intrigued with learning the details to the behind the murder behind from the classic series? Be sure to let us know down below in the comments.

Images: CBS, Metabooks

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Check Out These Stunning Artist-Created Giant Geode Pieces

Geodes, with their vibrant colors, shiny crystals, and elaborate designs, are the glam stars of the mineral world, but it takes the perfect confluence of events and time for nature to create these beautiful rocks. That’s why if you’ve ever tried to buy one for your desk or bookshelf you know they aren’t cheap. But now there’s another way for you to decorate your home with Earth’s most fabulous natural occurrence, thanks to one artist who is making wall art inspired by geodes that is so gorgeous it’s hard to tell them apart from the real thing.

This video from Art Insider features the work of artist Stephanie Walberer, a.k.a. Mrs. Colorberry, who says she was inspired to paint her one-of-a-kind art after seeing all of the “sparkling” minerals at a mineral exhibition. Using resin mixed with colors and glitter, she sketches the shape of her piece, pours the paint by hand, uses a heat gun to get rid of air bubbles and create realistic details, and then adds crystals before drawing in other details. The entire process can take her a month, but the end result is more than worth it.

Um, we obviously love these pieces and her geode tables too, but we’re also intrigued by another idea she mentioned here: Can she….can she make us geode shoes?

Because we could use a little bit more pizzazz in our daily wardrobe, and there’s nothing more glamorous than a geode–both the rocks and the works of art.

What other creation from Mother Nature would you love to see replicated by an artist? It would rock if you told us your best ideas in the comments below.

Featured Image: ART INSIDER

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George R.R. Martin’s WINDS OF WINTER Won’t Be Released in 2018 But a Targaryen Book Will

The words “George R.R. Martin” and “book release” cut through fans of his A Song of Ice and Fire series like Valyrian steel, because they are always double-edged. And his latest announcement is no different, since he has both exciting and absolutely frustrating news. Because later this year we are getting the first book in his Targaryen kings history, but we are not getting The Winds of Winter. You read that right. No Winds of Winter in 2018.

The author revealed on his website the first of two books in his massive “imaginary history” Fire & Blood about House Targaryen’s reign in Westeros will be available on November 20. This first half, which will include more than 75 black and white drawings, will run a whopping 989 pages, and cover the time “from Aegon I (the Conquerer) to the regency of Aegon III (the Dragonbane), along with their wives, wars, siblings, children, friends, rivals, laws, travels, and sundry other matters,” along with “lots of dragons.” The time period after this is when dragons went extinct–until Daenerys.

While some of the material has been partially released before, even most of those sections will be greatly expanded.

Affectionately referred to as his “GRRMarillion,” Fire & Blood is not a novel, though he says it contains enough stories for 20 of them. Are any of them potential Game of Thrones prequels ideas? He was coy, but it certainly sounds like they are. As for the second book he said it’s a few years away because he has other projects to work on. Speaking of…

That’s why we can’t totally celebrate this news (and it really is good news, the Targaryen section was the best part of The World and Fire and Ice companion book). It came with an announcement that will leave many disappointed if not angry, since he opened his post with this:

“No, winter is not coming… not in 2018, at least. You’re going to have to keep waiting for THE WINDS OF WINTER.”

The sixth book in the series isn’t coming out this year…”at least.” Sigh. That’s why these announcements are like getting handed a Valyrian steel sword as a gift, and then having it jammed in your stomach.

When do you think we are getting The Winds of Winter? What Targaryen king are you eager to learn more about?

Images: Bantam Publishing, HBO

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The Best Films to Watch Starring Each AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Actor

Whoever lives or dies, one thing seems likely after Avengers: Infinity War: some of the actors you’ve come to love in their superhero roles will not be continuing. Heck, even if somehow they all live, these actors will age out of the part at some point. Time means almost nothing in comics, but in real life it is an ever-fading fire.

So what will you watch next, once your favorite Avenger is done? We’re here to offer suggestions, some more obvious than others (one reader’s obvious is another’s “WTF is that?”). All to let you appreciate the Marvel stars you like best in new ways.

Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr. is no stranger to playing wise-cracking action heroes, but it’s hard to recommend his action-hero take on Sherlock Holmes when the man’s own Infinity War costar Benedict Cumberbatch has done that character better. Instead, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is the must-see, with Downey directed by Iron Man 3‘s Shane Black as a thief who accidentally aces an acting audition, and is assigned to hang out with an actual private investigator (Val Kilmer) to prepare for the role. Together they witness a murder, and things generally go south, while staying consistently amusing

Captain America

The American way looks a little darker in the world of Snowpiercer, in which Chris Evans stars as a guy from the lousy end of a self-contained ecosystem inside a future train. Fighting his way to the more affluent front of the vehicle, he ultimately realizes that the system is stacked into its rigid class divisions and brutal exploitation of labor in order to survive; if he brings it down, he risks everything and everyone. It’s a bit like The Winter Soldier with much more of a possibility that there’s no way to win. And with the Ancient One as a villain.

Thor

Chris Hemsworth works best when delivering Joss Whedon dialogue, and he did so in a non-Thor capacity for The Cabin in the Woods, a great genre-bending deconstruction of formulaic slasher movies. Finding himself cast as ‘The Jock” in a ritual sacrifice scenario designed to resemble a typical American horror movie, he attempts a daring escape from the entire scenario, and it goes very badly. But under Viking rules, he’d definitely have earned a spot in Valhalla.

The Hulk

If you like Bruce Banner and you enjoyed The Last Jedi, you must see The Brothers Bloom, Rian Johnson’s 2008 caper starring Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody as sibling con-artists. As the more dishonest of the two, Ruffalo shows off both his charming and ruthless sides, while Johnson fills the narrative with thematic reminders that we are watching a story being told…not unlike the more literal way Ang Lee used comic book panels to a similar end in his Hulk film.

Black Widow

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow has no super powers (that we know of). So if you want to see Scarlett Johansson gain some major special abilities and kick more ass, check out Lucy, in which Luc Besson somehow manages to mash-up the craziest parts of Crank and Akira, with Johansson playing a normal American in Tawian who accidentally gets dose with a drug that unlocks all her brain power at once. before all is said and done, she evolves into a super-entity that travels back through time to create the first human life on Earth. But not before she has gotten in a whole bunch of high-energy fights with both cops and crooks.



Hawkeye

Don’t be fooled by all the Oscar love for The Hurt Locker–it’s as exciting and action-packed as any superhero movie, albeit on a more realistic level. In the role that made Jeremy Renner an A-lister and arguably got him the Hawkeye part in the first place, Sgt. William James is an expert but reckless bomb defuser in Iraq, with nerves of steel that only get overwhelmed when he comes home and sees all the options available to him at the grocery store. He’s not as clearly a “good guy” as Clint Barton; in fact, his comrades (one of whom is Anthony Mackie) openly consider letting him die. But he’s every bit as lethal and accurate.

Black Panther

This may be a controversial call, but divorced from all the behind-the-scenes and casting uproars it caused at the time, Gods of Egypt is glorious nonsense and plays like the best possible movie adaptation of nearly every ’80s fantasy cartoon with a toy line: part Thundercats, part Masters of the Universe, part Silverhawks, all taking place on a flat planet Earth that consists entirely of a fictionalized Egypt full of European-accented people and giants. Chadwick Boseman feels like he’s in on the joke, and tears into his role as the multiple-bodied, hyper-intelligent deity Thoth with aplomb; in taking the role because he wanted African heritage represented in the film, he was ahead of Hollywood’s time.

Spider-Man

Tom Holland‘s pre-Marvel resume is not long, but it includes The Impossible, from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom‘s J.A. Bayona, in which he survives a Thailand tsunami alongside onscreen parents Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.

Doctor Strange

Star Trek Into…just kidding, folks. To watch Benedict Cumberbatch work wizardry using only his mind, check him out in The Imitation Game, as early computer pioneer Alan Turing, who helped crack Nazi codes in World War II. After maybe partly saving the world, he was chemically castrated by the government for being gay. While the movie is about as accurate as Hollywood biopics generally are–which is to say, everything’s fair game to tweak in order to increase dramatic tension–its success did lead to a posthumous pardon for the real Turing. The test to see if artificial intelligence is self aware still retains his name.

War Machine 

Not to cop out, but pretty much anything Don Cheadle‘s in should treat you well. Maybe skip Hotel for Dogs, but anything else.

The Guardians of the Galaxy

Lightning round! If you like Vin Diesel voicing Groot, you’ll love him as The Iron Giant; Dave Bautista‘s great in Bushwick as a veteran reluctantly drawn into a new Civil War; Bradley Cooper’s underseen Clive Barker adaptation The Midnight Meat Train is a must-see for horror hounds; Chris Pratt‘s a great comic-villain opposite ex-wife Anna Faris in Take Me Home Tonight; and Zoe Saldana in The Book of Life gives Coco a run for its money (Avatar and Star Trek are just too obvious, y’all).

Nick Fury

Did we choose wrongly, or wisely? Have your say in comments.

Featured image: Marvel Studios

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Reviews Will Make You Anxious for What’s Next

The build to Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War might be the biggest in Hollywood history. It’s the culmination of 18 movies over ten years, spanning countless characters and stories, all woven into one massive tapestry. And it’s almost here.

The film had its world premiere just days ahead of its full release, and while the first glowing reactions on social media were effusive in their praise, those lucky enough in attendance were limited in how much they could really tell us. But now that the review embargo has lifted we know just why they loved it. So with just days to go before we all get to see it, we rounded up some of our favorite spoiler-free reviews to remind us why we’ve waited ten years for it.

Drew McWeeny reviewed the film for Nerdist and says Infinity War is “The Empire Strikes Back of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

First and foremost, this is the Empire Strikes Back of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you treat everything they’ve made so far as one giant franchise, then this is the chapter where everything lands on our heroes with both feet. Everything has built to this, and they somehow make it still feel like a story, not a whole bunch of fan service thrown in front of a camera.

Angie Han at Mashable says the fact the movie is only the first half of the story “makes it feel like the less than the sum of its parts.”

“Given the sheer amount of elements in play here, it’s probably no shock that Infinity War feels, at times, more like a logistical puzzle than an organic narrative. You can occasionally feel the filmmakers straining for reasons to send this character to that planet, where they’ll meet up with that other character to hatch a plan to solve a problem currently unfolding on some other distant location with some other characters.”

At IndieWire Erik Kohn wrote that because of the film’s sheer size and ambition there has never been another movie like this.

“The resulting spectacle channels the best and worst attributes of Marvel’s movies, with a fascinating hodgepodge of circumstances designed to move the story forward with dramatic results while resolving it at the same time. “Avengers: Infinity War” is jumbled but never messy, speeding forward with fits and starts but plenty of calculation. In our cluttered information age, when online fan theories threaten to ruin every plot twist, “Infinity War” shows a marked determination to speed ahead of audience expectations; it’s so fast-paced that no single viewer could possibly anticipate the next move, even as individual sequences reek of familiarity.”

You might enjoy everything the movie accomplishes more if you leave your expectations at the door according to Meg Downey of CBR.

“That said, if your main concern was the movie’s ability to balance a truly massive and all-star cast of beloved characters evenly, you’re (mostly) in luck. The movie does an admirable job of trying to maintain a cohesive story as it’s spread across multiple planets, multiple teams and multiple heroes all meeting each other for the first time. There are clear winners in terms of screen time — and clear focuses as far as narrative is concerned — but, by and large, the balance could have been a lot worse than the finished product. (Thanos would be proud.)

Not only did Eric Eisenberg of CinemaBlend think the movie managed to deliver on its insane hype, he says Thanos did too.

“The real crazy thing, though, is that they actually succeeded. Thanos’ time to shine has finally come in the form of Joe and Anthony Russo’s The Avengers: Infinity War, and it’s every bit the epic that it needs to be. It’s a heart-stopping experience built on huge stakes, fantastic character interactions, pulse-pounding battles, and devastating surprises, but most importantly it marks the arrival of one of the most terrifying and fascinating villains in modern blockbuster filmmaking. The Mad Titan is in every way the overpowering foe for which audiences have been waiting, and his quest for the Infinity Stones to achieve the abilities of a god proves stunning fodder for big screen storytelling.”

Even though the film does a lot of things well, Josh Spiegel at SlashFilm says the movie is hurt from feeling like it is only half of one bigger story we can’t fully evaluate yet.

“The Marvel Cinematic Universe began 10 years ago — this film’s studio logo nods to that anniversary, too — and was built on the notion of an interconnected world full of heroes with shocking new powers. But a number of those films felt like stand-alone pictures, especially the recent run culminating with Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. Infinity War, by design, feels like one half of a completed puzzle, with the other pieces strewn about waiting to be put together. Maybe once it’s whole, the puzzle will be wholly satisfying. For now, Infinity War suggests that Marvel is able to wrangle together a massive, charming cast, but not quite create a story that deserves their presence.”

Owen Gleiberman at Variety says the movie might be bloated, but that it still manages to be entertaining even if it gives up something important about why fans love the characters.

“So is the movie a jumbled, top-heavy mess of cynical franchise overkill? Sort of like the bloated and chaotic “Avengers: Age of Ultron” taken to the second power? Far from it. It’s a sleekly witty action opera that’s at once overstuffed and bedazzling. The directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, as they proved in the two “Captain America” sequels, are far more stylish and exacting filmmakers than Joss Whedon, who made the first two “Avengers” films. “Infinity War” is a brashly entertaining jamboree, structured to show off each hero or heroine and give them just enough to do, and to update their mythologies without making it all feel like homework. At the same time, you may begin to lose hold of what made each of these characters, you know, special.

Like many other who saw the movie Chris Nashawaty at Entertainment Weekly says the movie has issues, but the end sequence will be what sticks with many fans.”

“What saves Infinity War from being just another bloated supergroup tour – and what will end up being the thing that blows fans’ minds to dust – is the film’s final stretch….there is something thrilling about watching just how much fun the Russos and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are having messing with the fans here. Even if, in the end, that little subversive act of freaking them out only lasts until the next sequel.”

Marvel has delivered on the promise it made fans 10 years ago according to Scott Collura at IGN.

“Making good on Nick Fury’s promise from 10 years ago in a manner that was nigh-unimaginable at the time, Avengers: Infinity War doesn’t just assemble Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, it brings together the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther… and Thanos, who now must be ranked among the best villains of the MCU alongside Loki and Killmonger. That it does this while also being fun, thrilling, and emotional is perhaps something that not even Fury himself could have hoped for.”

Mara Reinstein at US Weekly said it might not be the best MCU movie ever, but it is still a massive success.

“It’s not the best MCU movie ever, not by a long shot. And thanks to Black Panther, it’s not even the best MCU movie of the first half of 2018. (For starters, Part 1 of a two-parter inevitably lacks closure). Still, what co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo have accomplished on the screen is astounding. All the fireworks of summer movie season have been crammed into April.”

Sounds like after waiting ten years for Infinity War we might have to wait another year for the second half of the story to know just how good it really is.

But what is your reaction to these reviews? Did you read any great ones we should have included? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Images: Marvel

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