Pros:
- Loki’s death. It was so moving, I actually felt a wave of sadness come over me. It felt like the end of an era, as his presence was always felt in a lot of the Marvel movies, starting with the first Thor. He was a common thread, as either the main villain or via his scepter. There was always a bit of Loki in everything. His death had a sense of finality to it, and he will be missed.
- Gamora’s death was a little less moving, but it still kind of hurt.
- Vision’s death after Thanos ripped the Mind Stone out of his forehead was priceless. I especially loved how he just tossed him to the side, like he was a piece of garbage.
- Red Skull was a “holy shit” moment, for sure. I read afterwards that it was a different actor that played him, as Hugo Weaving wasn’t interested in reprising the role. Made no difference to me, (I didn’t even notice), as the new guy filled in quite nicely.
- The mystery of the Soul Stone was done really well, even though it throws a monkey wrench into the fan theory of it being associated with the letter “H”. I guess the internet is not too happy about that.
- Hulk vs Thanos fight at the beginning was intense. Showed Thanos as the badass he truly is. I know he had the Power Stone at the time, so that helped him a lot, but even without it I’d wager he’d be even money against the Hulkster.
- Black Order lived up to expectations, especially Ebony Maw. I wish they hadn’t killed him off so easily.
- T’Challa’s death via disintegration was great. It opens the door to Shuri becoming the next Black Panther, at least for Avengers 4. I suspect T’Challa will be back in time for the next BP movie.
- After credits scene with Nick Fury uttering “motherfu-“ was pure gold!
- Finally, the characterization of Thanos himself was what really made this movie truly enjoyable for me. I was always worried that they’d make him a simple overpowered brute, who just wanted to kill for the sake of killing. I’m really glad they portrayed him to be a multifaceted and multidimensional villain, who had a plausible motivation for doing what he was doing, even though he was probably truly mad, hence the Mad Titan. It all fit together nicely.
Cons:
- No reconciliation between Captain America and Iron Man. They don’t even share a single scene. I was so sure that Cap would die, and probably in Tony’s arms, but I guess they'll save that for the next movie. I suspect he and Stark will finally reconcile, and he’ll finally yell the words “Avengers Assemble!”
- Minor complaint, and this is a fanboy thing, but the lack of energy blasts from Thanos kind of irked me. Too much punching, not enough blasting. In the comics, Thanos has the ability to synthesize enormous amounts of cosmic energy and shoots energy beams from his hands and eyes, similar to the Silver Surfer. Whatever energy attacks he used in this movie were exclusively from the Gauntlet, the rest of his attacks were hand-to-hand. Oh well, can’t have everything you want.
- Uhh...can’t think of any other complaints. Honestly.