That’s a cool take, but that was just a gag in tone with the humor of that movie.
That kinda undid the entire character development of Thor in Ragnarok innit?
Hulk didn’t revert back to Banner when Thanos appeared in the end of Thor Ragnarok. That’s why I always struggled with the opening scene of IW because where the hell did Hulk/Banner go all this while.
Now that we know Valkyrie survived so I hope
Endgame would explain what happened right after Ragnarok.
I think the gag was a happy side effect of the character development. Hulk and Banner are in conflict. Hulk doesn’t want to be used just for fighting then put back in a box. That’s why he left at the end of Avengers 2, that’s why he never let Banner come back during the period between Avengers 2 and Ragnarok, and that’s why he won’t come out now.
I think if Banner was actually going to die in Infinity War Hulk would have come out, he’d have had no choice. Like when Banner jumped onto the rainbow bridge, he probably got fucked up and was dying and Hulk was like “good deal with this for a bit, asshole.”
In Ragnarok, Banner says something like “If I turn back into the Hulk one more time, I’ll never turn back.” That’s why his decision to Hulk out at the end of that movie has some weight to it. So he’s been the Hulk from that moment until Heimdall sends him to Earth.
There are a thousand reasons why he was elsewhere on the ship at the beginning. Maybe he was trying to help others, maybe he was told by Loki and Thor to wait for their signal. It’s inconsequential.
The most important being that the plot required him to be.
Exactly. The only actual reason is because it was cool to have Loki do a six-year callback and say “We have a Hulk.”
Exactly. It may be a case of fridge logic, but it’s well executed and entertaining.
Whenever a scene is setup that way, I always just roll with it. It’s not a big deal. Ok, Thanos is there on the bridge, the fight has gone poorly for Loki and company. I get it, I can roll with it.
The only movie that was an exception was Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. There’s a scene where Anakin and Amidala are out amongst flowers and stuff, flirting poorly. And then the scene cuts to them dressed formally and sitting very awkwardly right next to one another, both looking really uncomfortable. Now that particular cut, I was wondering, how the fuck did we get here? What just happened right before we cut to this? How did they end up sitting so close to each other like that? Why do they look like they’re being forced to sit together by someone?
They really had absolutely no chemistry. Honestly that doomed the PT more than anything.
I don’t think fridge logic should ever be held against a movie. If the movie has you so engaged that you don’t notice that stuff until long after the fact, that’s good filmmaking.
Apologies for the digression, but I’m reminded (as I often am during internet discussions of movies) of Film Crit Hulk’s article on plot holes, where he spends some time on exactly this topic:
FOR INSTANCE, A NUMBER OF PEOPLE HAVE SPENT THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS LAUGHING AND TALKING ABOUT HOW THE DARK KNIGHT DOESN’T MAKE A LICK OF LOGICAL DAMN SENSE WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT AS A WHOLE. IN ONE PLOT-BASED WAY, THAT IS VERY TRUE. THE JOKER’S PLAN FOR MUCH OF THE MOVIE IS RIDICULOUSLY IMPLAUSIBLE AND DEPENDENT ON INCREDIBLE AMOUNTS OF CONVENIENCE AND LUCK. BUT HERE’S THE THING ABOUT ALL OF THAT… IT REALLY DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER.
WHY? BECAUSE NOLAN ISN’T THAT INTERESTED IN HAVING IT ALL MAKE SENSE. HE’S INTERESTED IN ENTERTAINING US IN AS DRAMATIC AND THEMATICALLY INTERESTING WAY AS POSSIBLE. AND HE DID A PRETTY DAMN GOOD JOB OF IT IF YOU ASK HULK (OR THE LEGIONS OF PEOPLE WHO WALKED OUT OF THEIR FIRST VIEWING PROCLAIMING IT WAS A MASTERPIECE).
HULK’S OLD BUDDY TOM TOWNEND ALWAYS POINTS OUT THAT THE TRUCK CHASE IN RAIDERS “CHEATS LIKE HELL,” BEFORE EXPLAINING WHY IT SO TOTALLY DOESN’T MATTER. SPIELBERG’S ACTION TENDS TO BE SO MUCH FUN BECAUSE HE IS INTERESTED IN THE EMOTIONAL THROUGH-LINE. HE TELLS A VISUAL STORY AND BRINGS YOU FROM MOMENT-TO-MOMENT WITH THE KIND OF DISTRACTING GUSTO FEW OTHERS EVEN TALK ABOUT.
HULK LIKES TO CHARACTERIZE SPIELBERG BY SAYING HE DIRECTS LIKE A MAGICIAN, ALWAYS DISTRACTING YOU FROM WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING WITH ONE HAND SO THAT YOU JUST SEE THE ILLUSION AND GET CARRIED THROUGH AN EXPERIENCE. WHICH IS EXACTLY HOW IT SHOULD BE IF YOU ASK HULK. GODARD HAS THE FAMOUS QUOTE ABOUT FILM SAYING “When you cut you lie,” AND HULK FINDS THAT TO BE A DELIGHTFUL TRUTH. CINEMA IS UNREALITY AND YOU JUST HAVE TO EMBRACE IT, LOGIC BE DAMNED. WHICH MEANS THAT SPIELBERG ISN’T LYING BECAUSE HE SUCKS AND HE’S TRYING TO MANIPULATE YOU. HE WANTS TO PULL YOU INTO THE MOMENT AND CHEAT BOTH CAMERA GEOGRAPHY AND PLOT LOGIC IN THE NAME OF MORE EFFECTIVE CINEMA . SOME PEOPLE CALL THAT VERY INSTINCT MANIPULATIVE, BUT IT’S FUCKING CINEMA. IT’S INHERENTLY A MANIPULATION .
Yeah I rather like the Banner/Hulk dichotomy.
Right from Avengers one, where it’s revealed that Banner is “always angry,” and thus can call the Hulk at will, and thenater showing how the Hulk has…humanity. Doesn’t want to be taken advantage of, can engage in conversation (all through Ragnarok) and now in the last one where Banner is having some serious issues.
I did like how he crashes into Thanos, one of the bad guy lieutenants goes to help but another one (the wizard one iirc) says to let Thanos have his fun, at which point Thanos proceeds to beat the Hulk up rather convincingly, without any stone.
That’s got to be demoralising as hell.
Yeah off all the Avenger issues, the Hulk isn’t one for me.
NO. I 100% support derailing the nightmare that is the latest Star Wars thread with a discussion of Thanos, but I will not stand by and let someone poison this perfectly good thread with Star Wars!
This! 1000 times this. Complaining because a movie manipulates the audience is like complaining because ice cream is cold. Its simply part of its nature. Now yes you may not like how the manipulation was pulled off or feel that it didnt work for you. That’s cool but don’t hate because they tried. Thats pointless.
Yep Hulk is like a child constantly being sent to his room and only let out when you want something. Eventually, the child is going to refuse to come out of his room for anything. Hell, he will starve to death to prove his point.
A fun Mashup
Thanks for posting!
Just stopping by the thread to see if anybody posted this. This might be the best thing ever.
I’ll be back after I see the movie.
I still have to wait 24 more hours to watch this movie. Urgh!
Not going to be reading much until I’ve seen this Friday, but the reviews are looking strong for this one (“Perfect conclusion”, “Epic”, etc). Hype building up.
I read one review and some summaries on RT - this movie is getting amazing reviews. Can’t wait to see it on Friday.