Avengers: Infinity War is not a good film. There were too many things going on and it all happened too fast for anyone to care. The pace was blistering yet somehow the movie felt a lot longer than its 2 hour and 40 minute run time. Iron Man’s latest suit wasn’t that impressive, and Spider-Man’s new suit was just ridiculous.
It’s hard to determine what makes a film timeless, since films are like technology: they only improve as time moves forward. Great works of the past, whether they were westerns, comedies or science fiction, reside in a figurative Smithsonian, and deservedly so. That’s where paradigm-shifting, zeitgeist-infusing, thrill-inducing wonders belong after setting the stage for a new generation of movies. Movies that have eclipsed them in special effects, writing, acting, costumes, cinematography, set design, and direction. We don’t realize it because nostalgia clouds judgment even worse than the dark side. No one really acknowledges greatness until it’s far behind in the rear view mirror.
