All this reveals, in a class sense, is your bias for tragedy over comedy. Tale as old as time. A work of art can't be "serious" unless it focuses on suffering and adversity.
Guess what? Infinity War is a tragedy.
Besides, the presumption that a happy ending renders art less meaningful is stunted and incomplete. The measuring stick is whether or not is addresses Death/Mortality in some fashion. Infinity War is obsessed with this theme. I'm as exhausted with the glut of the fad trend as anyone, because the DC sucks, and Netflix/CW/ABC don't seem interested in making anything else, but the Theater-based MCU is its own beast, and has separated itself by a wide margin from everything else out there. This latest film was particularly rich with artistic devices. I was so dismissive at the theater I didn't spot them, but upon re-viewing it more carefully and critically, I immediately realized how blind I was to how carefully wrought the story is.
The Shape of Water was one of the most vapid, hackneyed movies I've seen in years, and yet it won Best Picture last year. It's gorgeous, but Best Cinematography is not Best Picture, and it seems Hollywood is forgetting that. There is barely enough depth of thought or structure in it to sustain a high school short story.
If you believe Infinity War so shallow, please indulge me, and explain to me what you believe the following dialogue (technically monologue) conveys:
The rest I know by reputation. Saying that Chinatown doesn't have a happy ending is an understatement. It's an incredibly bleak, cynical story. Brilliant performances, of course.
