Actually, I was thinking about that during this movie. We learned a lot during COVID, and maybe the game Virus Inc. about the infection rate vs. death rate of a virus. Since this is so quick to infect, but easy to treat and can kill the host, why doesn't it just burn itself out?
The idea of it being "Rage" for sure allowed them to be very graphic in their death, but it's the random movements that get to you the most. For instance when Cillian Murphy goes inside the church and the priest comes after him and the piles of bodies just pops up one at a time… that just gets you.
We also get the first and maybe the best "Hulk... Smash." Speaking of the Hulk, the scene of him running towards Natasha has been in my brain since it showed up in the trailers. Also, him beating up Thor and Loki is solid as well.
What this movie does do really well is present the scale of the fights. From the Ice Giants, the Destroyer, or the fights with Loki and Thor, you get a really good feeling of the epicness of them. There is also some nice levity, while out of place it is still funny...
The story itself was pretty good. I like the idea of the monkey paw for the Fountain as honestly most of those old special treasures were lost for a reason, supposedly. There is some obvious plot twist that happen and the girl that is chasing them is basically a repeat of The Mummy
I would place a huge bet that was all ad-lib. One of the ones that I still remember weeks later is "I need to tell you this. In a past life, you were a donkey and I was your owner. You were a stubborn ass donkey. I guess nothing changes." It caught me so off-guard that I really laughed.
It is a little larger than life at times with “The Whistle Blower,” “The Engineer,” etc splashing across the screen when you first get introduced to someone. I think there is even a part where they are looking the other direction, looking like a Bond villain stroking a cat.
Actually, I am not sure who they made this movie for now that I write that last sentence. It is rated PG-13 which I think is too high for the audience that would be interested in, and I doubt they were aiming to make this for moms and dads trying to connect with their kids going to college.
This is much like Tripwire where there is a large level is just basic writing. I know we have a formula for this series, but this one I was so angry at because it was so obvious to the reader that Reacher wasn't playing with a full deck of cards. We can blame it on the Texas heat.
As for the story, what a compelling way to tell the cycle of revenge while trying to grow. There are so many heartbreaking portions that you have spent the last 20+ hours attempting to stop and honestly, that I think is the point of the story.
The action in this is still so cool. Whiplash walking onto the track and whipping these cars in half and just the destruction. I also love the final battle with the drones. It is really well done.
The story works though. We get flashes to the origin story, and we get him working to hide and to work on himself and his control. I like that we get to see Ross as his true self early in the movie and he never waivers from it make him just as annoying as he shows up to be in the future movies.