Movie Review: Avengers - Infinity War
It's all been leading to this. From directors Anthony and Joe Russo, and writing team Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, comes the culmination of a near ten-year journey in Avengers: Infinity War. The end game for the beloved team of superheroes and their allies alike, the third film in a series of massive-scale team-up events finally meets its conclusive chapter in a film so grand and heartbreaking, there simply exists nothing else like it out there. Drawing together an extravagant ensemble in a story that merges war and revelation to a satisfying and surprising end, Avengers: Infinity War takes the superhero franchise to a new and breathtaking level, all while maintaining a phenomenally well-rounded premise.
(Mild Spoilers Ahead...Proceed With Caution)
Following the events of Thor: Ragnarok, the Mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his children, The Black Order, have laid waste to the Asgardians seeking to escape the annihilation set forth on their home. After escaping the clutches of Thanos, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) finds himself in the company of the Guardians of the Galaxy (Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper). Meanwhile on Earth, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) warns Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) of an impending attack, after Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) crash lands in the Sanctum Sanctorum. With the Black Order converging on the Avengers in New York, as they seek to collect the remaining Infinity Stones, the war comes to Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his allies (Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan) in Wakanda. As chaos reigns in a mad search for the Stones, the story of Thanos unfolds in a tragic endeavor that pushes the Avengers, and the Mad Titan himself, to their breaking point.
A film ten years in the making, one that surely would not have even existed a decade ago, Avengers: Infinity War arrived just in time to dispel any doubts that the superhero genre, Marvel Studios in particular, might not be injecting that much depth and consequence into their projects. A film chock full of tragedy and revelation, and at the same time, great humanity, it's clear to see Marvel is not reluctant to the idea of taking risks. Even in its sheer size and scale, pulling together twenty-plus characters from a variety of stories, the one thing that remained constant in the third Avengers was its boldness. Even as superhero fatigue lurks in the shadows, awaiting its chance to kill the genre, its films such as this one that seek to further the genre to new and unpredictable heights.
The boldness of Infinity War came less from its scale and number of characters on-screen, but rather the story beneath, which worked to stitch together plot points and story arcs that long-deserved to be drawn out. One story that has always yearned to be told, at least for fans of the franchise that have been drooling over his arrival since the first Avengers, was that of Thanos. Even while the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, and others converged once more, the staple story of the film, and where the majority of its humanity lied, was with Josh Brolin's intergalactic warmonger. In a character tethered so profoundly with a number of the faces on-screen, from those he hunts for power to those he protects in admiration, the arc of Thanos as he finally arrived in his full and intimidating presence played out in one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most fascinating and emotional antagonists. While I'll delve into Brolin's performance a bit more soon, Infinity War displayed its emotional depth primarily through its antagonist, an element that seems to be the franchise's golden ticket of storytelling.
Opting to focus on more underdeveloped themes, rather than stumble over things they covered in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, the focus of Infinity War for directors Anthony and Joe Russo became an intriguing investigation into how the Mad Titan impacted individual characters within the story. From Paul Bethany's Vision and Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch on the run from Thanos as Vision harbors the Mind Stone to Chris Hemsworth's Thor reeling after the Mad Titan arrives at his front door, the film strung together a number of emotional interactions fueled by the impending fear set by the immense alien force. In one of the film's most compelling storylines, the relationship between Thanos and his adoptive daughter in Zoe Saldana's Gamora came at full force. As his mission to wipe out half the world took a turn as his daughter confronted him, the film's pinnacle came about as the titan's simple goal matured into one riddled with tragedy and heartbreak.
While the film spends the majority of its runtime detailing the conflicted journey of Thanos' rise to power, its secondary objective was to of course rally together a super-sized company of heroes. As it continued the aftermath of 2016's Captain America: Civil War, all while tossing in the franchise's other successful properties like the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the more recently Black Panther, the team of the Russo Bros. and their writing team had plenty of ground to cover. While blending genres, tones, and established stories into one cohesive story seemed an impossible endeavor, the Russos made it look easy. Even while the film was undoubtedly overstuffed at times, trading some story arcs and characters to explore over others, the filmmakers balanced the runtime to mostly satisfying results.
Even while the film promised a visual spectacle like no other, the cast of the film remained the main draw of the third culmination event for Marvel Studios. As Josh Brolin's central antagonist contained the most of the screen-time, giving some of the actor's best work even beneath a mostly computer-generated facade, the faces at the top of the movie's billing also populated the screen with a unique bravado. While the likes of Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. shined more in the Russos' other massive crossover in Captain America's trilogy closer, Infinity War worked to, as I mentioned, highlight some of the more underdeveloped sides of the franchise so far. While there are way too many characters in this film to break down each of their performances by name, some of the best performances came from Chris Pratt's Star-Lord, Hemsworth's Thor, Bettany's Vision, and Saldana's Gamora, whose individual roles in the film injected the film with plenty of emotional weight.
Overall, Avengers: Infinity War presented what could be the most complex, emotionally resonant feature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When it stumbled at times to showcase all of its twenty-plus characters in their entirety, the film made up for in its cohesive premise that merged startling revelation with bold storytelling. Taking risks that few superhero chapters before it have, the third Avengers effort lent its focus to one of the franchise's most intriguing and cryptic villains and teased audiences of the dramatic leaps the franchise is set to take very soon.
I gave Avengers: Infinity War an 8 out of 10, for its audacious storytelling that showcased a handful of characters at their most volatile, its sensational score by composer Alan Silvestri, and its central antagonist in Thanos, who emerged from the shadows to alter the Marvel universe like no one else before him.
Opting to focus on more underdeveloped themes, rather than stumble over things they covered in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, the focus of Infinity War for directors Anthony and Joe Russo became an intriguing investigation into how the Mad Titan impacted individual characters within the story. From Paul Bethany's Vision and Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch on the run from Thanos as Vision harbors the Mind Stone to Chris Hemsworth's Thor reeling after the Mad Titan arrives at his front door, the film strung together a number of emotional interactions fueled by the impending fear set by the immense alien force. In one of the film's most compelling storylines, the relationship between Thanos and his adoptive daughter in Zoe Saldana's Gamora came at full force. As his mission to wipe out half the world took a turn as his daughter confronted him, the film's pinnacle came about as the titan's simple goal matured into one riddled with tragedy and heartbreak.
While the film spends the majority of its runtime detailing the conflicted journey of Thanos' rise to power, its secondary objective was to of course rally together a super-sized company of heroes. As it continued the aftermath of 2016's Captain America: Civil War, all while tossing in the franchise's other successful properties like the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the more recently Black Panther, the team of the Russo Bros. and their writing team had plenty of ground to cover. While blending genres, tones, and established stories into one cohesive story seemed an impossible endeavor, the Russos made it look easy. Even while the film was undoubtedly overstuffed at times, trading some story arcs and characters to explore over others, the filmmakers balanced the runtime to mostly satisfying results.
Even while the film promised a visual spectacle like no other, the cast of the film remained the main draw of the third culmination event for Marvel Studios. As Josh Brolin's central antagonist contained the most of the screen-time, giving some of the actor's best work even beneath a mostly computer-generated facade, the faces at the top of the movie's billing also populated the screen with a unique bravado. While the likes of Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. shined more in the Russos' other massive crossover in Captain America's trilogy closer, Infinity War worked to, as I mentioned, highlight some of the more underdeveloped sides of the franchise so far. While there are way too many characters in this film to break down each of their performances by name, some of the best performances came from Chris Pratt's Star-Lord, Hemsworth's Thor, Bettany's Vision, and Saldana's Gamora, whose individual roles in the film injected the film with plenty of emotional weight.
Overall, Avengers: Infinity War presented what could be the most complex, emotionally resonant feature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When it stumbled at times to showcase all of its twenty-plus characters in their entirety, the film made up for in its cohesive premise that merged startling revelation with bold storytelling. Taking risks that few superhero chapters before it have, the third Avengers effort lent its focus to one of the franchise's most intriguing and cryptic villains and teased audiences of the dramatic leaps the franchise is set to take very soon.
I gave Avengers: Infinity War an 8 out of 10, for its audacious storytelling that showcased a handful of characters at their most volatile, its sensational score by composer Alan Silvestri, and its central antagonist in Thanos, who emerged from the shadows to alter the Marvel universe like no one else before him.
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