Avengers: Infinity War Review

Marvel Studios

     Ten years ago, Marvel Studios turned a then C-list hero into a massive box office hit with Iron Man, while also promising something much more ambitious. Samuel L. Jackson walked out at the end and promised us a universe of heroes, one like we’d never seen before, and for me it just seemed to good to be true. Well, cut to ten years later and now we have this film, the supposed culmination of a decade’s worth of movies and characters. While I have grown considerably more cynical and critical of these movies than I once was, I did want to see how the Russo brothers would pull this whole thing together. Do they succeed? Let’s find out.

     Avengers: Infinity War pits the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe against the Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin), who only lives to achieve one goal: to wipe out half of all sentient life and bring balance to the universe. Flanked by his children, the Black Order, Thanos seeks the Infinity Stones, powerful artifacts that control an aspect of existence (Mind, Soul, Power, Reality, Time, and Space). From the cities of Wakanda to the furthest reaches of space this hunt goes on, with our heroes facing their ultimate challenge. 
     I am incredibly impressed with how well this came together, guys. Somehow, the Russos and their screenwriters managed to take all of the disparate elements of the universe, mash them all together and somehow make it work. While the structure of the film is a bit wonky at points this film moves incredibly fast, manages to balance the massive cast of characters, and even makes a little room for some character development with a few of them. It would have been so easy to mess this up, to take the easy route or just get lazy with it. I tip my hat to all of these guys because they delivered something that is truly unlike anything we’ve seen, which makes it worth a watch alone.
     The action, good God the action, is spectacular in every scene. Whether it’s a massive battle in Wakanda to a simple hand-to-hand fight between two characters or Thanos flexing his new Infinity Stone-backed powers, it all looks incredible. The fight scenes all have good choreography, they’re filmed well and are always easy to see and enjoy, and there are even some surprises tucked in there. Neither side pulls punches, and sometimes the sheer viciousness of the action took me a bit by surprise. Anyone who walks out of this movie saying that the Russos are overrated directors or that they aren’t triple-A talents when it comes to blockbusters needs to get their eyes checked or their brains examined ASAP. Two hours and forty minutes, primarily comprised of action, and not a single bit of action was lazy or underwhelming. Not. A. Bit. Sorry, let me collect myself real quick.

GIPHY

Me, thinking of the flawless construction of the battle on Titan. 

     Really, though, the crown jewel of all the positives is that Marvel surprisingly delivers another strong villain character in Thanos. Despite his clear insanity, Thanos has a real logic to his madness, and when he does certain horrible things you can see the pain he feels. This is not some Ultron or Malekith or whoever the bad guy was in Doctor Strange, this is a real, fully fleshed out and three-dimensional character. I've always loved the character of Thanos ever since I first read him in The Infinity Gauntlet, and while this isn't the self-doubting Darkseid knock-off I know and love, he is a truly complex character brought to life by an excellent performance by Josh Brolin. In fact, the character gets so much attention that it's pretty much his movie, which is not a bad thing.
     Amidst all the glowing positives, I do have a few negatives that did bring down the experience for me, some legitimate and some personal. While I admire that this film even works at all, I think the writing can be particularly clunky and downright bad at points. The way scenes transition from one to the other can cause mood whiplash in a big way, and they often cut just as I was getting into a scene. There's also some bloat, particularly in Thor's magic side quest in this movie, which was completely cuttable and a waste of time. I also wish we had gotten a little more time with some of the heroes, because while people like Thor and Iron Man got to have a moment to explain how they were feeling or how past films had affected them, Captain America (the one we really wanted to hear from) pretty much wanders in and does nothing for the seven minutes of screentime he has. I know some might laugh at this complaint, but if they weren't concerned about development then they shouldn't have put any in there at all, or they should have let all the major players have their moments and maybe cut out some of the misplaced and lame jokes. The worst offense to me though with the characters was Gamora, who has one pivotal scene with Thanos that is so bad and so cliched that it almost completely broke the movie for me, but thankfully it recovered from there.

Marvel Comics

Thanos has no time for your character arcs!

     My biggest problem with the film is that it feels like the world’s longest prologue chapter. For all the stuff that happens, plotwise nothing of any real consequence happens until the end of the film. It’s a little frustrating because so much importance is given to events that ultimately seem to mean nothing, creating the feeling that the movie is more of an experience than an actual film. That’s not the worst thing in the world, but given what we were promised I was more than a little disappointed that there wasn’t really much of a plot and that we’re left with a cliffhanger ending rather than a solid conclusion. It makes it feel less grand and important, in a way, since the ultimate judgment of this movie will have to wait until we see the next one. Though to be fair, how they end the film does set up for an interesting second half, one I am looking forward to.

                                                               The Tonight Show

Not helping with the analogy, guys!

     Personally (I won't ding the film for this complaint), it's really hard for me to get emotionally attached to this film the way so many others have. For one thing, any story involving the Infinity Gauntlet automatically suggests that it will get undone, as anything Thanos does can easily be changed back by someone who gets the Gauntlet on them. But honestly, it's just the fact that I have never really gotten that invested in these characters, and I personally think that's because of how Marvel handles this universe. Many have pointed out that the MCU is a lot like a TV show, with each adventure feeling like a different episode, but I just can't connect to that. Movies are movies, and when I know that, say, there's going to be a Captain America movie after Age of Ultron, it automatically lowers the stakes around that character. Sure they can be fun to watch, but I can't get invested in characters when I know that nothing is going to happen to them. Even in this one, the darkest of them all by far, I just kind of sat apathetically as bad stuff happened, believing that everything will be fine by the end of the next one and that they'll just hop to the next one. That is very much my problem and one others don't share (evidenced by the gasps in the theater), but it's hard for me to connect or care when they've built a universe primarily on "oh don't worry, they'll be back next week!" or events that seem to have little consequence.
     Avengers: Infinity War is an action-packed epic that brings together the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe and provides plenty of great moments that will leave fans cheering and shaken in equal measure. What Marvel Studios has accomplished is a true, well, marvel, and this will only increase the achievement. While it isn’t perfect by any means, it is a good time at the movies and you must go check it out as soon as possible. There hasn’t been anything like this and I doubt there ever will be again.

My Rating: 4/5

Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters now.

Hey guys, if you like this article please leave a comment or share this post so we can get the word out there! If you have any questions or comments you can find me at:

Twitter: @PresidentGlover

Instagram: _steveng_

Also, if you like this please drop by Amazon to pick up a copy of my book RED STEEL, available in both paperback and Kindle formats. Thanks for the support!