Skip to main content

Film Review: "Avengers: Infinity War" (Non-Spoiler)


For the past ten years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been steadily building a world in which superheroes and supervillains could live in. In that time, audiences have seen these heroes put their lives on the line in order to save the world, over and over again. These heroes have grown and matured right before the eyes of audiences who have done the same. Fans of the MCU have invested countless hours watching and debating the events of every film within this cinematic universe. Now, a decade and 18 films later, Avengers: Infinity War is here to tie every single one of those films together. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Infinity War isn’t just a culmination of everything that Marvel has done, it is its most daring film to date. The MCU has gone beyond the physical world, having proven that these characters can travel across time, space and even different dimensions. This is the first time, however, where they attempt to bring all of that into one film. All the while, they had to balance an incredible number of characters. It appears to have been a Herculean task, but the Russo Brothers managed to deliver an epic emotional rollercoaster unlike anything else that has ever been done in the MCU before. 


Despite having almost every single MCU character in this film, Infinity War really is Guardians of the Galaxy films, the audience is told that Gamora was always Thanos’ favorite daughter. Infinity War furthers that idea and uses Gamora as a tether between Thanos’ humanity and his monstrosity. It is a powerful and moving relationship that gives a real depth to Thanos. Josh Brolin deserves praise for his performance as The Mad Titan. It is an exceptional performance that delivers one of the MCU’s most frightening villains. Between Black Panther’s Killmonger, and now Thanos, 2018 has been a spectacular year for MCU villains.
Thanos’ story. This is the first time where Thanos’ motives become clear to the audience. Throughout the course of the film, the audience goes deeper into why Thanos wants the infinity stones. His relationship with Gamora is essential to the story and helps develop his character even further. In the
Opposing Thanos on his quest to collect all six of the infinity stones are the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Infinity War brings a plethora of storylines, both old and new. This is where the film stumbles a bit. The audience is forced to follow multiple groups across the galaxy at a breakneck pace and it doesn’t allow for their storylines to be fully developed. As result, the end-product feels like it just barely scratches the surface of what could have been bigger storylines. Simply put, the film spreads itself too thin. Avengers: Infinity War often feels like more of a set-up for the next film rather than being its own story. For a film that is 156 minutes long, that shouldn’t be the case, but that is the risk that comes with trying to put together a film of this scope. 
The action pieces in this film are nothing short of excellent. The enemy is formidable and the danger that they present to the heroes is felt throughout the entire film. This is in part due to the terrific way in which the film opens. It is an opening that brutally portrays how ruthless and powerful Thanos can be. Thanos’ team, the Black Order, proves to be quiet fearsome, as well. They are tasked with retrieving the infinity stones for Thanos and they truly go to any length in order to do so. One of Avengers: Infinity War’s best qualities is that it constantly makes the audience feel like the heroes are in real danger. There is a dreadful feeling that no one is safe and that makes every single fight feel important. 


There are certain characters and relationships that stand out as highlights of the film. Wanda and Vision’s relationship is equal parts beautiful and tragic. It is a relationship that has been built up through Age of Ultron and Civil War, and it fully blossoms in this film. Their relationship is charming and it is the kind that you cheer on right from the start. This is made even better by the fact that the film sees the female figure having to protect the male figure, and not the other way around which would be the stereotypical way to go. Iron Man and Spider-Man’s mentor-mentee relationship continues to grow in an amusing manner, especially when Doctor Strange is thrown into the equation. Lastly, Thor is truly an all-star in Infinity War. The arc he has had in the MCU comes full circle here and the payoff is outstanding.
Tonally, Avengers: Infinity War is one of the darkest and most bleak films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There is plenty of humor to help ease the tension, but make no mistake, this is a shockingly devastating film.  It has a third act that will knock its audience senseless. As a whole, this is a very strong entry into the MCU and one that was well worth the 10-year build-up. Infinity Waroffers up so many different ideas that it is difficult to make sense of it all with a single viewing. Luckily, despite its hefty 156-minute runtime, Avengers: Infinity War is a film that audiences will want to see over and over again.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Film Review: "Ready Player One"

There aren’t very many directors who have had quite the career that Steven Spielberg has. The man who directed the very first blockbuster in  Jaws , is the same man who has put together some of our most beloved films such as the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , Jurassic Park , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , and the Indiana Jones series. It’s the same man that, aside from giving us these wonderfully imaginative films, has also given us hard-hitting dramas such as Schindler’s List , Lincoln and Bridge of Spies . His career has spanned 50 years, and the 71-year-old director shows no signs of slowing down. With his latest film, Ready Player One , Spielberg once again delivers an awe-inspiring film that captures the wonders of the imagination. It stars Tye Sheridan as Wade Watts/Parzival, Olivia Cooke as Samantha Cook/Art3mis, Ben Mendelsohn as the villainous Sorrento and Mark Rylance as OASIS creator James Halliday. The film takes place in 2045 Columbus, Ohio. In this futuristi...
Post a Comment
Read more

First Teaser Trailer for Pixar's "The Good Dinosaur"

Image via GalleryHip The first teaser trailer for Disney-Pixar's The Good Dinosaur  has been released and it hit all the right notes. As most teaser trailers, this one didn't show too much. In fact, the first half of the trailer is spent looking at meteors in space. Yet about halfway through, we are asked what would have happened if the meteor that killed the dinosaurs never actually hit the planet, and then we get our first look at dinosaurs from the film as they casually look up from their food to see the meteor shoot by over their heads. After that scene, we are shown a bunch of action shots from Arlo and Spot's (our protagonists) adventure. There is no dialogue in this teaser and we never get a clear shot of our heroes. In fact, the one real shot we get of them comes at the very end and it comes in the form of a side shot as they are running through a mountain. But even though this teaser is very limited, it kept me smiling all throughout it. More importantly t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Film Review: "Truth or Dare"

             Imagine that you could take the concepts of  Final Destination and  It Follows , blend them together and then aim the end product at millennials. Make that film PG-13 and you basically get  Truth or Dare .  Truth or Dare is the latest film to come out of the Blumhouse production company, which is the same company behind last years horror mega-hit,  Get Out . While Blumhouse is responsible for giving audiences some of the very best horror films of the decade ( Get Out ,  Hush and  Sinister , among others), they have also put out films that are fun even if they aren’t very good.  Truth or Dare falls somewhere within the latter.              The film sees Lucy Hale as Olivia, a college student who embarks on the final Spring Break of her life as a student and takes a trip down to Mexico to celebrate. Joining her is her best friend,...
Post a Comment
Read more