There’s no way to talk about Infinity War without spoiling at least a few plot details, so [SPOILER ALERT] for those who want to watch the movie before reading this review.
1 Decade.19 Movies. 60+ Superheroes. Amazing battle sequences. The biggest movie of 2018, and pretty much every year. Suffice to say the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had a run of success that is pretty amazing in the movie world. It’s because of their well constructed formula that isn’t so easy to replicate: just ask the DC universe. Marvel has been building this intimidating backlog of superheros for what purpose? Well, it turns out, to stop one of the more intimidating villains they’ve created and built, Thanos (in the picture). Infinity War brings Thanos and all the heroes together for one giant culminating confrontation, with all sorts of results, but mostly positive, daring ones.
Again, I CAN’T STRESS THIS ENOUGH….IF YOU WANT NO SPOILERS, GO SEE THE MOVIE FIRST [SPOILER ALERT]!!!!!
I’ll keep the plot description short. Marvel’s been teasing the fact that there are these 6 Infinity Stones that exist where if one single being gets all of them, they can wipe out half the population of the universe with the snap of their fingers. The being on the hunt for them is Thanos (Josh Brolin) who Marvel has also been dropping us hints about since the first Avengers. Since at least 2 of the stones are on Earth, all of the Avengers come out from where they were hiding to help save the world from this new threat.
With 65+ characters plus a supervillain and his minions, The Russo Brothers (directors) and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (writers) have their words cut out for them. So you notice they make some decisions that fit just this movie, clearly aiming for the sequel to cover the rest. Infinity War’s main goal is to get us invested in Thanos, and the story revolves around that. We instantly see how powerful he can be against the most powerful Avengers, quickly establishing his might. Characters with direct ties to Thanos get pulled back into his orbit, like Gamora (Zoe Saldana) or Nebula (Karen Gillan), helping iron out pieces of his character, emotionally connecting Thanos to all the Avengers. The Russo’s do enough to make you understand what makes this purple alien tick, and just how formidable he actually is. As Thanos gathers more stones, his power continues to grow, making him even more formidable for the divided Avengers teams. Tonally, this creates a menacing, threatening tone, much darker than any other Marvel movie. This path forward the creative team embarks upon leads to a war on two fronts in the final 40 minutes, which is intense and pretty spectacular, if just a notch below the Civil War Airport Battle. However, the true surprise is the ending of this movie. Faithful to the tone, Infinity War climaxes with a truly shocking scene in the moment that will make you gasp and maybe tear up a little. Post watching discussion and scrutiny will lessen the shock, but in the moment your breath will be taken away, and if you’re with a child under 10 years old, you might traumatize them. The ending feels like a pause more than a full stop, but it pulls off the Russo’s goal of making Thanos a real universal threat, a credit to the Russo’s and Josh Brolin’s acting, and sets the table for an Avenging of a massive scale.
You’ll notice I didn’t mention the heroes very much in that last paragraph. The Russo’s jumping off point for the heroes is Civil War and a bunch of standalone films, so the Avengers are pretty fractured at the start of the movie. The Russo’s use Thanos’s quest to drive the characters in random directions, creating some unusual pairings that keep you interested until the big battles start. Here are some examples:
Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Drax (Dave Bautista) and Star Lord (Chris Pratt)
Thor, Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and Groot (Vin Diesel)
Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)
Star Lord, Iron Man, Spiderman, Dr. Strange, Drax, Mantis (Pom Klementieff)
Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and SpiderMan (Tom Holland)
Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Strange, and Iron Man
Rocket and The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)
These combinations seem bonkers on paper, but the Russo’s always insist that character matters most to them, and they mean it. The core of Marvel’s formula exists in their deep bench of acting talent, the banter between these hero combos, or their combined forces on the battle field. Two of the Chris’s are the glue here mostly. Pratt gives the movie much needed levity, whether by mocking Hemsworth’s manner of speech or openly insulting Strange and Tony Stark to asset his alpha dog status, plus he gets some really emotional stuff with Gamora and Thanos that hits really hard. Hemsworth has the tougher role (and is probably my winner for the best Avenger in the movie award), because Thor has been at times regal, funny, powerful, etc, and Thor has to channel all of this in his interactions with people. Hemsworth is part of the biggest laughs in the movie and gets 2 of the 3 best action moments in the movie, as well as some truly emotionally wrenching stuff, a testament to how much he has come along as a talented actor. The surprises in this movie are Scarlet Witch (which finally gives Elizabeth Olsen something truly great to do and utilizes her talents effectively) and Dr. Strange (whose powers are quite impressive and Cumberbatch proudly proves to be Downey’s intellectual and sometimes humor filled equal). Tom Holland, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Pom Klementieff, Danai Gurira, Zoe Saldana, Mark Ruffalo, and Scarlett Johansson all get moments to shine and look great. Sadly, if you’re a Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Don Cheadle, or Chris Evans Fan, this movie is not for you.
By sheer force of talent and will, The Russo brothers keep Avengers: Infinity War from bursting at the seams from too much stuff. Basing the story firmly around the characters they’ve created, the movie gives us a twist on the normal Marvel formula by choosing more daring stakes in the third act, which means more chances for laughs from strange places and more chances for tears. Please, please, don’t take a kid under the age of 10 to this movie, I’m fairly certain you WILL traumatize them with the relentless menace this movie keeps throwing out.