MOVIE REVIEW: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Wow.
I must have said that about five or six times as the end credits rolled on Marvel Studios' hugely hyped event film, Avengers: Infinity War. To say that it was an epic spectacle of a movie over 160 minutes is almost an understatement.
I can't tell you that it delivered fully on its hype and buildup because that has just been a monstrous entity in itself and only the individual person can subjectively decide that for themselves, but I can tell you that I walked out of that theater supremely satisfied at what I saw.
That's about all I can tell you without really risking any major spoilers. This might be the most difficult movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to discuss with anyone without spoiling anything because of how much happens and what happens. As we left the theater, we passed the huge line that stretched around the corner and down the extended hallway of people waiting for the next screening and thought to ourselves that many of these people are not prepared for what they are about to see. I spent the last few weeks re-watching the entire MCU and even I wasn't fully prepared for it.
I have to say bravo to the Russo brothers for this tremendous effort. What they did with this film was ambitious, gargantuan and very, very confident. In the past I have been praiseworthy of their effort with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and a little down on Captain America: Civil War. With Infinity War, it feels like they dared to go in a direction that would cause a lot of emotions from the audience, especially the ones that have been following this franchise for a decade, and they spared no expense in doing that. This wasn't a half-measure either, they went all in on what happens with this movie. Seriously.
The basic plot is simple and we've known it for some time now. Thanos is finally coming. He wants the six Infinity Stones to fit into his gauntlet so that he can literally destroy half the universe. The only thing stopping him is every hero we have watched across 18 films since 2008. Literally all of them, with the exception of a few that aren't featured and that's as much as I'll say since anything further would be a massive spoiler.
We've waited six years for the Mad Titan to grace us with his presence for a whole film and he does not disappoint. Not one bit. You know and understand very quickly how much of a threat he poses to everyone in the universe and he demonstrates both his power and his mindset with dominant ferocity right from the beginning. It's brutal, it's vicious and it's what you should expect from a villain the studio spent six years teasing. For anyone concerned about whether or not the MCU villain problem would rear its ugly head here at the worst possible time, rest assured that it doesn't and Josh Brolin's voice talent is a great match for the CGI.
Aside from Thanos, the interactions between the Marvel heroes as they finally interact with each other on the same stage is worth the price of admission as well. Again, anyone that has been following this franchise from the beginning will be richly rewarded with the crossover to end all crossovers as far as movies are concerned. Characters and heroes that have never interacted before finally do so and the results are fantastic in every way.
The humor is there, as it should be expected at this point with the MCU, and while not every joke resonated with me, there were plenty that were hilarious and it never took away from the seriousness of the story. You don't get much more serious of a story than this one, for the record. The ultimate worst-case scenario for our heroes with regard to a crisis and it's all hands on deck for it. Even if this movie had a Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 level of humor in it, which it doesn't, the heavier and more serious scenes in the movie cancels much of that out. I'm sure people will still say that there were too many jokes in it but that's not one of my complaints at this point. In fact, I really can't think of a legitimate complaint right now. the movie delivered in every aspect for me, it really did.
One of the ways in which Infinity War delivered was in demonstrating the scope and scale of the situation. It's galactic at the very least. We're on multiple planets here, not just Earth, even though the story is very Earth-centric to start out with. Some of our beloved Avengers and Earth-bound heroes leave the planet for the first time in the franchise and it's a great thing to see a truly cosmic story with regard to a comic book movie. You really understood the implication of the universal consequences of Thanos' actions and what lengths and reaches he is willing to pursue to achieve his goal.
Technically speaking, Infinity War is what we've come to expect from the Russos. Very well shot, spectacular fight choreography, stunning VFX and one of the most hauntingly powerful scores from Alan Silvestri that I have ever heard. It's almost operatic in nature working in concert with the movie. Breathtaking.
Seriously, so much is on point with Avengers: Infinity War that it is staggering, and yet the MCU went somewhere with this movie that I questioned whether or not they would dare go ever and they actually did. This movie is dark, no joke. There were people in our theater loudly gasping, yelling and weeping at certain extremely emotional points in the film and there are plenty of them, don't worry. Those who have any feelings at all as a human being will feel something at the very least for our heroes during this movie. If you're heavily invested in this franchise as a human being then you're done emotionally. In so many ways you are not ready for what this movie throws at you if you are a huge MCU fan, and it IS heavy as hell at times there is no mistake about that.
Block out all other noise from anyone else if you really want to see this movie, seriously. Not just for the sake of spoilers but also for the sake of enjoying the movie itself. It's a Marvel movie and it's already getting great critical praise and it will surely gross a minimum of a billion dollars at the box office, but not everyone is going to like what the Russos did here and they will have a variety of thoughts on choices made and how it reflects on the franchise itself. Drown all of that out and make your own determination, like you should in the first place. Marvel Studios is taking an interesting step here with Avengers: Infinity War and while many could argue that ten years of built-up equity in their movies with the audience affords them that luxury, you never know how an audience is going to react. Time will tell on how this movie is received by the public overall.
Right now I'm just excited to go see it again soon......and for what that end credit scene teases forward to in the franchise's future. We've got a long wait, but it'll be here before we know it. Hopefully.