This is it folks. This is what its all been leading up to. From the very first stinger in Iron Man when Nick Fury set foot on screen and cemented the existence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we knew this moment would come. Oh sure, the first Avengers gave us a taste by revealing Thanos and showing the existence of the Infinity stones. Even Avengers: Age of Ultron merely gave us more build up to this moment. But finally, we are here. Avengers: Infinity War promises to be the most ambitious cinematic crossover in film history. To be honest, as the nineteenth entry in the unstoppable train of the MCU films, it really needs to accomplish nothing short of this to make it worth our while.
Avengers: Infinity War kicks off when galactic conqueror Thanos (Josh Brolin) finally comes out from the shadows and establishes his goal of collecting all six infinity stones (kind of sounds like a Legend of Zelda plot), ultimately making him an omnipotent being capable of bending the universe to his will. Unfortunately, his will is not merely conquest, but the extermination of half of the living beings in the universe to achieve his own ideal of creating “balance.” To even have a tiny chance of defeating him, its going to take the combined efforts of both old and new Avengers, allies of the Avengers, The Guardians of the Galaxy, and the nation of Wakanda fighting together.
So yeah. Almost every character from the MCU (with some exceptions I won’t talk about) feature in this film. The main concern is how to give everyone adequate screen time without making the plot feel too busy and complicated? Unfortunately, given the nature of this beast, its unavoidable that the plot going to be little busy and complicated no matter what. Its just the price you pay when you have this big of a buildup. The good news is, the story and pacing were managed the very best it possibly could be, given how many side-plots are required. Those who can keep up with shows like Game of Thrones should have no problem following along with the plot(s) of this film. Yes, at two hours, forty minutes, the run time is long, but it really needs to be to fit everything in. And I hate to break it to you all, but this is just the first part of the story, as a second, yet to be named sequel has already been confirmed.
Needless to say, this is an ensemble cast effort. With the return of the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Pratt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Hemsworth, and Chadwick Boseman (just to name a few), this film is overflowing with talent. However, the true star of the film almost seems to be Brolin’s Thanos. For those who complain of weak or generic villains in comic movies, Thanos is neither. Brolin’s multi-layered and well controlled performance is almost enough to make me sympathetic to Thanos, despite him being a genocidal monster.
On a technical level, the massive budget (rumored to be the second highest in history) definitely shows. While being gorgeous to look at, it’s really a shame at this point that we have been so desensitized with the consistent quality Marvel Studios has put out. Now we simply expect the visuals to look this good, rather than be impressed. I am very glad that Alan Silverstri has been brought back to compose the soundtrack, as this is one of the more memorable action film orchestrations in years, (other than anything John Williams has done for Star Wars, of course).
Ultimately, this film, while still being the best kind of Marvel fan-service, accomplished more than that. I actually found myself, for the first time in a very long time, stressed to watch a Marvel film. Infinity War gave me, someone who has been hardened by years of brutal Game of Thrones deaths, a sense of unease. I really did feel the weight of the risk my favorite characters faced. I guess I really do become attached to characters after eighteen previous films. It’s definitely worth the full price for a movie ticket and should be seen on the big screen to feel the full scope of this movie, anything less is a disservice to the Marvel Universe!
