Ten years in the making. Can you wrap your head around that? Back in the late 00’s Marvel took a gamble with the first Iron Man movie and the rest is history. Avengers: Infinity War is here at last. I won’t be going into spoilers nor plot details that are not already featured in the trailers. If at all. Any plot points will be vague at best, so please read on and rest assured my thoughts on the film are spoiler free.
If you have been keeping up with the MCU movies you know what the plot of Infinity War is. Thanos, the mad titan, is fed up waiting around for his goons to bring him the remaining Infinity Stones. If you want somthing done right you do it yourself right? That’s just what Thanos decides to do. Along with four of his most deadly henchmen Thanos embarks on a quest to complete his Infinity Gauntlet. A weapon so powerful it’s very existance threatens the entire universe. It’s up to the Avengers, earth’s mightest heroes, to stop Thanos from getting his hands on the stones and completing the gauntlet.
I guess the big question is does Infinity War deliver? Yes it does, without a doubt it does. Look. It’s not perfect but what it achives is somthing no other movie in this genre has been able to pull off as successfully as this one does. You get Iron Man, Dr Strange, Black Panther, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Thor, Vision, Scarlet Witch, War-Machine and Falcon to name just a few of the heavy hitters and to see these characters not just interact but team up and face a common foe is awesome for fans of these movies. The film is full of excellent banter, arguments, genuinely heartbreaking shocks, surprising team-up’s and each of these elements carry weight due to building blocks of this universe being laid with such care and attention over the last decade. The action on display is great, I’ll be honest, it’s nothing groundbreaking in execution like “Wow! I’ve never anything like this” but it is amaze in the way we’re getting so many iconic characters fighting not just for the universe but their lives and as a united front. General MCU fans who may just love the movies will be delighted but if you are like me and love the comics and the movies well I’m happy to say you’ll be going nuts over the fantastic encounters throughout Infinity War.
The cast deliver and honestly you wouldn’t expect less from the talent Marvel always succeeds in locking down for the MCU. What’s vital for this movie is that Thanos works and thanks to actor Josh Brolin and some ace special effects work he does. Before the release of Infinity War the Russo brothers stated Thano is the main character in the movie and he is. This is a movie about Thanos and like the best villains this guy doesn’t see himself as “the bad guy” and he believes in what he is doing for the greater good. His arc through the film is one of the strongest elements and had that not been as good as it is the film would not work as well as it does. Will you side with him? Doubtful. He’s nuts. But you MIGHT find yourself saying “I can see where he’s coming from”. The direction from the Russo brothers is legit. These guys clearly have a handle on this universe and thier love of it and it’s characters is clear to see. The pace of the film is on fire, it’s never slow (which I feared ’cause it’s two and half hours) and all the mayhem and action is clear and easy to follow.
What are the less successful parts? Okay. There’s a few issues. On the action front there were a few characters I wanted to see more of. You know like throwing down and kicking arse? Yet that’s the nature of the beast isn’t it? With this many characters to service not everyone is going to be laying waste to the bad guys throughout. The ladies…I wish they’d got more to do action wise. Don’t get me wrong. Pretty much EVERYONE fights in this movie but it did feel that most of the heavy lifting was left to the guys and I found myself thinking how the MCU defo needs more arse kicking females front and centre. Another issue is how the film was marketed. If a certain character “maybe” isn’t in the film I felt the team should have just came out and said “Nope. Not in this movie” because otherwise you’re going in with expectations and there’s no pay off within the film. The secrecy stuff goes a bit over the top I think but that’s more to do with the marketing but it can still have an effect on the film.
I’ve seen some stuff online with reactions saying how this all feels too episodic in how it’s presented but look man these are comic book movies. Comics are episodic in nature. Some headline was going on about this being “Half a movie” It’s isn’t! When you get to the final shot of this flick it’s done and it’s story is complete. Infinity War by what is has acomplished has laid the benchmark for it’s peers and possibly for Marvel. You can go bigger than what’s on display here but to do so as great as this? That’s a hard act to top but if anyone can do it I’d bet on Marvel.
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