Movie Review - Avengers: Infinity War is a Showstopper by Dirk Hooper

After 10 years and 19 movies, Marvel Studios fans... this one is your reward.

Avengers: Infinity War has all the great moments you would expect, there are laughs, there are reunions, first-meetings, epic--and I do mean epic battles, loss, sorrow, joy, and dire consequences.
It's all here for you.

Avengers: Infinity War is the apex predator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It's the most "Marvel" of all the MCU movies. And it’s wonderful.

Before I go on, I want to tell you that I’m not going to spoil this movie for you, but I’m going to talk about it frankly, and if you haven’t seen the movie, I’d encourage you to do so before you read this review.

If you like the MCU movies, you’ll like this, so go see it. This review will be here for you later.

Onward and Excelsior!

The set-up for Avengers: Infinity War started long ago with Iron Man 2 in 2010. Since that movie, and through three phases of films, the team behind the MCU has built the characters, and the settings, and has introduced the Infinity Stones as a recurring element for nearly a decade.

Please take a moment and think about the level of planning and execution that it took to build up to this movie. Nothing of this complexity and scale has ever been attempted or delivered in the history of cinema.

The new slate of films (Captain America: Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy & GotG Volume 2, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Thor: Ragnarok) were particularly designed to lead into Infinity War.

So, Infinity War begins with the refugees of Asgard that were in space when we last left them in Thor: Ragnarok. They have been found by Thanos, who is gathering the six Infinity Stones, and one member of the Asgard crew has an Infinity Stone in his possession.

What happens in this scene is a quick introduction to the might of Thanos and his gang of super-powered bad guys called The Black Order, and sets the tone for the rest of the film.

Avengers: Infinity War clocks in 2 hours and 29 minutes and it moves along briskly.

Thanos

One of the frequent complaints of fans and critics of the MCU is how villains tend to be one-dimensional with tenuous motivation and lack the power to truly challenge the heroes.

If that’s been a concern, then you’ll enjoy Thanos (played by Josh Brolin), who is not only multi-faceted, and amazingly powerful, but such an integral and omnipresent part of this film you could make a case that he’s the main character.

Thanos is a complicated guy. He fully believes that his plan of universal genocide is an act of kindness and that he must not stop until he succeeds in his plan.

We see him show restraint. We see him cry. We see him show compassion, and respect, and pity. Thanos is not a one-note villain. He’s believable, and passionate, and that’s what also makes him incredibly scary.

The Writers and Directors

Let’s give some credit to writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who have been frequent contributors to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for making Thanos such a compelling antagonist, and for tackling the herculean task of bringing ten years of characters and settings together so successfully.

While I suspect that the writers had help from the entire talent pool of Marvel Studios (a lot of those Guardians jokes sound like James Gunn to me) you have to be impressed with how seamless the juggling act is here.

They do a great job of creating unique pairings with the heroes we’ve come to know from different ends of the galaxy. Seeing Rocket try to cheer up Thor, or Black Widow fight alongside Okoye (oh wow, I loved that), are the types of mash-ups that will thrill fans.

Speaking of jokes, in Marvel fashion, and despite the ominous mood, there is a lot of effective humor in Avengers: Infinity War. The jokes don’t feel forced and contribute to the full-range of emotions that are present here.

The script for Avengers: Infinity War follows the beats of the Marvel films that preceded it. This is not Pulp Fiction or Fight Club or Memento. There are plenty of surprises in this film (more on that later) but this is first and foremost a by-the-books blockbuster thrill ride. For what it is, Infinity War is a well-oiled machine that is designed to entertain and it fully succeeds on that level.

Anthony Russo and Joe Russo share the director chores, and they have established themselves as the team to beat behind the camera at Marvel Studios.

One of the things that always bothers me in superhero films is when things start to get fantastic then they often break down-either the effects suffer, or the physics feel wrong, or it just simply doesn’t play on screen (I’m looking at you Bryan Singer).

But the Russos really know how to deliver a punch. Gravity, momentum, grit, grime, and effort is all part of the action scenes, and that makes for satisfying fights.

They also know how to bring out the performances from their actors. I’d like to emphasize again that this is film with a full range of emotion, and none of that would work if the actors were not coached properly or given what they need to bring that out. The Russos deserve some accolades for that as well.

Behind the Camera

Another thing that would have ruined this film is if the effects were not up to par.

Thanos is completely convincing. If a hulk-sized purple dude was real, I’d expect him to look exactly like Thanos in real life. I never felt removed from his scenes or distracted by his looks. They also convincingly portrayed his considerable range of emotions, again, without drawing me out of the experience. Please compare that to other recent films with lackluster effects if you want to see the difference.

With that said, there were a couple of bad guys that were not perfect, although still better than most films.

I don’t even know if you can count the space scenes as cinematography, since they were unquestionably created on a computer screen, but I can’t think of a film that has more visually-stunning space vistas, or more darkly-beautiful alien worlds.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe usually has some elements of science fiction, but Infinity War leans heavily into that genre, so much so that it felt like Star Wars at times. The spacecraft and gadgets were unique and memorable. Charles Wood as Production Designer should take a bow. I can’t wait to pick up the art book on this one.

Actors

Back to Thanos… Josh Brolin was much better than I expected in this role. I’m not sure what I expected really, but he gave such a nuanced performance, as a CGI-character, that I think Andy Serkis might have a challenger for what should be a new category in acting awards.

If you don’t buy Thanos as a living breathing character then nothing would have worked in this film. Brolin and the effects team deserve high-fives for their accomplishment.

Another stand-out in a film that’s packed with good actors is Benedict Cumberbatch who effortlessly slipped into the established Avengers stable (as Doctor Strange) and managed to hold his own with some of the most charismatic leads in the business. I was also excited to see post-origin Doctor Strange with all his freaky powers and wily tricks.

One more? I think Elizabeth Olsen stepped up in a pivotal role.

Everyone is in true form this time. They all know how to bring these characters to life.

The Marvel Swerve

Marvel Studios did some very fancy publicity footwork, and used a lot of fan expectations against us to give us more than a few surprises this time.

Those trailers contain elements and scenes that don’t appear in the movie.

Surprise!

The behind-the-scenes contract negotiations, and couch-quarterbacking by superfans (like me) were turned on their head this time.

Marvel worked us, and I couldn’t be more pleased. A lot of things we were told were certainly going to happen in this movie didn’t. And plenty of things happened that no one predicted.

Go look at articles that discussed who will die in Infinity War, go see the film, and tell me how they did.

The End

I’m so reluctant to talk about this at all, but this is a review and I feel that I need to address it peripherally. Again, if you haven’t seen the film go see it first!

Some people who see the film will be confused by the ending, others mad, and still others will be jubilant.

I’m in that last category.

Avengers: Infinity War ends unlike any other MCU film. It’s bold and dynamic. It’s also a monumental cliffhanger, and a downer.

Before you burn your Spider-Man Underoos in disgust, remember, this is a film based on comics. Take a deep breath.

I think the ending is fulfilling and exciting, but only if you understand and see these films for what they are… an adaption of comic stories, or an ongoing serialized storyline.

The fact that the MCU has never faced such adversity before is awesome. It also ups the stakes for the next Avengers film, which is exactly what it’s supposed to do.

MCU Newbies

Are you a casual fan of the Marvel Studios films? Is it possible that you haven’t seen a MCU film? Avengers: Infinity War is most-definitely not a film for the uninitiated.

I get questions all the time asking if you need to see one film or another before seeing the latest MCU film. The answer this time is a resounding yes. I’m not saying that you have to see 19 films before you see this, but if you haven’t seen a least a few of recent films none of this is going to make sense.

It’s still a great spectacle film, but I can’t imagine that the general public will get much out of it besides some jokes and enjoyment from the action scenes.

And the Rest…

For those of us who are fans of this universe, who have enjoyed the slow burn on this storyline, and have been waiting for this moment to crystallize, this is fan-service at the highest level.

I can’t count all the genuine moments of chills that ran through me, the moments of joy, of sadness, the laughter, the thrills, and the excitement that this movie gave to me.

Avengers: Infinity War is a gift to all of us who followed this wild journey for the past ten years. Honestly, it’s going to be hard to top this film, but I can’t wait to see them try.

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All images are copyright Marvel Studios and used for the purpose of review.

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