Avengers: Infinity War Movie Review
Believe the hype. After eighteen films, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR intensifies the stakes in an all out Marvel extravaganza. Masterfully utilizing every one of our favorite superheroes, with the exception of Ant-Man and Hawkeye (now we know why they weren’t on the poster), INFINITY WAR pulls off an emotional, action-packed ride that delivers chills and thrills.
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is truly an ensemble piece. Previously directing CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER and CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, directors Anthony and Joe Russo return to craft a complex film with lots of characters to choreograph. Seriously, read the cast list. In fact, I would say that properly balancing story and character with so many characters in one film would be impossible. INFINITY WAR proves me wrong. Everyone is a vital piece to the excitement and tension that’s ramped up tenfold in the darkest Marvel movie yet.
The action and emotion is extreme right out of the gate. The opening scene grabs the audience in a way to help us understand and prepare for the magnitude of danger where no one feels safe. However, even with the danger, the film still manages to find humor, which has always been my favorite aspect within the Marvel universe. We also get plenty of hero moments that will raise your body hair like Spider-Man and emotional beats that will send chills down your spine. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Spidey (Tom Holland) join forces with Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) while Thor (Chris Hemsworth) teams up with The Guardians of the Galaxy (my personal favorite grouping). Captain America (Chris Evans) assembles most of the other gang (again, read the cast list) on earth, but that’s not to say any of these groupings don’t get jumbled a bit more at times.
It’s all been leading up to the big baddie Thanos (Josh Brolin) who was first seen in a post credit cameo in THE AVENGERS. In order to rule the universe, Thanos is after all six of the Infinity Stones that have carefully been introduced throughout the prior eighteen films within the MCU. While we have seen some of these powerful stones trade hands and put in different places, we know that Doctor Strange and Vision (Paul Bettany) each possess one.
Obviously, in order to follow along, it’s helpful if you’ve seen the previous films. Not every character gets a whole lot of individual screen time. Hopefully you understand that going in. In fact, Thanos, a bad guy we know little about within the movies, is probably on screen more than any one of our known superheroes. Thankfully, Thanos is a compelling villain with a surprising amount of heart or rather personality. Don’t get me wrong, he’s definitely an evil dude, but he doesn’t fit into that one-note villainy role that so many have done before.
I’m not pretending this is a flawless film. Some of the characters’ actions are questionable at best. But these are usually forgivable or at least can be overlooked due to minor discrepancies. Bottom line, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR delivers. Disney and Marvel have miraculously created a superhero film with far too many stars to possibly think a coherent storyline is possible. This is a very dark turn in the MCU that might split some fans. I loved every moment of the two and a half hour runtime that seemed to breeze by. I laughed, I cried, and I got super giddy over simple introductions of some of my favorite characters. That’s saying quite a bit from someone who has suffered from superhero fatigue.
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