B+ Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo Starring Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, and Chris Evans Review by Phil Crone |  |
Avengers: Infinity War is given a very difficult task in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). With a whopping 18 movies preceding it and already all but confirmed to be a “part 1” sort of movie, Infinity War had to juggle a dizzying number of characters and plotlines while also providing a satisfying self-contained story. We’ve seen the MCU attempt to tackle this before in Avengers: Age of Ultron. While that movie suffered from muddled confusion without a good central focus, Infinity War manages to involve more characters and more plotlines while avoiding the pitfalls that Age of Ultron fell into. “Infinity War” takes a different approach to the MCU structure and while it doesn’t stand on its own, it does solve many of the issues that have plagued the MCU and accomplishes its ultimate goal of setting up on epic conclusion to the original Avengers saga come 2019.
As anyone who has been following this series knows, it’s finally time for the Big Bad to make his grand appearance. The Mad Titan Thanos is here, and he wants those Infinity Stones. The Infinity Stones have primarily served as maguffins for the vast majority of the MCU’s life cycle with the promise that uniting them can result in cataclysmic outcomes. That remains the case here, as we see all the heroes of the MCU broken out into various groups involved in battles on multiple fronts for the ultimate power in the universe. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo are given the unwieldy task of juggling multiple storylines to have all this play out. Despite the very real risk to end up in “Age of Ultron” territory with a muddled mess of a middle act, the Russos manage to pull it off thanks to a number of smart decisions.
The first is the combination of character choices. I’m going to spoil away below, so I won’t go too much into who ends up where right now, but I really liked a number of the choices made. Some were obvious, of course, such as The Guardians ending up with Thor and another round of the Iron Man/Spider-Man tag team. I particularly enjoyed The Guardians with Thor, as we’re very much getting Ragnarok Thor here, and that’s a group with a fun dynamic.
More importantly, Infinity War makes a choice on whose movie this is, and it’s not the choice I necessarily expected. Despite all the ancillary going-ons, this is very much Thanos’ movie and his quest to unite the Infinity Stones. The MCU has always been accused of having major villain problems, and the Russos do an excellent job ensuring this isn’t the case with Thanos. I was impressed at the overall level of character development we get here. Thanos proves to be much more than a one-note Big Bad by the end of Infinity War, with clear motivations, a sympathetic cause, and more than enough signaling that we are getting the greatest force to be reckoned with in the universe.
In this development of Thanos as the greatest force the MCU has ever known, we get some amazing and impactful moments. If you’re an MCU fan, just be ready, because there are going to be multiple gut punch moments throughout. Infinity War is a dark movie at times, but still throws in a large amount of that MCU humor, whether it be Tony Stark’s quick tongue or Drax’s complete lack of subtlety. It’s nice to see both here, but the editing of the movie damn near gave me emotional whiplash at times. Additionally, when you’ve got a force like Thanos going against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, you better get some spectacle, something with Infinity War doles out in spades. There’s an obscene amount of action going on here on multiple fronts. While the trailers have primarily focused on Wakanda’s battle, it’s actually not my favorite of the movie, despite the impressive scale. And that’s all I’ll say about that for now.
The Russos had one more item on their MCU agenda that Infinity War needed to do, and that was to set up some stakes. I think the ending of this movie does that perfectly with one of the boldest and most incredible sequences you’ll see in the whole of the MCU.
Infinity War is the ultimate “Your Milage May Vary” movie. As an unabashed MCU fan, it shoots very close to the top of my “personal favorite” list. However, this still stands on the shoulders of its elaborate setup, and its goals of really setting up the 2019 conclusion to the saga drags it down a bit. On its own though, Infinity War”is a visual spectacle and manages to merge multiple storylines to serve a final, greater purpose.
Grade: B+
The first is the combination of character choices. I’m going to spoil away below, so I won’t go too much into who ends up where right now, but I really liked a number of the choices made. Some were obvious, of course, such as The Guardians ending up with Thor and another round of the Iron Man/Spider-Man tag team. I particularly enjoyed The Guardians with Thor, as we’re very much getting Ragnarok Thor here, and that’s a group with a fun dynamic.
More importantly, Infinity War makes a choice on whose movie this is, and it’s not the choice I necessarily expected. Despite all the ancillary going-ons, this is very much Thanos’ movie and his quest to unite the Infinity Stones. The MCU has always been accused of having major villain problems, and the Russos do an excellent job ensuring this isn’t the case with Thanos. I was impressed at the overall level of character development we get here. Thanos proves to be much more than a one-note Big Bad by the end of Infinity War, with clear motivations, a sympathetic cause, and more than enough signaling that we are getting the greatest force to be reckoned with in the universe.
In this development of Thanos as the greatest force the MCU has ever known, we get some amazing and impactful moments. If you’re an MCU fan, just be ready, because there are going to be multiple gut punch moments throughout. Infinity War is a dark movie at times, but still throws in a large amount of that MCU humor, whether it be Tony Stark’s quick tongue or Drax’s complete lack of subtlety. It’s nice to see both here, but the editing of the movie damn near gave me emotional whiplash at times. Additionally, when you’ve got a force like Thanos going against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, you better get some spectacle, something with Infinity War doles out in spades. There’s an obscene amount of action going on here on multiple fronts. While the trailers have primarily focused on Wakanda’s battle, it’s actually not my favorite of the movie, despite the impressive scale. And that’s all I’ll say about that for now.
The Russos had one more item on their MCU agenda that Infinity War needed to do, and that was to set up some stakes. I think the ending of this movie does that perfectly with one of the boldest and most incredible sequences you’ll see in the whole of the MCU.
Infinity War is the ultimate “Your Milage May Vary” movie. As an unabashed MCU fan, it shoots very close to the top of my “personal favorite” list. However, this still stands on the shoulders of its elaborate setup, and its goals of really setting up the 2019 conclusion to the saga drags it down a bit. On its own though, Infinity War”is a visual spectacle and manages to merge multiple storylines to serve a final, greater purpose.
Grade: B+
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