Written by: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Josh Brolin
IMDb Link
With just about every character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe coming out to play, and a villain, whose presence has cast a shadow over the entire series, in need of a good fleshing out, Infinity War is by far and away the most aspirational film Marvel has produced. Thankfully, it is a success, but with so many heroes in need of their moment, some things fall though the cracks.
The film goes everywhere to fit all the pieces of its plot together, sometimes stumbling as it tries to pace its handful of storylines. Infinity War tries without always succeeding at keeping the details coherent, but the film never allows these details to get in the way of the story's movement, always pushing forward or changing tracks to keep everyone entertained. It feels like the story is on several TV channels, and it keeps flipping between them just doing its best to ensure it and the audience keep up with it all. Your enjoyment will likely vary depending on how invested you are in each set of characters involved in each subplot. It's disconnected, but not to the point of dissolution, and it always manages to bring things back together when it counts, making sure that heroes get to be heroes.
This is where the movie is by far the strongest: its endless stream of awesome hero moments. There are so many heroes to go around, and each and every one of them both needs and gets a great crowd-pleasing moment that reminds the audience why people have been watching MCU movies all these years. One of the more elegant aspects of the movie is how often these movies suit the hero as they've been characterised; it's not just a cool action moment, it's also a moment that both fits and reinforces who they are to the audience. Spider-man does a lot of cool stuff, but the movie takes care to remind you that what makes him a hero is that saving people is always priority one in his mind. Captain America fights a lot of aliens, but his true heroism is his indomitable spirit. At the same time, this is usually about as much these characters get in terms of screen time, so with the less developed characters, especially the ones brought to the forefront of the plot, this leaves a little wanting.
What is not left wanting is what is in the villain, Thanos. While not quite the greatest MCU villain ever, he's still a fantastic vision of pure power, at once a genocidal maniac, and understood by his abhorrent perspective that his goal is a mercy upon the universe's existence. It's a really good rendition of the 'villain who thinks himself the hero' story, and with most of the actual heroes relegated to just their hero moments, a lot of the film puts Thanos centre stage to show a quiet restraint, an odd respect for the resistance of everyone in the face of what he sees as inevitability. All of this is carried by an excellent performance from Brolin, whose every facial tick and strain of emotion is seen through a very well crafted motion capture performance.
This is about all I feel I can say without giving away real spoilers. It's really a very good film that I highly recommend, one that I also contend requires at least some familiarity with the MCU to be enjoyed, as well as an understanding that with so many balls to juggles it's not catching all of them perfectly every time, and that its confident enough to keep going without worrying about its fumbles.
The Short Version: It's thrilling, funny, and upsetting all at once. It's bursting at the seams as it goes all over the place trying to please everyone and pay respect to each of the many characters that have become part of the epic-scaled Marvel Cinematic Universe. Infinity War is the biggest, though not the best, Marvel movie, and it earns a lot just by its incredible ambition.
Rating: 7.5/10
Published April 26th, 2018
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