You know a movie is intense when your friends Apple watch notified her several times that her BPM had reached 120 even though she was inactive. And to think this is only Part One. Avengers: Infinity War is an emotional roller-coaster filled with plenty of action and humor we’ve come to expect over the last 10 years and 18 films that make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A spoiler free review ahead…
Simply put, Infinity War is Marvel’s biggest and most ambitious adventure to date. It’s a copulation of all the films that has come before it and will plant new seeds for all those that wait in the wings. I don’t think Infinity War is the best Marvel film yet alone the best Avengers film although it’s pretty darn close to the first one and better than Age of Ultron. Everything since really the first Avengers has led to this moment as the central villain Thanos (voiced by Josh Brolin) makes his presence known and proclaims that the universe needs a correction.
Like so many villains, Thanos does not view himself as such. On the contrary, he sees himself as the liberator of worlds. He is of the mindset that genocide is the way to control an overpopulated galaxy and ultimately save the universe from self-destruction. Strangely though unlike many villains, Thanos is capable of love. There are scenes that showcase such conflicted feelings that are both eye-opening and heartbreaking. We see this in particular when it comes to Gamora (Zoe Saldana). I appreciate that Thanos is not one-dimensional. He doesn’t just destroy for destruction sake. He is calculating and justifies his decisions in an intellectual way. But make no mistake he is evil. To carry out his master plan, Thanos needs the six Infinity Stones. Each one of these stones controls something specific such as time, mind, reality, soul, power and space. By harnessing the power of each, Thanos will ultimately become a God. Enter the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy plus an array of other superhero allies.
After encountering the tyrant from the planet Titan, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) returns to Earth to warn everyone that Thanos is coming. From there, the introductions of all the players come at a ferocious pace. It’s this ferocious pace that challenges the viewer with keeping up with everyone in such a small amount of time. Before you know it, Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) are all thrust into the action and before long, so are the Guardians led by Star-Lord (Chris Pratt).
Back on Earth, the disbanded Avengers, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Vision (Paul Bettany), War Machine (Don Cheadle) set aside internal conflicts after the events in Captain America: Civil War, team up once again not to just save the world from destruction but the universe itself. I haven’t even mentioned Thor (Chris Hemsworth) working with Rocket and Groot. As one would expect, it’s the Guardians that give most of the comic relief throughout the film especially Drax (Dave Bautista). Even with all the action, Infinity War kicks it up an extra notch when the scene shifts to Wakanda, where Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) suit up against a common enemy that threatens their world. If you’re anything like me, there will be nerdgasms galore seeing all of them in the same screen.
If there was one drawback to a film of this size and scope, is that there is so much going on and even at 160 minutes, you can’t help but feel like there wasn’t enough time. Infinity War should satisfy our inner fanboy/fangirl with its moments of pure nerdgasm with all the mashups we had dreamed of since this ambitious cinematic universe came to be over ten years ago with the first Iron Man film.Without saying much more, Infinity War will test all of our emotions with its dramatic moments involving many of our beloved characters. You will experience the highest of highs and lowest of lows all the way to the closing moments as Infinity War fades to black.
As always, stick around through the ending credits. A hint of what’s to come will appear… you’re welcome!
Directed by: Anthony & Joseph Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin and Chris Pratt
PG13 160 Mins
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR – ****1/2 (out of 5 stars)
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
