Starring: Everyone in the Marvel universe basically
Directed by: Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
Screenplay by: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
I remember back in 2012, when the first Avengers movie came out, thinking that there would never again be a movie with that much A-list talent in it, especially another superhero movie like that. Well, it's 2018 and Marvel has once again raised the bar. This time however, the stakes have become much higher for all the characters in the story.
Over the course of the past 10 years of Marvel films, we have been introduced to the concept of the infinity stones, each one of the six stones representing different aspects of the universe. Whoever possesses all of the infinity stones will become the most powerful being in the universe, capable of bringing destruction and genocide on an unimaginable scale. We also in past films have been introduced to Thanos (Josh Brolin), a big purple being who looks to be about the size of the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), but isn't so angry and doesn't want to smash everything. We've really only seen him in post-credit scenes, or been briefly introduced to him in one or two scenes. In Infinity War, we finally get to see Thanos as the main villain. He is on a quest to capture all of the infinity stones and reshape the universe in his image, by essentially wiping out half of all life with just "the snap of his fingers." With the whole of reality, time, and space on the line as well, the Avengers (who have had their problems in the past), must band together against this threat because the stakes have never been higher.
Marvel did something very different with Infinity War that I don't believe they have done with past films in this franchise. This movie assumes you have seen some if not all of the other Marvel movies. This is important as a viewer because there are plenty of things that you can miss if you have not seen the whole franchise. For example, you might wonder about how Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is missing one eye if you haven't seen Thor Ragnarok. You might wonder who Mantis is if you haven't seen the recent Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. And if you haven't seen that one, you might even wonder about Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) being snarky teenager. But I digress. There are so many things that have happened in past Marvel movies, it is perhaps best to familiarize yourself with the franchise as much as possible before seeing Infinity War, because there is plenty that can and will confuse you otherwise.
Like most other films in the franchise, Infinity War is two and a half hours long. For me, two and a half hours is a perfect length of a movie, but not for Infinity War. This film actually needs to be longer because there are so many characters and so many different storylines that intertwine over the course of this film that things get lost. Some characters are focused on more than others. For example, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) has far more screen time than Captain America (Chris Evans) or Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). There are simply too Thanos. Perhaps this is because he is largely unseen in this franchise until now or it is because the directors went with a slightly different perspective on this film. Thanos feels more developed as a character in this particular film than most of the other characters. It is as if the story is told from the perspective of the villain this time, making Infinity War a clear departure from superhero movies, and even its own franchise.
I left the theater feeling like Infinity War is simply a placeholder movie, one whose story simply tells the viewer where the rest of the story is headed. This does not mean that it is not important to see the film and just wait until the next Avengers film is released. Perhaps of any of the Marvel movies, this one has the most important details of where the story and the franchise are headed. One can't help but feel excited about what's to come.
I give Avengers: Infinity War an A-.
Image Source: www.olympicstudios.co.uk
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