Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

This is going to be a rather short review, because there is very little more to be said about Avengers: Infinity Wars. I’m not really interested in discussing spoiler or fan theories, so rather I’ll can do is give my initial impression. Avengers: Infinity War is the biggest Marvel movie to date; it is by no means the best. It is very reminiscent of the all star epics that dominated the cinema in the 1960; it is, essentially, The Longest Day of Super Hero movies.  While I don’t agree with the popular consensus on the movie (it currently ranked number in fifteen in the IMDB top 250), it is nevertheless a fairly entertaining movie.  The best thing I can say about the Marvel Extended Universe is that they have yet to make a bad movie; even their lesser movies fairly entertaining. 

The common criticism surrounding the movie is that it doesn’t stand on its own. NO KIDDING! The movie is not designed be a stand alone movie. The filmmakers are assuming that the audience is well versed in the Marvel Universe. This approach to filmmaking is annoying to many, but is not unprecedented; the old serials were constructed in a very similar manner. If you missed one chapter of the serial, then the rest of the story was nearly incomprehensible.  The Marvel Extended Universe very much carries on the tradition of serials like: Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, Atom Man vs. Superman, and Batman and Robin; except that the Marvel movies have bigger budgets, better special effects, and first rate acting.  If Avengers: Infinity War was a 1940s serial most of the men would have pot bellies, and many of the effects would be achieved via stock footage of natural disasters. 

"They don't make them like to used to" is sometimes a good thing.
"Captain America" from 1944
"Captain America" present day.

I prefer Marvel’s trippier, outlandish movies like Guardians of the Galaxy series, Doctor Strange, and
Thor: Ragnorak. Naturally, my favorite parts of Avengers: Infinity War scenes featuring Thor, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot going off on a space advance, and  Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and the rest of the Guardians teaming up to fight Thanos. This is also, ironically, the biggest flaw of the movie – all the fun, interesting characters are paired up in outer space, while the serious, less interesting characters are teamed up on Earth.  For instance, I find neither Vision nor Scarlet Witch to be particularly interesting characters, but much of the movie centers around their relationship.  It’s a rather forced romance that comes out of left field (I’m not familiar with the comics) and the chemistry between Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen is nonexistent.   

Chris Evans (as Captain America) and Scarlet Johansson (Black Widow) are both fine actors, but they are given very little to do. Captain America has been in hiding since the events of Captain America: Civil War (possibly my least favorite Marvel move), so the movie slowly builds towards his return and once he has finally entered the picture, he is tossed aside so the star crossed romance between Vision and Scarlet can come to in its inevitably conclusion.  UGH! Can we please back to Doctor Strange and Iron Man trading barbs? I wonder what Thor is doing at the moment? What role will the Guardians of the Galaxy play? Of course, I’m sure there are many fans that feel the complete opposite of me. To each their own. 

However, the real star of Avengers: Infinity War is Thanos, wonderfully played by Josh Brolin. Thanos is one of Marvel’s more interesting villains; he is a complete tyrant that is also capable of showing love and compassion. His relationship with his adapted daughter Gamora is extremely complicated; he trained her as ruthless killer, so she could help carry out his plans, but he does genuinely love her.  Josh Brolin’s performance is the glue that holds the movie together and his strong presence keeps this movie going at a fairly fast pace (despite it being two and a half hours long). 

Credits
Cast:  Josh Brolin (Thanos), Robert Downey, Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange),  Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Scarlet Johansson (Black Widow),  Chris Pratt (Star Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), Paul Bettany (Vision), Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/ Black Panther), Anthony Mackie( Sam Wilson/Falcon), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner),  Bradley Cooper (Rocket Raccoon – voice), Dave Bautista (Drax), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Don Cheadle (James Rhodes/Mar Machine),  Karen Gillan (Nebula), Peter Dinklage (Eitri), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), William Hurt (Secretary of State Ross), Terry Notary (Cull Obsidian), Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Ebony Maw), Carrie Coon (Proxima Midnight), Michael James Shaw (Corvus Glave), Benedict Wong (Wong), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Benicio Del Toro (The Collector), Vin Diesel (Groot – voice), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Florence Kasumba (Ayo), Idris Elba (Heimdell), Ariana Greenblatt (Young Gamora), Jacob Batalon (Ned), Ross Marquad (Red Skull (Stonekeeper).

Directors: Anothony Russo, Joe Russo.
Screenplay: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely.
Running Time: 156 min.