Film of the Week: Avengers: Infinity War

Warning: Heavy spoilers

Where do I begin? Whether you believe Marvel was under a lot of pressure to get this movie right or not, they certainly built a massive and epic film. We didn’t know it way back in 2008 when Iron Man was released in cinemas, but upon seeing the first trailer, there was still this notion we all had been waiting patiently for ten years for this.

For 10 years and 18 films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown to be the biggest franchise in history, with films grossing 1 billion worldwide. They built their universe slowly but surely, introducing new characters with their own solo movie during the first phrase, before the big collaboration in the 2012 The Avengers. During phrase 2, they were more confident and relaxed with the whole premise, and so started doing subtle crossovers with the characters. Avengers: Age of Ultron might have been a little convoluted at times, with so much to pay off, set up and fulfil its own story, but it was still entertaining nevertheless, and allowed Marvel to learn not to do that in the future. Phrase 3, starting with Captain America: Civil War was somewhat a testing ground for the Russo brothers, especially the airport sequence as they used the IMAX cameras. If they could pull off that gigantic film, they should be OK with the enormity of Infinity War. All that needed to happen was introduce a couple more characters with their own solo movie before walloping us with the grand scale of what everything has been leading up to – Thanos.

Having only a very brief cameo in the end credits scene of The Avengers, Thanos was a villain that remained in the shadows. He resurrected and sent Loki to New York, but he ultimately and epically failed – which meant only one thing; he had to do it himself, and he did. All three phrases have referenced either Thanos, the Infinity Stones, or both, as that is the actual story running throughout, and Infinity War is only part one of the conclusion to that story.

As you may have already gathered, I love Infinity War, but instead of just saying that I love it, I want to explain why I do. What’s good about this movie? Whilst it’s tempting to just say, everything and leave it as that, it’s too big of a movie to fit into one word, and so needs many to justify its scale.

We knew there were going to be many characters, and juggling all of them would be a difficult task in of itself, but Infinity War handled that task perfectly by splitting the characters up. Iron Man, Spiderman, and Doctor Strange all got beamed up by a spaceship taken into outer space, subsequently landing on Titan, Thanos’ home planet, where they met up with the Guardians, who previously had interactions with Thor and Rocket and Groot went off to help him forge his new weapon, Stormbreaker. Down on Earth, Captain America, Scarlett Witch, Vision, Black Panther, Bruce Banner, Natalie Romanov, Falcon, and the War Machine teamed up to stop the members of Thanos’ Black Order from taken the Mind Stone. When he arrives on Earth, he has already collected the five Infinity Stones. Everyone put up an incredible fight. Those on Titan very nearly defeated Thanos and took the gauntlet off his fist, but Starlord’s uncontrollable grief for Gamora pathed the way to their defeat and Thanos taking the Time Stone. When Thor entered the battle down on Earth, he’s wielding his new axe, Stormbreaker. They put up a decent fight.  Unfortunately, Thanos collected all six stones and snapped his fingers, obliterating half of all life in the universe, and that’s when we get the emotional disintegration of various characters.

By separating the characters into three different teams and strategically flick between them kept the excitement high. It made us understand what was going on so much easier, and therefore made sure our enjoyment remained strong throughout. Its comedy was on point; not as much as Thor: Ragnarok because it had to focus on so many things at once, but those moments of comedy were golden; proper laugh out loud moments, and keeps the true spirit of a Marvel movie alive.

The movie didn’t waste any time explaining the unnecessary. Whilst you can argue the fact that it doesn’t give any leeway to newcomers, but it shouldn’t have to. This film was intended for those who have stuck around for those ten years is an award for that loyalty. It doesn’t reintroduce the characters, because us fans already know who Iron Man is, who Captain America is, and so on. All it did do was a very subtle catch up scene on the state of the Avengers by using Bruce Banner, who had been in space for two years, as those who find themselves not knowing absolutely everything. It didn’t waste any time, merely kept the continuity of Bruce’s character being away for so long. All the pieces had been slotting into place long before Infinity War came along, this is just the completed puzzle – or to put it more accurate, half of the puzzle is complete.

We have two more films before Infinity War Part 2 – or to be more accurate, Avengers 4 as it will have a different title but is a direct sequel to Infinity War – Ant Man and the Wasp, and Captain Marvel (released in that order). Avengers 4 will be released around about the same time next year, and really would be the final conclusion to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course it’s going to continue past that point with Spiderman sequel, Black Panther sequel, and so on, but that’ll be entering a new storyline, a new chapter – or in other words, just giving more of what we love.

Whatever direction they’ll go in after Avengers 4, we’re confident it’ll be a good one. They have spent 10 years building reputation and trust among the public, and kept a clear, level head throughout without getting cocky, we’re not bored. There may be a few people who stop following the universe after Avengers 4 because the main storyline has ceased, and that’s OK. Whether they want to introduce a new big bad, or just continue with the characters they have for now, that is also OK.

As this is a review, normally I don’t say a film is perfect and move on, I do highlight a couple of flaws with the film as well. Those certain points may be annoying niggly bits or flaws that I personally find slightly off putting with the film. However, I feel I need to keep those points to myself. This is a film that’s designed for the loyal fan. Whether people watch it individually or in a group, it’s meant for those who have stuck around for these 10 years. Everyone has a different opinion on what they find is good or bad about every film, and this is no exception, but I don’t want to say what’s bad about it and take someone else’s enjoyment after so much dedication. And yes, whilst I do know that point can be added to every single film I’ve ever watched and will ever watch, so my logic may not be entirely thought out, but Avengers: Infinity War is a film so grand, so epic, so rewarding, it deserves the praise Marvel has been building up for so long. No film is perfect, but for those loyal fans, it is.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)