SCORE: 4.5/5
Director: Anthony and Joe Russo
Released: April 27, 2018 (US theatrical release)
Date watched: May 30, 2018 – Regal Cinemas
DISCLAIMER: I never include spoilers in my reviews, but obviously some plot elements are discussed.
Infinity War was one of the most highly anticipated films of the last few years, with a decade of universe development, starring every actor and actress as every superhero, and it was surrounded by hype, rumors, and theories. How did it live up to all that? Clearly by my positive score above, I think the filmmakers have pulled off a difficult film as well as they could – and I hope that doesn’t sound too tepid.
Fitting a decades worth of blockbuster characters and films into one movie could easily become highly clustered and clunky, but it mostly worked for Infinity War. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has never felt so flawlessly like one universe as it does in this film – it’s difficult to juggle the many different characters and worlds together, but they pull it off. It may feel like a bit much at times, but it never comes off as too forced or awkward, instead the anticipation and excitement continues to build in classic MCU fashion.
This is the culmination of a story that Marvel has been building to for several decades, with an antagonist, Thanos, that the films have been slowly priming for. The payout is an exciting two and a half hours full of the classic mix of humor, action, and sorrow that will remind fans why they love this universe and leave them satisfied, nostalgic, melancholic, and once again looking forward to the next installment.
Josh Brolin as Thanos is one of the highlights of the film – we finally see more screen time of the most feared and built up antagonist of all time, and the character is what pushes this film from good to great. The best villains are ones who are not just chaotic, but have their own logical philosophy and complex emotions, Thanos is just that. He isn’t a force of pure evil, he’s a sympathetic antagonist who we can all simultaneously love, hate, and begrudgingly understand.
It’s clear that Infinity War is not the end, instead it’s an installment where the grand storyline has been opened up and we will have another highly anticipated Avengers film to look forward to…or maybe that will frustrate some fans, for me I’m going in with high hopes. This movie satisfied everything I wanted out of my Avengers blockbuster between the huge plot events, family friendly humor, explosive action sequences, character reveals, blending of worlds, and induces nostalgia as I fondly remember the beginnings in 2008…I’m left with reassuring myself that, happily and thankfully, this bleakness is not the end.
The Casual Amateur 