Avengers: Infinity War

After ten years and nearly twenty movies under their belt, Marvel Studios has finally accomplished something I didn’t think possible, let alone probable. And to think I was worried.

Avengers: Infinity War sees the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s big bad, Thanos (Josh Brolin), step out of the shadows and into the spotlight as he brings his lust and greed for obtaining all six reality bending, time manipulating, power channeling, space warping, mind altering, and soul crushing Infinity Stones to a galaxy that trembles at the mere mention of his name. With the Infinity Gauntlet in hand, aka the only device capable of controlling and housing all six stones, Thanos sets out to “save” the galaxy from itself, but with “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” still split apart after the events of Captain America: Civil War, and the wrath of Thanos fast approaching, it’s all hands on deck to battle the Mad Titan and his minions from the depths of space to the frontline in Wakanda before time runs out, or worse, before there are no heroes left to fight.

Lots of superhero-ing ensues.

Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch): I could go on and on with all of the characters pulled from virtually every MCU film to date (sorry Ant-Man and Hawkeye fans), but fortunately, Infinity War is the sum of all of its parts along with everything that has come before it, rather than a practice in playing favorites. Returning MCU directors Anthony and Joe Russo have somehow found a way to successfully wrangle this behemoth of a story and all of its accompanying character work, making the final product seem like they barely had to try, a feat that is extremely impressive on various levels, especially if you’ve been following each film up until now and know what they’ve all been building towards.

At the same time, if you haven’t seen at least half of the films that came before this, it might be a bit hard to wrap your head around what in the actual hell is going on at first, but the Russo brothers clearly have love for what they’re producing and whether it be some minor detail we never knew we needed, to characters that return, live and die by the needs of the story and the relationships that have been built in the past, nothing felt out of place or half-hearted. The emotional beats, while appreciated, feel a bit soap opera-y at times, even if they are earned in the overarching scheme of things, and while I loved pretty much all of the story beats, it can’t be denied that a lot of it came together rather conveniently and quickly, most likely due to the fact that some scenes seemed to have been cut down or adjust in order to stay under the three hour mark.

Either way, I was over the moon to see that this film felt and played out just like an event comic miniseries from Marvel itself, right down to the slight predictability of it all. Some aspects of this film seem obvious and some come as a welcome surprise, but being loosely based on the Infinity Gauntlet arc in the comics, certain things just have to happen in a certain way, lending the script to a few obvious plot beats that didn’t really bother me as much as some. On top of that, I got a heavy Star Wars vibe whenever the story shifted into space, and a great Two Towers feel as our heroes’ storylines intertwined, split apart and spring boarded off of one another, all building to a climax that sits right next to Empire Strikes Back or the afore mentioned Two Towers in terms of giving the film that “middle” chapter in the trilogy type of feel.

On the technical side of things, the special effects in this film are absolutely mind-boggling. Not only are the action beats and set pieces truly sights to behold, but our antagonist, Thanos, is probably one of the most realistically rendered characters to ever to grace the silver screen. There’s a few shots here and there where it’s clear that he’s a computer generated baddie, but there are even more scenes that I’d be hard pressed to prove – outside of knowing that he’s a CG creation – that any digital wizardry was present when the scene was put together. Couple that with an amazing score by Alan Silvestri that further solidifies the epic nature of everything happening onscreen, and you really can’t deny that this film pretty much has it all, small nitpicks notwithstanding.

The superhero film that I’ve been waiting for since I was ten years old, Avengers: Infinity War does a decade’s worth of character development and intertwining puzzles pieces of story and consequence justice by focusing on more than just action and superhero antics, even though there’s plenty of that to go around. The battles are epic, the team-ups unforgettable, and while some of the emotional beats seem rather cheesy and laid on thick, and a few story elements seem contrived and convenient, the fact that this film got pulled off at all is well worth the price of admission. If you’ve been a fan of even one of the entries in this long running franchise, then you need to do yourself a favor and see this movie ASAP before anything gets spoiled for you. You’ll thank me later.