Avengers Infinity Wars
Joe and Anthony Russo (Directors of The Winter Solider, Civil War along with a plethora of TV shows including Arrested Development and Community direct the 19th film to be released in the MCU and trying to bring all the superheros together for one film must have been a mind blowing task.
Unlike Black Panther which I’d consider a stand alone movie. If you were to go and watch this without seeing any of the previous 18 instalments then this film would seem like a loud bloated mess which may be unwatchable but if you have seen them this a pay off for 10 years of universe building.
Whilst care and attention has been given to almost every hero character in this franchise the same can’t always be said for the villains some have lacked depth, backstory and on some occasions a sound motive but not here. Although this is an Avengers film it is by name only, this is 100% Thanos’s movie.
For 2 hours and 40 minutes we are shown why Thanos is the biggest and baddest the Avengers have ever faced, from the 1st minute Hulk ass kicking (died a little inside) to the last minutes where he ploughed through the avengers one by one in Wakanda. This dude means business!
Seeing as it’s his movie I’ll write about him first. The team at visual effects studios Digital Domain and Peter Jackson’s Weta shared duties in bringing Thanos to life on the screen. Combine that with Oscar nominated Josh Brolin doing the acting then it’s a win for me. As you follow him through the movie you see him go through every range of emotion as he tries to carry out his plan which seems a heavy burden at times. His plan to wipe out half the universe is a stupid one but I’ve never felt more for a villain then the scene at the end when he was talking to little Gamora.
G “did you do it?”
T “yes”
G “what did it cost?”
T “everything”
That is some quality writing expertly delivered.
Too many characters to discuss really and I want to get to the meaty part of the review but a little mention for Thor and the Guardians. Since Thor Ragnorok the powers that be at Marvel have let Chris Hemsworth show off his comedic talents and the films are better for them. the scenes with Thor and GOTG are great but even better is when it’s just Thor and Rocket.
So anyway…
Death everywhere in this film. Loki was no surprise, they had finished his story arc and for me was absolutely going to fall. Didn’t expect it in the first 3 minutes though, same goes for Hiemdall. Gamora on the other hand was a surprise and a brave move for Marvel because I think anyone who died before the snap will stay dead but we shall see and Vision the poor bastard dies twice in the same minute. Now on to the snap…
In Wakanda Thanos sees his plan through to the end and snaps his fingers turning half the population of the universe to dust and it was not the half I was expecting so I now like the film even more. These death scenes hit the mark and you feel the loss. Bucky going in front of Cap, when the camera lands on T’Challa and Nakia you figure its Nakia that’s about to go but nope. See ya Panther, Groot leaving rocket behind again, Falcon on his own, Wanda (who has had a real shit time of things since she was first introduced to us) turns to dust whist holding her double dead boyfriend. Then onto Titan where Drax, Mantis, Quill all die in front of Stark, he then hears Strange telling him “this was the only way” before he disintegrates too and then the one with the most feels happen.
Peter Parker: Mr. Stark? I don’t feel so good…
Tony Stark: Are you alright?
Peter Parker: I don’t know, I don’t know what’s happening… I don’t… I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go… Sir, please… Please. I don’t wanna go. I don’t wanna go. I’m sorry. (Peter disappears)
Leaving Stark on his own with the death of a teenage boy on his conscience
That scene was ad-libbed by Tom Holland and it hit every note it was aiming for.
Now for some criticism
This film has a few issues for me that became bigger the more times I watched it. but they never stopped me enjoying the film because I’m a ridiculous fanboy but I’ll quickly discuss anyway.
The love between Quill and Gamora was never shown to be strong enough to elicit the response from Quill when he found out she’d died. You wanna hit the guy in the face? sure go ahead but can we take off the death glove first please.
The reason the don’t just kill Vision at the start. “We don’t trade lives” Cap says. Errrr yeah you do. Cap did in his 1st film, Stark was going to in Avengers. Kill vision and no snap Idiots!
That being said I found this movie to be a tonne of fun and I can’t wait for Captain Marvel next March and Avengers 4 next May.
We all know these guys won’t stay dead as there are more films in the pipeline but it’s not the destination of the next film I’m interested in it’s the journey. I have no idea what’s coming and that please me greatly.
To show how much of a thanos movie this was they even gave him the hero ending of him sitting on his porch watching the sunset after he’d completed his mission and the post credit blerb…….Thanos will return
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