Avengers: Infinity War Review
Words can’t really describe how I felt on that night
ten years ago. That night I saw “Iron Man” for the first time. I had no idea
how the world was about to change for me, for all of you, for entertainment.
Okay, maybe it didn’t change the world, but when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson)
broke into Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr) house, telling him he belonged to a “bigger
universe” and also telling him that he wanted to discuss the Avengers Initiative.
This whole Marvel Cinematic Universe has been the brainchild of Marvel Studios
president and executive producer Kevin Feige. He’s been wanting a shared
universe onscreen for many years, and he’s finally been making it all look so
easy for the past ten years. For better or for worse, he’s changed the entire
landscape of Hollywood and filmmaking forever. If we just look at his Marvel
universe, some movies have been great, a few have been mediocre, but how well
he’s accomplished his ultimate goal, and how much he’s got right here has been
rather remarkable.
There is a piece of Kevin Feige’s cinematic universe
that I’ve been dreaming about now for five years now. After “The Avengers” in
2012, Marvel introduced Thanos. Cool, I thought. That’s a great way to elevate
things for the next movie. In 2013, they introduced the Infinity Stones, which
made sense. If Thanos exists in this cinematic universe, so should the Infinity
Stones, since the comics with Thanos tied him so much to them. In 2014, we were
going to get a huge payoff to these teases. A two-part “Infinity War” Avengers
movie. Yes, I understand they dropped the Part One-Part Two thing. But after
seeing “Avengers: Infinity War” today, that point is mute. This is a two-parter,
no matter how you look at it.
So how is “Avengers: Infinity War?” After all the
hype. After all the waiting? After all the big set ups, was there a grand payoff?
If you haven’t been immersed in comic books like I
have and if you’ve ever wondered what a comic book crossover truly looks like,
well it’s like “Avengers: Infinity War.” The directors, Joe and Anthony Russo,
could have easily called the movie “Marvel’s Infinity War.” Because even though
the Avengers turn up, its hardly an Avengers movie. As you’ve seen in the
marketing, the Guardians of the Galaxy show up. There is a huge chunk of film
that takes place in Wakanda, and several supporting characters from “Black
Panther” show up here. Heck, tons of supporting characters from several of the
MCU movies show up here. (Including some appearances, I flat out DID NOT see
coming.) One thing that I have to hand the Russo brothers is that with all of
these characters sharing a movie together and also introducing some new
characters, its amazing that the film didn’t result in a discombobulated,
incoherent mess. You are going to be surprised by how well each character and
each piece of story is juggled. I certainly was. It literally feels like a
superhero episode of “Game of Thrones.”
But the reason I ended up loving “Avengers: Infinity
War” isn’t because of “OHMYGODTHEAVENGERSANDTHEGUARIDANSTOGETHER!” It’s been
clear since day one that Kevin Feige has loved every moment putting this huge
long story together. Across nineteen movies and across ten years, there is one
thing that I repeatedly see in these movies. That one thing is passion. Even in
the movies that don’t work as well as the other films are filled with passion. If
you’ve ever heard Kevin Feige talk in interviews, that passion is all over his
face. He loves these characters. He’s been in love with these characters since
he was a kid, I’m sure. He’s been hiring actors and directors and writers and
other filmmakers who also love these characters too. “Avengers: Infinity War”
was a huge collaboration, and its been said that the Russo brothers discussed
the film with the other directors of the MCU movies to bring this film to life.
You see that in every frame. The Russo Brothers pay tribute to everyone who has
ever been hired to be apart of this franchise. And I’ve learned from watching
lots of movies each year, that if you love your creation, that love shows. The
audience will follow you, and its really a big reason why these MCU movies work
year after year.
Within all of these appearances, there is a story. It’s
a pretty simple story. A story we usually see in these superhero stories. But
honestly, that’s not a bad thing. In a world this dense, its always best to
keep the story simple. Sure, it certainly helps that we’ve come to know these
characters for a decade. There are some big moments between characters that pay
off in massive proportions. You are going to demand a Thor-Rocket-Groot (Chris
Hemsworth, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel) team-up movie after what you see them go
through here. Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Iron Man (Downey Jr.),
Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) all bantering back and
forth is great. Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson)
teaming up was amazing. Shuri (Letitia Wright) schooling Banner (Mark Ruffalo)
in science was magnificent. Since we’ve got to know these characters, their
interactions are stronger. The stakes are higher. It all makes for a better
movie.
Let’s discuss stakes for a minute too. “Avengers:
Infinity War” is a movie that will rightfully shut all those hardcore DC
fanboys up. The fanboys who think that since Disney bought Marvel that they are
only capable of making family-friendly, low-stakes movies. “Avengers: Infinity
War” is anything but. This is the most ambitious film in the MCU arsenal. The
repercussions from this film are unimaginable. I look forward to discussing
this movie with friends and family who are unfamiliar with the comics. Because
I am sure this is going to divide viewers. In fact, if the internet is correct,
it already has. The ending is confusing and it was pretty clear that most of
the people I saw this movie with were caught off guard by it. The post-credit
scene is even more confusing, leading a person in my audience to ask what it meant
after the lights came up, hoping that a comic book freak was in the crowd. This
film just doesn’t work like the other MCU movies, and I humbly commend Marvel
for really going big with this one. If you’re expecting just another Marvel
movie, you may end up hating “Avengers: Infinity War,” because that’s not this
movie. I am totally loving that Marvel chose creativity over easy commerce
here.
I will tell you that Marvel has finally cracked their
villain problem. Earlier this year with “Black Panther,” they introduced
Killmonger, who is easily the greatest villain they’ve ever created. Marvel has
been building toward Thanos for six years now, and we’ve seen him here and
there a couple times. I am pleased to report that Josh Brolin’s work is just
plain superb. I am equally pleased to report that Thanos pays off big time. Much
like Killmonger, he’s righteously angry here. He isn’t collecting the Infinity
Gauntlet and the Infinity Stones, which happen to be the most powerful relics
in the world and can turn anybody into a god, just to simply subjugate people.
Too many times in superhero movies, the bad guy does something bad because…well…they
are the villains. It’s always easy to give a villain a mad grab for power. But
there is so much more to Thanos. Yes, he wants to kill half the universe. But
the reason isn’t just due to artificial superhero movie antics. Hell, its not
even the same reason as in the comic books. He’s doing it for reasons that are
truly important to him. He creates a slippery slope of morality with his motivations,
and there were moments with Thanos that blindsided me. The Russo brother were
right, Thanos is the main character here. After all the build-up, he truly does
stick the landing as a villain.
All the special effects are as top notch as they’ve
always been. With all the characters in the movie, there are moments that will
be stuck in your head for many, many weeks. With “Captain America: The Winter
Soldier,” “Captain America: Civil War” and now “Avengers: Infinity War,” the
Russo brothers have proven that they can maneuver through tones with ease.
There are moments where you will laugh out loud, moments where your heart will
drop, and moments that will make you want to get up and cheer. If it were up to
me, I’d put the Russo brothers in charge of every superhero movie. Not just
Marvel movies. But every. Single. Superhero. Movie. Ever. They have such a great
command of craft, such control of the genre that you won’t believe how much
they get right. Yes, this plays out as big superhero ensemble. I’d say I prefer
the story in “Black Panther” over the story told here. But “Avengers: Infinity
War” is so confident, so fun to watch, so full of passion that it was
impossible for me not to love it. After ten years of build-up, I couldn’t ask for
anything less. The future is going to be hard as shit for our heroes, and I am
left curious as hell as to how things will conclude.
I know you will be too.
FINAL GRADE: A
No comments:
Post a Comment