Avengers: Infinity War

"In time, you will know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right. Yet to fail all the same. Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives."

Filmology Rating: 3.33 out of 4

After ten years and eighteen films it would seem foolish to think that anything I say about Avengers: Infinity War will change the minds of anyone who has invested so much time in a cinematic franchise.  At this point in the game you have either bought into the universe that Marvel Studios has created or you are simply dumbfounded that a new Avengers movie is out currently in theatres and you have no interest in it.  Yet here I am to tell you that Avengers: Infinity War is a non stop thrill ride that leads to an ending that will leave you shocked and in complete fear of what is to come.

Taking place two years are the events in Captain America: Civil War the Avengers have been disassembled, with some of the team on the run and others waiting for marching orders on which battles to fight.  The world has never been more vulnerable for an attack than when Avengers: Infinity War starts and that fits into Thanos’ plans perfectly for collecting the cosmic entities: the infinity stones.

If you are one of those people who decided that Infinity War would be the perfect place to jump into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then I’m sorry.  The film offers slight exposition at the beginning of the film as to who Thanos is and why he is on his quest to gather the Infinity Stones,  but that is all you are going to get.  You aren’t going to understand the relationships that help define the characters in the film, you aren’t going to understand the struggles and triumphs that our heroes and villains have had over the past films.  Hopefully you will still enjoy the film, but I personally would find myself thrown into the climax of a story wondering who all of the players are. 

The only true issue I had with this film is that it is all climax, the film offers outstanding set piece after set piece leaving little time for the audience to breathe.  To some this will be an exceptional aspect of the film since it will never leave you bored but I found it to be a slight fault of the film.  I was never able to fully comprehend the consequences of certain scenes because you would be quickly off to the next scene at breakneck pace.  To use a Spinal Tap reference, the film starts at 11 and never comes back down from it.  Infinity War is truly telling four stories that are put together to make a unique product that I could never see any other studio making; the four stories being told however could easily be four separate films that would be more fulfilling than the little stories that they are in Infinity War.  To say that I wanted the film to be longer might seem absurd, since the film already runs two hours and forty minutes but having a longer film would have helped flesh out more of the storylines and given the film even more character beats that Marvel fans have come to love.    

For those who love mythological characters, you will know that the heroes of those stories are usually the most bland lifeless characters and that the obstacles and challenges that the heroes face are the most intriguing aspect of the story.  While this is not me calling the heroes of Infinity War lifeless, this is me saying that these characters from Steve Rogers to Drax are our modern day mythological characters who have never had such a challenge like they do in Infinity War.  The Mad Titan Thanos, played wonderfully by Josh Brolin, not only questions the ideology and philosophies of our heroes but he also challenges the pure strength of every member of the team.  It is rather different to see the villain of the film also being the protagonist of the film, most films wouldn’t be able to make the villain compelling or persuasive enough to follow for two and a half hours but I found myself completely engaged on the quest that Thanos was on and in some slight sadistic way I found myself almost agreeing with his thought process.  To me that was the sign that the film was working perfectly, I could not only empathize with our heroes but I found myself empathizing with the villain. 

It’s clearly hard to manage expectations for Infinity War, and to look at this as a standalone film is a task that many are struggling with.  Not only does this film end with one of the greatest cliffhangers in cinematic history but it has had ten years of films leading up to the galactic war, for those who have taken the marvelous journey you will be in for an emotional roller coaster and for those who haven’t bought in to the cinematic universe I’m willing to take a gamble that you will have an enjoyable time watching this cosmic event.  

Rating: See It

-Jonny G