Avengers: Infinity War Review

        We’re near the end of MCU’s Infinity Saga, it’s almost like it was yesterday when I, along with some friends and acquaintances watched Avengers: Infinity War in a packed theater. Of course, it was at the time the most hyped release of any Avengers and MCU film. I was hesitant since Joss Whedon wasn’t going to direct another one but was assured that the Russo Brothers were going to helm it. Safe to say that they. delivered and probably brought the whole MCU and the general audiences feelings into another level. 

1. Infinity War

        The way the film starts is unlike any other MCU or Avengers film to open at that time. Still keeping with the formula that they introduce the threat and then kicking off the story. Just how it starts lays it out that this is going to be different from what we’ve seen before. The ominous theme is Thanos’ leitmotif along with the ship carrying Thor and the other Asgardians as they plead that they’re a rescue vessel. 

        While we’ll talk about Thanos’ massive role in the film, he practically steals the whole show performance wise and with his own actions. Before I do that, we see just how much of a disadvantage the heroes are in this one. Since the Avengers disbanded following Civil War, everyone here is separated. And separation is one of the film’s main points of approval. We do have a massive cast; some may say that it’s an epic. An epic in the context of cinema is a particular film where the scope is massive along with the cast. 

        The key thing that is practically a must is that when a film has a massive cast, split them up. If everyone is occupying the same room or a general area where the action is taking place, part of it will feel discombobulated and some characters getting the short end of the stick as far as screen time. The one example where this idea holds true is with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Anyways, the core members of the team are split off as they attempt to stop Thanos from acquiring the infinity stones. 

        I might as well talk about the fact that the heroes are separated. Obviously, Tony has a massive ego battle with Doctor Strange. Compounding is that Spider-Man joins the fray and the Guardians of the Galaxy. While yes, it’s fan service to have these guys finally meet but the overall crux of the meet up is that they don’t gel well enough to work with each other. We see that Strange puts his Time Stone first in front of everyone else, which practically sets up a little battle of morality. 

        Meanwhile, we see that the remaining heroes back on Earth try to save Vision without killing him. It’s a recurring thing that I’ve noticed on this rewatch where the heroes put Vis’ life first before destroying the stone that’s giving him life. The theme of sacrifice is prevalent in the whole film. Most of the heroes try to save Vision but at a price where Thanos is coming for him. More so that there’s one scene where Peter Quill and Gamora talk about having him kill her so that Thanos doesn’t know where one of the stones locations is. 

        I mean yeah, it’s a blockbuster that is a spectacle for the audience and delivers those what I call theater moments. Moments where a character reappears or something dramatic happens where it has the audience audibly gasp or cheer. Like a theme park where everyone actively reacts due to the characters that they got to know on a personal level. One instance is when Thor gets his new hammer. We see that he gets hurt and the blacksmith is looking for the handle, Groot makes a new handle and wields the weapon and I remember how everyone was just losing their minds at the sight of seeing him do that. Then transition to the Avengers seemingly losing a fight, then Thor triumphantly appears in Wakanda to do massive damage. 

2. Thanos

        Even though it’s an Avengers film, this film is strictly Thanos’. Very little has been revealed about the villain since he was a tease in the first Avengers and made an appearance in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Just seeing him along with his posse just seemingly eliminate the refuged Asgardians just shows how ruthless he is. That scene when the Hulk jumps out and fights Thanos is probably the best introduction to the actual threat. Like here we see that Hulk is the strongest one there is, and it looks like the fight may be one sided. 

        Until we see Thanos just throw down and manage to defeat Hulk, to the point where we see Banner trying to be the Hulk to no avail. I think what makes Thanos work as an antagonist is that we never had a good look at him in the prior films. Minor appearances but we never really get to see just how violent or evil he was. Leaving the door open as to anyone to assume just who he is as a character. 

        While his actions are diabolical for an eco-terrorist, we have one scene where he makes everyone relate to him. The scene involving him, and Gamora is one of the best in the film due to how it humanizes Thanos and makes him an understandable villain. We see just how his motive to him is justifiable since he doesn’t want the other worlds to suffer like his did. Conversely, Gamora states that she was taken from her family when he invaded her world. 

        It's one of those things where he calmly states his intention basically tricks us into thinking that his idea is a good one. All the while, Thanos is hellbent with going through with it by any means necessary. This is where that sacrifice theme comes up again as he sees Gamora as his obstacle and necessary objective to help him. Among the deaths and we will talk about the obvious moment, this one hurt since we see her be just a pawn to Thanos’ plan. And how I feel that this sequel is the true dark film of the Avengers series. 

        Among the other villains that appear alongside the Marvel characters, Thanos is easily up there that he achieves what he planned to do. While the other films have villains like Magneto or again Loki, Thanos has such an interesting character where just him appearing officially in this movie makes his showing more beloved as one of cinema’s best villains. And maybe for a comic book villain since he achieves what he wanted to do. Which is why his fatal move may be the best executed in terms of a cliffhanger. 

3. The Snap

        I don’t think any casual audience member has read the comic books involving Thanos or his quest for the stones. Not even getting a glimpse or full scope of just the cataclysm that he did within the comics. While I knew what he did in the comics would be adapted to an extent in this film, just the way it’s presented here is probably one of the best moments in the MCU in general. I mean, there are moments where it’s clap inducing that are the definitive heroic aspects of the franchise, but this one was a massive gamechanger. 

        We see that in Wakanda, Thanos has managed to get all the stones. I think of the deaths, Vision’s was the most gruesome due to how Wanda sacrificed him. All that gets undone as Thanos rewinds time and plucks the stone out of Vision’s head, effectively killing him. Thor arrives and manages to injure the villain, then the mad titan mocks him for not aiming for the head. Thanos proceeds to snap his gauntlet and completing his quest. 

        The whole approach to the snap is just perfect. No music is played, and we see how a select few are targeted as we see them turn into dust. Reminiscing again was that people were gasping and shouting no as various heroes and soldiers of Wakanda disappeared out of existence. Out of all the dusting, Spider-Man’s was the most heartbreaking. Tom Holland’s performance sells it as we see just how he’s hurting and then phasing out.

        In the context of the story, it’s the most effective at showing that the heroes tried and failed to stop the villain. All the prior Avengers films had it be where the team wins, lose and then wins the final fight. With this one, the losses outweigh the wins, and it shows in the final shot of the surviving heroes that they were left awe struck and horrified as to what has happened. To even punctuate it, we see Thanos finally relax after everything he did. It’s dark in an ironic sense since he won and did what he did. 

4. Overall

        Avengers: Infinity War for as great a film that it is, is easily one of the darkest entries in the MCU and for any sequel in cinema.