AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR ★★★★
THIS is it. For a decade and 18 movies Marvel has been building towards something, creating a universe of groundwork and audience investment in larger-than-life characters to culminate in a stand-off with a villain who could bring it all tumbling down. The result is something grand, crowd-pleasingly thrilling and worthy of all the hype.
We’ve been teased about Thanos (Josh Brolin) for many of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s years. He’s a purple-skinned alien being who wants to increase his power infinity-fold by getting his hands on the mythical and immensely powerful Infinity Stones, each with their own unique elemental properties born out of the very beginning of the universe itself.
His goal is to put the universe in perfect balance by wiping out half of all life within it. The Infinity Stones, gathered in a gauntlet he wears on his left hand, would give him the power to do so with a simple snap of his fingers. But first he needs to acquire them, with the help of his loyal warriors, known as the Black Order.
Needless to say Earth’s mightiest heroes, and a few more from elsewhere in space, have something to say about that. It’s up to them to put aside any differences they may have – not least the Civil War falling-out between Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) – and come together to stop Thanos at all costs.
It’s quite the feat that the film manages to cohesively handle its plethora of wildly differing character personalities and the unique drama they bring. Due to the time we’ve spent in their own individual adventures, we’re already invested in them. It’s tremendous fun getting to see them interact, bouncing off one another with Marvel’s trademark self-aware humour that makes sure to lighten the mood.
The plot manoeuvrings, admittedly convoluted though they can be, means we get some entertainingly unexpected character exchanges: egotistical bickering between Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Tony Stark; wide-eyed Spider-Man (Tom Holland) swinging and quipping around (“No more pop culture references for the rest of the trip,” Tony warns him); the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) catching up on what he’s missed; and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) wondering “who the hell are you guys?” as the Guardians of the Galaxy are brought into the fold. The film feels like one big pay-off for the fans in that respect.
But what shines through most is the sense that this time the heroes are up against something truly formidable, with a sense of impending doom hanging over their heroic struggles like a dark cloud. Whereas before you always had a safety net that all “The Avengers will return”, there’s a queasy feeling throughout that no one is safe this time.
It’s a testament to the exceedingly well-cast Brolin that Thanos is always compelling as he monologues his way through the film to justify his vicious means and diabolical ends, crushing anything that stands in his way of fulfilling a twisted destiny.
He’s over-the-top villainous in the best way, his sense of ruthless self-righteousness only making him stand taller as a threat.
The whole thing is done on such a visually spectacular and epic scale under the well-honed direction of brothers Anthony and Joe Russo (The Winter Soldier, Civil War), with battles ranging from a ferocious fist fight in Edinburgh Waverley train station no less to a Wakandan army assault and beyond. It really does make it feel worth the wait.
It traverses planets far and wide, so it’s not just an earthly endeavour, and effectively keeps the villain a force of peril to be reckoned with, playing characters off one another to challenge the superhero life-saving ethos. “We don’t trade lives,” Captain America tells his fellow Avengers early on – how exactly does that hold up when the universe is literally at stake?
While not as nimbly-plotted or personally emotional as Civil War, Infinity War is nevertheless a tremendously satisfying piece of gargantuan blockbuster cinema that delivers as many shocks as it does thrills.
We’ll be returning to events with next year’s as-yet-untitled Avengers 4 but this will send you away wondering where on Earth it can possibly go from here.
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