For ten years, Marvel has been hard at work breeding their characters for the eventual culmination of their journeys, and the steady stream of Infinity Stone introductions, at the hands of Thanos and the restoration of the Infinity Gauntlet. Gargantuan a task it was, perhaps one that could have undone Marvel despite their success. It's all inevitable that Marvel will eventually fall victim to the hype they themselves generated, and with what a bloodbath and earth-shattering climax the Infinity War would be, this could have been the place to do it. No doubt, with the sheer number of characters and personalities at play, this is an exhausting movie. But one with a titanic bravado, and even if hitting road bumps, succeeds at hitting the expectations of those devoted fans who've followed their exploits for a decade.
The cosmic titan Thanos has taken matters into his own hands, having finally left his throne to hunt for the six Infinity Stones on his own, to restore the Infinity Gauntlet. Should he assemble the six stones, and embed them within the Gauntlet, Thanos will become the most powerful being in the universe, and inherit the power to wipe out half of the cosmos. And so it is that The Avengers, including Tony Stark - joined by Doctor Strange and Peter Parker, Captain America - joined by Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, James Rhodes, and King T'Challa, Thor, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Wanda Maximoff and Vision, and Bruce Banner will all have to rally together if they hope to take down the mad titan, and save the universe.
But of course, you already knew this, since you've seen the other movies. Or at least, you better have seen them all up to this point, because now we've reached the point where Marvel is no longer making concessions for the casual observer. Joss Whedon's prior two smash-em-ups already faced a tough challenge in assembling such distinct and bizarre characters, and merging them into one shared narrative that did justice to all of their voices. But Infinity War is a contextual challenge like no other, requiring you to be intently familiar with these upwards of 2-dozen characters and their stories, and facing the daunting task of how to integrate and prepare to close out the blueprints that have been in the works for ten years. Such a challenge would have driven any filmmaker positively insane, as I'm sure those behind this film were. And yet by some miracle, they manage to pull it off.
The film's directors, The Russo Brothers, already showed they had the skill to juggle a multitude of established characters amidst heavy action, that served as a virtue for Captain America: Civil War. In fact, the film most closely feels like a sequel to that film, in showing how the (somewhat null) Sokovia Accords have broken the Avengers apart, and so for a hefty length of the butt-numbing 2 1/2 hours, much of their time is spent reforming the splintered factions of the team. Generally, it seems to be peace time, with not much in the way of excitement, and the likes of Stark seem to be enjoying the benefit of a semi-calm existence, with an approaching marriage to Pepper Potts. However, once Thanos enters the scene with his menacing Black Order (featuring Ebony Maw and Midnight Proxima), everything cranks up to 11, and rarely lets up. That seems to be a mood that the Russos directly evoke, starting up with the action early, and keeping the momentum up for as long as they can.
Characters are where the strength of the Marvel universe lies, and while actual character development has been forced to take a back seat, as its pretty hard to advance them in such a bombastic set of circumstances (especially when some of them really don't have anywhere left to go at this point), its in the interplay that they share where the movie's best moments come forth. Our first set of teams comes in the pairing of Stark, Strange, and Peter. The former two prove an especially lively pair, given that their similar demeanor and prevalence for sarcasm means a constant butting of heads, as either tries to take control of the situation. And Peter, being such a close ward to Tony, proves a great counterbalance to the battle of the Stark clone egos, hanging in the background with a hyperactive excitability and enthusiasm, having taken his lessons in Homecoming to heart.
At first, I was worried about how the Guardians of the Galaxy would be integrated, given that their tones were always "out there" even in the crazy world of the MCU. Thankfully, they manage to ease in seamlessly, and that's owed a huge credit to the fact that Thor, the other "out there" character of the series, is their entry way into it. Picking up directly where Ragnarok left off, Thor is the first to feel the intense personal stakes felt at the hands of Thanos, driving him towards his quest to defeat the titan. The Guardians prove a natural set of sparring partners to Thor's muscular bravado, with Quill feeling especially emasculated standing next to Quill, resulting in one of the film's funniest back and forths. Thor is largely accompanied by Rocket and Groot (now a teenager glued to his Defender handheld), the former whose own outsider status and experience with personal tragedy means Thor feels like a kindred spirit, but the trio of oddballs still retain an incredible amount of charm and hilarity, and even in such a massive cast, Rocket still somehow manages to steal the show.
Of all the Guardians, Gamora is the one that gets much of the standout moments. Gamora has been a hard character to pinpoint up to now, which is no accident given how closely she keeps secrets to the chest. But here, we finally gain some insight into the complex relationship experienced between her, and her adopted father Thanos, witnessing the contempt and hatred on Gamora's part, but also a deep heartache and constantly shifting feelings, where even Gamora can't decide if her sympathy is real or not. Elsewhere, Drax and Mantis mainly hang around for comic relief quips, with Drax perhaps having some more drive given the fate of his family, but really, hanging back is perhaps where they work better.
Characters elsewhere are somewhat hit or miss, both in attention and in impact. Wanda and Vision proves to be one of the more stirring elements of the film, with genuine chemistry and passion shared between the two, and heartbreaking implications established leading to the grand finale. However, Steve Rogers and his friends (Natasha, Sam, Bucky, etc.) fare with some mixed results, as it takes them a good third of the film to finally show up, and while they do get some crowd-pleasing bits thrown in, the sheer number of characters drowning them out means their presence is hampered. Ditto the heroes of Wakanda, and despite the ever awesome command of T'Challa, tends to get lost in the shuffle amongst the other players. Though, to be fair, I'm totally okay with that considering the amount of time we spent with him three months ago, and in his downplaying, we get more time to spend accompanying Okoye in battle. Bruce Banner also makes an appearance, but The Hulk is very much downplayed, with some of his greater bits likely saved up for the follow-up entry.
And the action is ever so gargantuan, fitting the earth-shattering and oftentimes dour mood of the film, in ways lining it much closer to the mold of a disaster movie. And even if none of them hit the heights of Civil War's airport rumble, there are a number of terrific and rousing feats of dazzling display, and amidst the character shuffle, the Russo's are sure to give each main hero at least one "applause" moment. But exciting as the action may be, there is a point where one begins to hit critical mass, because in going so epic and in one example literally going over the moon with the scale of the film, it isn't hard for one to feel a bit worn out just because of how much is being thrown at you.
Even Alan Silvestri's score feels like a missed opportunity, as there's very little here to make it stand out. And yet it didn't need to be that way, as this could have been a stellar compilation of the various hero themes, as they fight side by side. Imagine Michael Giacchino's Doctor Strange theme playing in counterpoint to Brian Tyler's Iron Man, or Cap's (confusingly absent) March joined alongside Black Panther. But aside from a few rousing statements of the Avengers theme, and one instance of Ludwig Goransson's Panther theme, the overall compositions feel disappointingly generic.
But if anything holds this movie together, it's ironically the one threatening to tear the Avengers apart, that being Thanos. I can happily report that this character lives up to all of his insane potential. In his mightier moments, he is exactly the kind of villain you hope for him to be, intimidating, brutal, and a master at preying upon the weaknesses of others, and such a distinct presence really goes the extra mile in selling him as a prominent threat. But uncontent to leave it at that, there's also a surprising deal of complexity behind his motives, with a genuine emotional center offsetting the brutality, and a genuine respect to those who challenge him. In many ways, this is pretty much his movie, and even when he's on the sidelines, the looming dread of his presence and his influence still remains strongly felt, made especially powerful through Josh Brolin's layered physical performance. For what could have become a generic final boss, by the end of the movie, we feel as though the decisions and goals of the mad king feel... rational.
And for an MCU movie, the final scenes that cap the movie off are truly remarkable stuff. Without giving much away, the film leaves its audience with a cliffhanger, setting into motion some weighty material for the second part due to come in May 2019. While Marvel has faltered in long term stakes and consequences in their films at times, the final stretch of this film takes some big leaps in playing with audience expectations, leaving them to mull over some genuinely dour and grave food for thought. Only time will tell if such a move will eventually be seen as anticlimactic, especially with the future films that Marvel has already announced, but for the time being, as a singular event, this ending truly hits you like a truck.
Like I said, someday the MCU will have a dud. Someday it will fall victim to its own hype. The bottom has to fall out sooner or later. But that day isn't today. With Marvel scoring back to back hits with Black Panther and Infinity War, and looking to have another fun outing with Ant-Man and the Wasp, they're not going anywhere anytime soon. And even with flaws like in Infinity War, when the end result is this stellar and rewarding, can I really complain?
**** / *****
How would you rank the mcu movies?
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