Summary
Some films change the world, while others just make it more awesome to live in for a few hours. The tenth anniversary Marvel Studios film falls somewhere in between and is a joyous celebration of comic bookery and beloved characters.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a decade old and, as of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, a total of 19 films deep. It’s a fact that will get bandied about a bit in the countless reviews that will pour onto the the Interwebs over the coming days and weeks. Some will speak of Marvel fatigue, while others will sploosh in fanboy and fangirl delight. Yet what both sides of the fence are getting at is the significance of the series on the cultural landscape.
Whether you connect with the Marvel films or not, the series of movies that began with 2008’s Iron Man have all meant something to the viewers. Whether you were introduced to the characters on the screen, or have been reading their printed adventures for decades, this series has offered an unprecedented chance to develop superheroes across a multitude of platforms. Now it’s all coming to a head.
Picking up immediately after the events of Thor: Ragnarok, the Asgardian god of thunder runs afoul of universe conquering Thanos (Josh Brolin). With the Mad Titan intent on collecting the six Infinity Stones and taking over the universe, the worlds of the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange intersect to stop the coming threat.
Given the scale of the film, there’s so much to process here. For much of the first act, invested audience members will sit with our sloppy grins agape at the spectacle. Some of it is simply the unique couplings of characters, such as the unlikely success of Thor and Rocket, or the Sherlocks in stereo of Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch. This is as much as celebration of character as it is an event, and it would take a separate review to list all the wonderful quips, cameos, and nods to lore.
Structured around these small clusters of teams, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is mostly an accelerating car with scant regard for the destination. A legitimate complaint might be that this bloats out the running time for the sake of giving every character time to play. This might be true, and at 149 minutes it tests audience endurance levels and bladders. Still, at this late stage in the game, isn’t that what we’ve signed up for?
The effects and photography are unsurprisingly top-notch, which is not exactly a shock for a film that reportedly cost between $300 and $400 million to put on screen. There are at least half a dozen points in the film that will rattle the roof off with audience applause, from the Wakandan battlefront to the lightning filled arrive of a certain Asgardian. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s script tempers this scale with some sharp dialogue and innumerous one-liners. Indeed, James Gunn is said to have had a hand in the Guardians of the Galaxy’s lines.
Ultimately AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR needs to be considered as part of a larger whole. On one hand, directors Joe and Anthony Russo have never made any secret about this being intrinsically tied to the as-yet-untitled fourth Avengers film. More than that, it’s the culmination of an idea that began as a post-credits sequence a decade ago. It’s an emotional, sometimes downbeat, and always powerful piece of storytelling. The best part? It’s not over yet.
