Infinity War is big. Plain and simple. There's never been this much
box office power in one film. This is the 19th film in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe and I struggle to think of one that hasn't hinted in some way at Infinity
War movie as the end game.
Thanos is finally here. For those of you who haven't seen all the movies or
don't remember much film to film, Thanos (Josh Brolin), is a big-chinned
big-bad of the entire universe. He's behind Loki's (Tom Hiddleston's) attack of
Earth back in The Avengers.
He's also the adopted father of Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula (Karen Gillan).
He has an obsessive belief that life in the universe is only sustainable if
half the population is killed or ceases to exist ("balance in the
universe). He can achieve this by collecting the six Infinity Stones, which you
may recall being mentioned throughout the last 18 movies. And that's the
backbone of Infinity War: All the Marvel heroes try to stop Thanos from
getting the six Infinity Stones. It's a simple setup, because this movie is
too overflowing with characters to fit much more in.
I don't have the time, space, or patience to cover
everyone in this movie. Of the heroes we've been introduced to, only Ant-Man
and Hawkeye are missing. Otherwise, incredibly, everyone else shows up. The
great fun of the movie is seeing how all these combinations of characters
bounce off one another. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Doctor Strange
(Benedict Cumberbatch) have some great banter, as two type A personalities who
don't like being told what to do. Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) enthusiasm bounces
off the Guardians of the Galaxy's collection of personalities nicely. T'Challa
(Chadwick Boseman) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) have always felt like kindred spirits. I was excited to see every new combination. That's the thrill of the
movie. If you are seeing it primarily for any other reason, you are setting
yourself up for disappointment.
This is absolutely a product more than a film. As
talented as the Russo Brothers are at managing large productions like this,
there's no way to comfortably move between the different stories and settings
in this. Numerous characters are short-changed in terms of screen time or
significance. I was in a persistent state of thinking "It sure has been a
long time since we last saw ______". It is impossible to make this
anything but bloated. The Russo brothers deserve all the praise I can give them
for how good the final product turned out. At over 2.5 hours, it's still not
long enough to fit everything in a comfortable way.
The plus side is that the story doesn't sag. It
doesn't have time to. There's always something going on, some fire to put out.
Marvel has made it clear that Infinity War and the sequel next year will
be the end of an era. There's a lot of actors who have been at this for a while
and won't be renewing contracts. That gives this movie an edge that past Marvel
movies have lacked. I was nervous for every character the whole time.
Maybe this is how Robert Downey Jr. finally moves
on.
Perhaps Chris Pratt is too busy with other movies to
keep coming back as Peter Quill.
While [without getting into spoiler territory] I
think Marvel hedged a bit with their decisions in this movie, I can't think of
a franchise movie that has ever been this willing to break the hearts of fans.
I have a lot more to say about Infinity War,
but I can't discuss it cryptically like I do with most movies. Further below,
I'll get to more spoilery discussion. If you are looking for my thoughts
overall though: I liked Infinity War a lot for exactly the reasons I
figured I would. The cast is beyond good. The established characters all feel
true to how they've been in previous films. The villain is appropriately
powerful and the stakes are appropriately seismic. The battles are big and
effects-driven, because they kind of have to be. There's no room for one on one
brawls with tight choreography. Still, I always had a decent sense of the
geography of a fight and the players involved, which is good enough. This told
a much more complete story than I expected for a two part movie, although it
does leave on a significant cliffhanger. To say that I had a lot of issues with
Infinity War would mean that I came in with unrealistic expectations.
While imperfect, I'm not sure I could expect much better than I got.
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
Too much of the reaction to this movie are spoilers,
and I need to address them.
-Shared Universe theory: Carrie Coon is in Infinity
War playing Proxima Midnight. At the end of the movie, a significant
portion of the Earth's population disappears. Coon is also in The Leftovers,
a TV show about a significant portion of the Earth's population disappearing.
Could the two be part of the same universe, or at the very least, is Coon
responsible for it happening? I don't know. This is just my excuse to bring up
how much I love Carrie Coon and to admit that I was kind of rooting for her
throughout the movie.
-If I'm being honest, the biggest surprise of the
movie for me was during the credits. There are a lot of actors in
Infinity War who are used to getting top billing, so the credits at the end
were certain to be a bloodbath. Who goes first? Who gets their name alone and
who is put in a group with two or three other names? Who gets a "with [Actor
name] as [Character name]"? Will their be an "and [Actor
name]" or some other weird credit ("Introducing [Actor name]
as [character name]" or "Special Appearance by [Actor Name]"?
This is the sort of thing that managers and agents
fight very hard for and the actors only sort of care about. Most of these went
as expected. Robert Downey Jr. goes first. I think Chris Evans was second. I
was a bit surprised to see "Vin Deisel as Groot". I was fully really
for "with James Brolin as Thanos" to be the end. Only, it wasn't. The
last of those credits was "and Chris Pratt". I love Chris Pratt. I
just didn't think he was established enough for that. The "and"
credit is generally saved for older or more prestigious actors who are "slumming
it" by taking a supporting role. I'd expect Anthony Hopkins to be
"and Anthony Hopkins" in the end credits in any movie he's in, for
example. I know this has nothing to do with the actual movie, but that was the twist ending that
shocked me.
-Let's get to the great purge. Earlier in the movie
saw a few deaths. I didn't really need to see Heimdall die, but if Idris Elba
is willing to show up for a day or two of shooting, who I am to complain?
Loki's death set the tone early and made sense. He'd played out his usefulness
and was only still around because Tom Hiddleston is so great. I'm pretty
indifferent about Vision too. He's the definition of a supporting character:
there to fill out the Avengers' roster and little else. It was a shame to see
Gamora die. More on that in a moment though.
The great purge is an absolutely fascinating
reinterpretation of one of my favorite sayings: Always fight battles small
enough to win but large enough to matter. In this case, it's Kill
characters small enough to not hurt the interest in the sequel, but big enough
to make fans care.
I'll admit, I was faked out by what happened. I
figured this was the easy way for all the old regulars (Robert Downer Jr.,
Chris Evans, etc.) to retire if they wanted. Instead, that looks like it'll
happen in next year's movie. A lot of characters were wiped out, but they sure
as hell felt strategically picks. The original Avengers crew all remains (Iron
Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow). The Guardians of the Galaxy are
wiped out, except for Rocket, which feels like the smartest choice*. Bucky and Sam are two sidekicks without much
use beyond adding numbers. Doctor Strange and Scarlett Witch were supplemental
as well.
*I love Peter Quill, but they already have enough
chiseled white guys in the group, and he doesn't really have any powers. Drax,
Mantis, and Groot work better in a lighter movie. Having more than just Rocket
would overpower the comic balance of surviving Avengers.
The two that surprised me the most were Black
Panther and Spider-Man. They also made certain that this big death would be
undone at some point in the next movie. Had Marvel known how big of a hit Black Panther would be when
they were writing Infinity War, you know they would've found a way to
keep T'Challa around. I feel like Peter Parker would still be there if
Spider-Man was a Disney property. As I said though, even if I didn't know that
both characters were getting sequels (same with Guardians of the Galaxy), I know
that Marvel wouldn't dispose of Black Panther and Spider-Man: their two hottest
characters. They are the next generation, key to the success when Iron Man and
Captain America aren't around anymore.
All that said, I'm pleased with the remaining group.
First, it's smaller. That is key. Infinity War was overpopulated.
Halving fewer characters gives everyone a little more screen time. Second, it should
be the original Avengers team (plus Rocket and War Machine and whoever else I'm
forgetting). If you notice, they end up the leaders of any group they are in,
anyway. They are by far the most established characters. They are the
first-string Marvel heroes. Still, it was a bit sad to see all that diversity**
Marvel has built up disappear in one fell swoop like that. As excited as I am to
see Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, she looks like more of the same in a lot of
ways.
**I don't just mean that in a black-and-white sense.
The initial Avengers crew are all pretty formulaic. African T'Challa, the intergalactic Guardians, (Eastern re appropriation aside) the mystic Dr.
Strange, and the young Spider-Man shook up the formula some in ways that will
be missed.
OK, I've gone on long enough.
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