Wow! Just…wow!
So much has gone through my mind in the last twenty-four
hours, both during the movie and hours after leaving the theater, and I’m
already planning a second viewing of this third chapter of the Earth’s
Mightiest Heroes—Avengers: Infinity War.
The film is epic, both in running time and the scope of the story—where
it goes and how it divides up the team of superheroes…this movie is immensely
marvelous.
I’ve got to say, I had my doubts, yet had my expectations
set pretty high, because that’s where this film had to go to impress me. With the first teaming back in 2012, I had
been let down a bit with the follow-up—Age
of Ultron—and, to put it in James Cameron’s recent idiom, was starting to
give audiences “Superhero Fatigue.” But
this new film certainly put that uneasiness to rest and shut down Cameron’s
foolish projection, as we now have a bar set so high that any chapter of the
Marvel Studios films is going to have a tough time reaching.
As each trailer was released—and even the leaked Comic Con
footage—on the internet, I’ve indulged myself to those short vignettes multiple
times just to satisfy my craving for the upcoming film. As I was sitting in the theater yesterday,
waiting through the few trailers they showed before the main feature, I wanted
to scream out for the projectionist (Is there actually still a person up there
in that little room?) to play the movie already! But the time arrived, the lights dimmed, and
the movie started. About two hours and
thirty minutes later, I sat awestruck and eager for more.
So, with all that expressed, let me give you the film’s
breakdown from Marvel Studios…
As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect
the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has
emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos.
A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six
Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his
twisted will on all of reality.
Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment—the
fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.
Of course, I’m going to be very careful not to spoil the
plot, the surprises, the ending, nor will I describe the after credits
scene. Full disclosure, however, I am a
Marvel Comics fanboy and will gush over certain superheroes featured throughout
this film. If you still feel this may
spoil the film for you, or if you want to go into this movie fresh without any
info whatsoever (which I recommend), please stop reading and come on back after
you see it.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about Avengers:
Infinity War.
Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (who have
both teamed to write a few other Marvel Studios films in the last five or six
years), these men gave us a fantastic story to follow along. They must have an Infinity Stone of their own
(the ‘Scribe Stone’ perhaps?) but they’ve given us a few wonderful stories out
of the oeuvre of Marvel superhero films we’ve seen thus far.
Many of you who have picked and chosen certain movies out of
the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and have not seen every single movie
from the litany of their superhero flicks may be asking yourselves if one would
need to see all or any of the movies preceding this one. I’d say that if you have an idea of which
hero is which and know a semblance of their origins, you might be okay with
going into this cold. Probably the only
confusion one may have is at the start of this film and how it kicks into
gear. Thinking about that, I may be
inclined to say that you should at least watch the very entertaining Thor: Ragnarok, especially waiting until
the first of the rolling credits to see what happens. However, it’s probably best to experience all
the movies—in order of release—before you go and see Avengers: Infinity War. But if you just can’t manage to sit through
around thirty-six hours of superhero cinema, you can watch a recap in about
fifteen minutes right here.
As each Marvel film has shown, whether during its main story
or as an after credits scene, something big was coming with some very high
stakes involved. Especially the scene
that was featured after the credits rolled for Age of Ultron, we knew Thanos (voiced by Josh Brolin) was finally
going to show and make it a gamechanger, and it was no secret that this film
was going to feature him as the main antagonist. From the previous films’ teasers to the
trailers for this film, we all knew that Thanos was going to be a force the
Avengers were going to have to reckon with…and boy, is he ever that force in
this!
Although it’s not my favorite format to watch a film (I
still think it’s a gimmick that has ran its course for far too long), the 3D
wasn’t too bad and it didn’t induce a headache like most 3D films usually
do. In fact, I kind of liked the Marvel
logo that slides in-and-out in the beginning of the film that finishes with
Captain America flinging his shield toward the camera…that wasn’t too
shabby. But for the rest of the film, it
really did nothing to make the movie better.
I found myself during some of the darker scenes wanting to take the
glasses off so I could have a clearer and brighter view of what was going on,
so you’re going to want to see this in standard viewing form.
The Avengers fanfare is back to start off this flick with
Alan Silvestri back in the composer’s chair to give us a great soundtrack to
back our heroes. He was certainly missed
in the previous entry of Age of Ultron where
Danny Elfman and Brian Tyler took up that spot for some reason. I’ve gushed over Silvestri many times before
because of the memorable movies for which he’s composed music. Films such as Back to the Future, Predator,
Forrest Gump, and most recently, Ready Player One are some of his
memorable ones.
As for screen time each actor is given within this story,
one would think it’d be an impossibility to allot them all ample time, but it
wasn’t. Counting the main characters in the
cast listing—and that’s the main heroes without counting their righthand
guards, fellow sorcerers, significant others, etc.—was upwards of around
thirty. But if you want to include the
rest of the characters that are noteworthy and substantial, you’re probably
looking at around sixty. No one is
shortchanged and everybody has a role to play in this epic parable.
The directing team of Anthony and Joe Russo do a fantastic
job of taking this huge task and giving us such a beautiful superhero
flick. It’s a comic book geek’s dream—I
should know—and seeing how they took charge of the second and third Captain America films, you can see why
this worked so well. But it’s more than
that…it surpassed my expectations, surprised the hell out of me in one scene as
I think I left my jaw on the floor of that movie theater last night, and, at
the end of the film, I haven’t felt this way since I saw The Empire Strikes Back way back in 1980. What I mean by that is that I’ve never felt
the need to see what comes next in any movie since.
As I spoke to some colleagues of mine who partook in this
outing last night, we discussed what we saw for a few minutes after the film,
standing in the lobby of the theater as the next batch of moviegoers were
flowing in to see the next showing of the movie. During the discussion, I couldn’t help
comparing this film to its predecessor, Age
of Ultron, noting how much down time that film had with a few
lulls…especially the scenes featured in Hawkeye’s house. But Avengers: Infinity War has no such
breaks or screeching halts. It may seem
that way at times, but it always ends up with some action that helps out the
plot. And that’s the thing about this
flick, as opposed to some of the other Marvel films, there are no action scenes
for action scenes’ sake, only action that helps the plot move along.
Besides the serious tones in this film—and there are quite a
bit—additionally, you’ll see some very funny moments at times. Though it’s nothing like the laugh-a-minute
romp that Thor: Ragnarok had been,
this film has quite a few laughs that had the crowd cracking up. I mean, ten years ago, would you have
believed we’d see a film with a God of Thunder teaming up with a living tree
and a talking raccoon?
Though every main character has their own introduction into
certain points within this plot, there are a few that just caused everyone to
clap and cheer as they were shown up on the screen.
I won’t get into the scene or spoil anything—as I’m
nervously trying my best as I write this—but when Captain America (Chris Evans)
is shown for the first time in this film, it is monumental, eliciting quite a
bit of applause from the packed house.
Now sporting a beard and some longer locks, he’s now a gruffer Cap,
without his shield (which you would’ve known if you’d seen Captain America: Civil War) but just as strong and agile as he’s
ever been.
Now I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Spider-Man
and loved the fact that Sony finally came to their senses to allow the
inclusion of the character to the rightful owners when he made his MCU debut in
Captain America: Civil War. Though
I’m iffy on his first MCU outing in Spider-Man:
Homecoming, I felt that the character has finally come into his own and
shined when he was on screen. Tom
Holland fully embodies the young hero and gets his due screen time in this
extravaganza. As with Captain America’s
entrance, we get the same from Tom Holland’s arrival, which is seen in the
movie’s trailer. But he’s definitely
more of a webslinger here, seemingly getting the hang of his powers and
agility, and when he jumps into action at the start, it’s…amazing.
Another favorite of mine is Hulk. Growing up, I’ve enjoyed some of the
cartoons, positively loved the CBS series in the late 70s with Lou Ferrigno
donning the green paint and shredded pants, and I still enjoy the 2003 film
starring Eric Bana. Since his appearance
in the first Avengers film, his
appearance—voiced and motion captured by Mark Ruffalo—has been the best
adaptations of the character. Once
again, I won’t spoil the inclusion of his character to the story, but Hulk’s
scenes are sure to shock you.
Without writing a book, you’ll have to believe me that
they’re all here, all with equal or at least a meaningful amount of time in the
film, giving it their all, battling like you’ve never seen them battle
before. The risks are deadly, the fights
are felt, because these heroes are up against something that they’ve never been
up against before in their life. You’ll
feel their pain, their aguish, their dilemmas.
At the same time, there is so much humor, unlikely comradery…it is so
much fun and adventurous…this is an Avengers
movie like you’ve never seen before.
Before I make a mistake and write something a little too
revealing about the plot, let me give you my final “bit” on Avengers:
Infinity War.
A great example of what a superhero film should be is what
I’d watched last night. I hate to
compare Marvel Studios to Warner Bros., but the execs over there have got to be
pulling their hair out as they try to understand how their rival comic book
moviemakers are kicking ass at putting these superheroes up on the
screens. Any other studio should just
pack it up and give up because Marvel Studios have got what it takes and must
have the greatest moviemaking strategies ever conceived. But besides all that, this movie is excellent
and the Russo brothers have got a difficult task ahead of them in trying to top
what they’ve accomplished so far. Avengers:
Infinity War is funny, action-packed, full of story, and will leave you
wanting more when that screen goes black and the credits roll. The good news is that we don’t have to wait
the normal two- to three-year gap before they get the next movie released—the
next one is coming out next year. Not
only that, but Ant-Man and the Wasp
is set to arrive on July 6th and Captain
Marvel on March 8th of 2019.
Also coming to theaters near you, though not exactly part of the MCU, is
Deadpool 2 on May 17th and
Venom on October 5th. So, fear not, comic book fans, there are
quite a few other films to satiate your appetite until next year. For now, go out there, see this film, don’t
let anybody spoil it for you, and thank me later.
However, I thank you
for reading!
