• Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Drama, Comedy, Superhero
• MPAA Rating: PG-13
• Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
• Medium: Live-action
• Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Scope)
• Country: United States
• Company: Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios
• Director(s): Anthony and Joe Russo
• Cast: Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin, Sherlock Holmes)
Chris Hemsworth (Home and Away, The Cabin in the Woods)
Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right, Spotlight)
Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World)
Scarlett Johansson (Her, Lost in Translation)
Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash)
Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug)
Tom Holland (The Secret World of Arrietty, The Lost City of Z)
Chadwick Boseman (42, Marshall)
Chris Pratt (The LEGO Movie, Jurassic World)
Zoe Saldana (Avatar, The Book of Life, My Little Pony: The Movie)
Dave Bautista (Spectre, Blade Runner 2049)
Bradley Cooper (American Sniper, Silver Linings Playbook)
Vin Diesel (The Iron Giant, The Fast and the Furious)
Karen Gillan (Doctor Who, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle)
Pom Klementieff
Tom Hiddleston (Kong: Skull Island, Early Man)
Paul Bettany (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, A Knight’s Tale)
Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla, Martha Marcy May Marlene)
Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation, Zootopia)
Sebastian Stan (Hot Tub Time Machine, Black Swan)
Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones, Elf)
Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love, The Royal Tenenbaums)
Benicio Del Toro (Traffic, 21 Grams)
Terry Notary (Kong: Skull Island, the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy)
Josh Brolin (Milk, No Country for Old Men)
Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, The Incredibles)
Stan Lee (obligatory Marvel cameo)
WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
This is it. 10 years and 19 motion pictures worth of world, character and hype-building has been leading up to the ultimate showdown of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ve seen the assemblage and separation of the Avengers and the solo adventures of some of Marvel’s most beloved superheroes, and now they all come together to fight the dreaded Thanos in one of the most highly anticipated cinema releases of the year. But will Avengers: Infinity War prove to be as awesome as the previous Marvel masterpieces or have the heroes gone down to zeroes? Let’s find out…
After the split of the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War, Thanos (Brolin) has finally come out of the shadows and, with his army, seeks to acquire all of the Infinity Stones to bring what he considers balance and order to the universe, through destruction of galactic proportions and the mass extinction of half of all life in it. The Avengers, in addition to the Guardians of the Galaxy (*squee!*) and many of the other heroes introduced throughout the MCU, soon become involved with Thanos’ quest and basically it’s up to them to stop him from achieving his task. Can they prevent Thanos from gathering all the Infinity Stones and save the universe from destruction? Unfortunately, to really talk about my honest feelings towards this film, I have no choice but to go into spoiler territory, but I’ll get to it later.
Surprisingly, for a Marvel superhero movie, the first act was very engaging. I was actually able to follow the plot and get into it, something which I thought I could only do with the GOTG films. The film quickly takes its time to reintroduce many of its major characters for those unfamiliar with them and their previous adventures, and has some genuinely awesome battle sequences and really funny humor to counteract all the action and drama. Due to its ambitious crossover nature, it’s a checklist for people to wait for their favorite characters to show up in all their glory and even the characters that aren’t your favorites can still manage to bring a smile to your face once in a while. Whenever these characters interact with one another, the writers manage to bring some excellent chemistry and playful banter with how they bounce off each other. Indeed, this is one of the strengths of this gigantic production.
Now we move on to the main antagonist of the picture, Thanos, who until now had only been lurking in the shadows as witnessed in the first of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy films and the Avengers sequel Age of Ultron. Josh Brolin delivers a truly unexpectedly exceptional performance as Thanos, who not only acts as a true threat to the universe, but is also a fully three-dimensional and, dare I say, even ‘human’ personality. The more time we spend with him, the more we learn about who he is and what he wants and what price he has to pay to attain it. The film takes plenty of time to develop his backstory along with his desires and fears. Even for all the terrible things he does, it’s almost impossible for him to not feel regret. Not bad for someone who resembles a purple Buzz Lightyear who had his chin smashed by a panini press.
Now this is were I enter spoiler territory, so for those who have not seen this in theaters yet, I advise you to scroll down to the bottom of the page for my final consensus.
*SPOILERS BEGIN HERE*
Sadly, while I liked the first parts of the movie just fine, things began to take an unexpectedly soul-crushing turn for me. In order to acquire the Soul Stone, Thanos kidnaps Gamora (his adopted daughter) and coaxes her to reveal its location, which happens to be Vormir. Once there, it is discovered that Thanos must sacrifice a loved one to receive the Stone, and to my shock, Thanos KILLS GAMORA! I could not believe that one of the Guardians of the Galaxy, my favorite characters from the MCU, just started pushing up daisies! It took me quite a while to recuperate from this tragic loss, yet things only go from bad to much, MUCH worse. By the end of the movie, Thanos succeeds in getting all of the stones and with a snap of his fingers, half of all the characters we’ve been following for an entire decade just dissolve into dust right in front of us! I wouldn’t make such a big deal out of it if the REST of the Guardians of the Galaxy weren’t destroyed with them! (I am thankful, however, that at least Rocket Raccoon was spared.) That’s right. EVIL WINS, and the film forces us to watch most of our favorite characters DIE! I understand that not every film has to go by the book, but I completely detest the idea of letting the villain win. How would you like it if Simba died and Scar won at the end of The Lion King, or if Woody and Buzz and the rest of Andy’s toys were burned alive in the climax of Toy Story 3? Actually, look at another film that ends on a down note, The Empire Strikes Back. Sure, the bad guys triumph for now and the good guys retreat to nurse their wounds, but with that film you still felt a ray of hope at the end, but here, the filmmakers just tell us “Nope. Bad guy wins, half the universe dies, life sucks, the end. Have a nice day.” Call it nitpicking if you must, but understand that this ending broke me. By the end, I had never been made so depressed by a movie since Where the Wild Things Are nine years ago.
*END OF SPOILERS*
In conclusion, Avengers: Infinity War (for me, at least) almost works as the one epic summer blockbuster we’ve been waiting for. While it boasts terrific action, funny moments and a complex villain, what ruins the fun experience is the accruing bleakness which manifests itself into a complete downer where evil wins and (half of) good dies. Although this review is not entirely positive, I don’t call this a good or bad film, just a depressing one. If you’re looking for a feel-good summer blockbuster, you’ve come to the wrong place. If anything, this picture below best illustrates how the average moviegoer might feel before and after witnessing the film.
During this long grieving process until next May, I will never forgive Marvel Studios if the Guardians of the Galaxy stay dead in the next Avengers movie. Until then, all I can say is “Help me, Deadpool! You’re my only hope!”
My personal rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Next time: Deadpool 2 (Oh, Wade Wilson, PLEASE help me find happiness again!)
Supreme Dream Machine 