Avengers: Infinity War, Reviewed

Spoiler-free, or your money cheerfully refunded!

By now, you have probably already made up your mind about seeing Avengers: Infinity War, the nineteenth Marvel Studios film set in their Cinematic Universe. Since you are reading this, you are either 90% likely to see it, or you are my mum. (No worries, Mum! I should have a post with your granddaughters in it within the week.)

The purpose of this review is not to convince you whether or not you should see it, but to share my impressions of it without giving anything away, and perhaps give you some idea of what to expect.

Well, first of all, it's big. I mean, really big, and not just the 2.5 hour running time. It is epic in scope and scale, from the varied and often cosmic settings to the levels of world-shattering power displayed. It's a lot of movie, a veritable Ten Commandments of superhero flicks, and there are places where it feels overstuffed. I wouldn't mind seeing a directors' cut that tucked in maybe another 20 minutes.

But there are still a couple of quiet moments, which I appreciated, and the Russo brothers make great use of one of the greatest casts ever assembled for an action/adventure movie, both in quantity and quality.

Most (but notably: not all) of the MCU gets dragged down into a knock-down drag out with Thanos and his Black Order. Thanos, whose direct participation in the MCU has been negligible (with the exception of the first Guardians of the Galaxy). The Mad Titan wants to mount all six impossibly powerful infinity stones into a gauntlet, and if he does it, he intends to randomly wipe out half the life in the universe in a skewed effort to restore balance and preserve resources.

Despite how busy the film is, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have given Thanos enough scenes and dialogue that he is not simply a malevolent, scenery chewing force of nature. He is still monstrous, but strangely accessible, and almost sympathetic in a way that his comics iteration never has been. Josh Brolin's motion capture performance is magnificent and nuanced, perhaps providing some competition to Andy Serkis' Gollum for the first time in over a decade.

Don't hold your breath waiting for a scene like that great circle shot in the first Avengers movie - the story is just too big to keep them all contained in one place. While this does limit some of the combos you might have hoped to see, the Russos certainly make great use of the ones they have. Costumes, equipment, weapons and powers are all used to their maximum extent, but you are never sure if they will be enough to stop Thanos, or powerful Black Order members like Cull Obsidian or Proxima Midnight.

There is a ton of fan-service contained in the film: Thanos creatively disposes of two foes in a manner drawn straight from the Infinity Gauntlet comic book, and although they are never named, I am convinced that Dr. Strange brings the Crimson Bands of Cytorrak into play during the climax. The interactions between the Guardians and the other Avengers is not only entertaining to watch, but it successfully knits together the Cosmic and terrestrial sides of the MCU, opening the door up to even more stories and characters.

In terms of criticism, there is not much to offer. In all honestly, I liked Black Panther better, and consider it a better movie, too, but it is an unfair comparison. Black Panther didn't have 60+ 'main' characters to deal with, and had only limited ties to the rest of the MCU. Infinity War is the capstone (or at least part of the capstone) to a ten year shared universe project involving 18 other films. Complaining that there is just too much movie in here is akin to complaining that caramel is sweet.

The cool coin we got at the fan event tonight (eventually).

For a summer tentpole movie involving massive intellectual properties owned by some of the largest media consortiums and entertainment companies in the world, Infinity War is a bold, bold, film, willing to take risks and even willing to risk the goodwill of its fan base by moving away from the status quo. Comparisons to The Empire Strikes Back are inevitable, and there are certainly structural similarities there.

And in some places, it is legitimately heartbreaking to boot. (I didn't weep, and as many of you know, I am an easy target for that sort of thing, so I am almost a bit disappointed that I didn't. But it was a near thing, let me tell you.)

Let's take a moment and express some appreciation for the efforts that Marvel, and the directors and cast, have all put in to keeping the movie's surprises surprising. The hashtag #ThanosDemandsYourSilence is a good one, the PSA where the stars refuse to give anything up is hilarious, and the fact that the Russos went completely dark on social media yesterday shows me a loving commitment to letting this immense story unfold where it should: on the biggest screen you can manage. I also respect how the filmmakers subverted expectations by having at least one scene in the trailers that does NOT appear in the movie at all; bravo, sirs!

C'mon, if you have seen even half of these movies, you are going to want to check this one out. Go see it quickly, without spoilers and with an open mind. Untitled Avengers Movie won't be out until next May, and we will have plenty to talk about and speculate on until then.