Never has the world been so eager to go to war. Infinity War did that. It has already broken a lot of first day opening records across the world and it seems this Marvel machine cannot be stopped, just like Thanos’ quest for the Infinity Stones.
Hype means high expectations, and there is a lot at stake both in terms of the story and the box office. Over 60 characters introduced in the last 18 movies of the last 10 years were assembled against their strongest, and probably deadliest threat – who would be safe if as Gamora said, Thanos managed to get all six stones and snaps his fingers?
There were a lot of storylines to tie together so that the convergence of universes would not look awkward and try-hard. The script really managed to do that. It jumps to different parts of the universe constantly but then none of them made you wonder “why are they there?” Also the way the common thread was weaved through the fabric of the story was clear as despite the Avengers are now divided and separated, they all understood the stake of losing and were, literally, willing to throw their lives to protect others.
The story in Infinity War picked up from where several other movies left off, namely:
- Captain America: Civil War
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Spiderman: Homecoming
- Black Panther
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
So if you are familiar with the endings (and post credit-scenes) of these movies, you will have no problem picking up the progress in Infinity War, as the movie started off right where Thor: Ragnarok left off and jumped right into actions in the 5th gear. The pace is very fast as there are lots of things to do to refresh the memories of the MCU followers while keeping the new wheels in motion. From that perspective the Russo brothers did a brilliant job, because there wasn’t a single scene that left me wondering “why are they doing this?” Everything made sense from tying up seemingly loose ends from previous movies to establishing new threads of narrative for this and other upcoming movies. I believe one needs to be very diligent and thorough about the whole MCU in the last 10 years to be able to do that. Also probably the dressed rehearsal of Civil War provided the Russo brothers a clear vision on how to approach so many characters in one go and make them make sense again in this mega amalgamation of a movie.
As most people noted, not everyone made it into the movie. The much talked about love-hated-then-loved Hawkeye was nowhere to be seen but was addressed in a dialogue among some members of the group, and so was Ant-man, although nobody knew the Wasp exist yet at this stage. Then of course there are other characters they couldn’t really deal with such as Sharon Carter and Everett Ross, whom, in the super hero assembly against Thanos probably couldn’t offer much. Also Steve Rogers still being on the run did not help with any potential romance with poor Sharon. That said the romance arc between Scarlet Witch and Vision was really too good to be missed. So I am glad that the Russo brothers spent a bit of time to develop that arc in the movie. Very satisfying for me indeed. One of the other surprises for me was the resurgence of a very old character everyone was wondering in the last 10 years.
Infinity War still introduced some new characters, which is the most well publicised Black Order. The children of Thanos, as compared to the daughters of Thanos, aka Nebula and Gamora, who were supposed to be the next power house of destruction, in my opinion were quite under developed. They showed up high and mighty and ended up quite mediocre in the movie from my point of view. However, judging from previous Thanos minions, most of them are like that, which makes it more special when it came to the roles Nebula and Gamora played in Thanos greater schemes of things. And I must commend on the movie’s handling of the relationship among Nebular, Gamora and Thanos, as it at some point made you empathise on Thanos’ seemingly evil scheme despite all the bad things he had done to achieve this scheme. However, I personally would like to see more of the Titan storyline to make it a stronger case for Thanos’ motives as compared to just a story narrative to explain where he came from. The motives were mentioned here and there as emphasis but sometimes for me it is better to witness that struggle and downcast for Thanos so this back story became richer and more formidable as a strong motive of this seemingly evil deed that Thanos wanted to carry out.
As a Marvel movie, you can expect a lot of one liners and punch lines among these assorted groups of superheroes. The bantering exhibited by these group of characters were extremely spot on and what impressed me was that they still behaved in the way they behaved in their own franchises / universes but their behaviours were integrated into the overall tone of the movie flawlessly. They didn’t feel like they were tagged on for the sake of it but they were genuine character behaviours. Also these actors having inhabited these characters for so long in the past 10 years did help a lot to make these characters felt and looked truthful in Infinity War.
If you are never a superhero fan or never care about superhero movies, you will probably don’t like Infinity War or won’t care about it. I have read a review from someone from a prominent publication that when you read the lines you know he has no understanding of what Infinity War or the whole MCU is about. MCU is not just comic fan book tribute or service, but it is also an enormous piece of artwork that you need to actually understand how it was assembled to appreciate its relevance.
For me Infinity War impressed me through its holistic narrative that managed to tie together 18 different scripts written by different people and directed by different directors. That alone is a reason to appreciate it. But more importantly, Infinity War itself told a story that makes you empathise on both sides of the camp, and that, in a context of superhero movies, was an impressive accomplishment. Of course not to mention that it is so action packed and narrative rich that I was not even aware of the passing of time in the cinema. The only thing I really did not like about Infinity War was there was only one end credit scene. Most people in the cinema shared the same “WTH” moment with me when no mid-credit scene showed up when it seemingly acted like one is coming up – yeah it stopped briefly before full credits rolled. Damn you Russo brothers!
