Sunday, April 29, 2018

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018) *** ½


(Note:  I’ll try to keep this review as brief and spoiler-free as possible.)

The term “epic” gets thrown around a lot in Hollywood, but if any film deserves to be called epic, it’s Avengers:  Infinity War.  It’s a sprawling tale following over sixty characters on several different planets and sometimes on multiple planes of reality.  For ten years, The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been leaving breadcrumbs across nearly twenty movies to get to this moment and for the most part, it works as well as anyone could’ve hoped.

It’s overlong, sometimes unwieldy, and the seams threaten to come apart at any given moment.  There are a LOT of narrative balls to juggle.  YOU try to cram nine different franchises into a single movie.  Despite the massive length (which simultaneously feels too long and curiously rushed at the same time), the goodwill the characters have built up over the past decade and the sheer spectacle of the never-ending battle sequences and special effects set pieces glue everything together.

Infinity War really belongs to Thanos (Josh Brolin).  His presence dominates the film as the various Avengers, Guardians, and SHIELD agents splinter off and team up for their own side missions.  For an Avengers movie, I was surprised by how much the Guardians of the Galaxy were in it.  They are crucial to the narrative and help to bring much of the earthbound Marvel characters into the cosmos.  My favorite moments were the interactions between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper).  (Thor calls him “rabbit”.)  The relationship between Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) continues to impress, and the addition of Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) into their dynamic was a nice touch.  I did feel like Captain America (Chris Evans) kind of got the short end of the stick from a narrative standpoint, as did Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), although the Wakanda-set finale is a real showstopper.

For sheer entertainment, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth.  It’s as close to a big comic book crossover as we’re likely ever to get.  I also liked seeing some familiar faces that we haven’t seen in a while popping up in cameos.

Some of the deaths of beloved characters seem like… well… overkill at times, especially near the end.  (I guess they were trying to make up for the lack of stakes in Civil War.)  That said, there was at least one moment that will probably get Marvel fans choked up.  Even then, I’m sure the filmmakers won’t have much trouble bringing most (or all) of them back at some point.  We won’t know for sure till the next one.

Spider-Man gets the best line of the movie when he gets to try on his Iron Spider suit for the first time and says, “It smells like a new car in here!”

Marvel Cinematic Universe Scorecard:

Avengers:  Age of Ultron:  ****
The Incredible Hulk:  ****
Iron Man:  ****
Thor:  Ragnarok:  ****
Spider-Man:  Homecoming:  ****
Iron Man 3:  ****
Captain America:  Civil War:  *** ½
Ant-Man:  *** ½
Guardians of the Galaxy:  *** ½
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2:  *** ½ 
Avengers:  Infinity War:  *** ½
Black Panther:  *** ½ 
The Avengers:  ***
Captain America:  The First Avenger:  ***
Captain America:  The Winter Soldier:  ***
Thor:  ***
Thor:  The Dark World:  ***
Iron Man 2:  ***
Doctor Strange:  ** ½ 

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