Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin

Directed by Joe & Anthony Russo

The Story:
Intergalactic Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his Black Order set out to find the six Infinity Stones - stones created at the beginning of time that, when combined, would grant their owner unlimited power.  Thanos wishes to use this power to eliminate half of the universe to keep it in balance, and traverses the universe to find them.  The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy band together in order to keep the stones safe, and try to find a way to stop Thanos once and for all.

The Synopsis:
I have been eagerly awaiting this film for many years now, wondering how it would all play out, and even having dreams of watching it.  It's no small thing to say that "Infinity War" was the most anticipated film I've ever come across, one that I felt could claim the throne as my most favorite film of all time.  Did it achieve that goal?  Let's find out.


Marvel has always been known for making more family-friendly superhero movies, and unlike the DC Extended Universe, they focused more on humor and joking around than serious fighting and dire consequences, but that all changed with "Infinity War."  The MCU has existed for ten years, and has churned out eighteen films that are all inter-connected, and they all come to a head in "Infinity War," a once-in-a-lifetime achievement where heroes from several different movies come together to stop one seemingly unstoppable evil, and even they know not all of them will make it out alive.

Back in 2012, Joss Whedon directed "The Avengers," and that was a film that was deemed unheard of - how could a film manage to balance the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye in a way that make them all meaningful and give them ample screen time?  Somehow, Whedon managed to achieve that, but Joe and Anthony Russo upped the ante by leaps and bounds with "Infinity War," featuring over twenty superheroes from throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  While not everyone had a superior amount of screen time (many were really relegated to glorified cameos), the film worked incredibly well together as a whole, because we've had eighteen films before this one to firmly establish the characters and therefore make them more personable and more important to us - we don't want to see any of them die, but going against a seemingly unstoppable foe, we know that's probably not going to happen.

The theme of sacrifice looms heavy in the film, as we're given past reminders of other people who've sacrificed in order to preserve humanity, but here the concept of sacrifice is much more dire.  Not only is the Earth at stake, but so is the entire universe.  If Thanos gets his hands on all six Infinity Stones, he can snap his fingers and half the universe would disappear.  Our heroes know that they will have to lay down their lives in order to keep that from happening, and that's a concept we as an audience also have to live with.

There wasn't a moment wasted, and wasn't a moment where I felt like the film got boring.  While I hold the airport battle in "Civil War" as one of the best action sequences I've ever seen, there are several scenes in "Infinity War" that more than hold their own - the battle in New York, the fight in space, and especially the battle at Wakanda - all were shot perfectly and were extremely intense.  I could feel my heart almost beating out of my chest as I watched my favorite heroes fight for the freedom of the universe.

The couplings in the film were also a stroke of genius, as I often wondered how a conversation between Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Peter Quill and Peter Parker would go down, and I was not disappointed.  The film jumped between many different scenes - so much so I have to watch it again (and again, and again) to fully comprehend and appreciate them all, but that's a task I'm more than willing to do.  I could see this film thirty times and not get bored.  It was just insane seeing the likes of Thor working with Groot and Rocket Raccoon (Thor giving Rocket a new nickname in the process), or aforementioned Stark, Strange, Spider-Man and Star-Lord, or the whole battle in Wakanda occur on the big screen in such a way that literally blew my mind, pieced it back together, and blew it again.

While we already knew our heroes, we didn't know a whole lot about Thanos, but his story was completely flushed out here in a way that was intriguing and powerful.  Josh Brolin dominated the big screen as the Mad Titan, who served more as a prophet than an actual villain, a being of pure logic who held to the fact that half of the universe has to be destroyed in order to maintain balance.  The universe was growing too quickly, and if it kept going unchecked, humanity would pay the ultimate price - so he goes about looking for the Infinity Stones and proclaiming the continuation of the world by eradicating half of it.  It's the cries of a madman, and with unstoppable power, could prove to be the most deadly of all.

I had already high expectations going into the film, feeling that this could become my all-time favorite.  The Russos managed to cause me to run the gambit of emotions - I laughed, I cried, I gasped, I screamed, I cheered, I mourned, I rejoiced, I had to pick my jaw up from the floor on more than one occasion, and my goosebumps got goosebumps several times.  I am a diehard Marvel fan, and while I can spot their weak points (such as "The Incredible Hulk," "Iron Man 2," and "Thor: The Dark World"), "Infinity War" is the gold standard, the shining star on top of the most beautiful Christmas tree ever decorated.  Was it absolutely perfect?  No, but I haven't really seen too many "perfect" films.  What it did do was cause my emotions to be unleashed in a way they've never done before, and for a film that's over two and a half hours, it felt much shorter and left me begging for more.

Thankfully, I only have to wait one year for the next "Avengers" movie, and not another ten.

The Summary:
Achieving the truly impossible, Joe and Anthony Russo culminated ten years and eighteen Marvel films into an epic film masterpiece that upped the stakes and delivered a genre-defining powerhouse film that will probably never be duplicated.  So did "Infinity War" top my all-time favorite films?  You'll have to ask me in private after seeing it for yourself, for I don't want to give away any spoilers from the film.

The Score: A+