It wasn't that good. I know, I know it's an unpopular opinion and I'm a little late to the party but hear me out, Infinity war to me is a mixed bag at best. It has its moments, but the phasing and overall plot leave more to be desired. It was a thrill ride that just didn't live up to the hype, at least for me. So join me if you will, as we dissect the good, the bad and the weird... welcome to my Avengers: Infinity War review.
One of the few things that actually lived up to the hype was Josh Brolin's Portrayal of The Mad Titan Thanos. If you're at all familiar with the comics, Thanos is a very different type of character there. Fascinated with nihilism and death, he literally fell in love with Mistress Death and his main motivation for wiping up half the universe boils down to impressing his one true love... Not really what you'd expect from someone who has the moniker of "Mad Titan." The movie version though hits the mark and then some. The MCU version of Thanos isn't evil for evil's sake, nor is he some lovesick fool obsessed with boning death. This movie did something I never thought they could actually pull off, they gave Thanos a heart. To be able to empathize with someone who's dead set on eradicating half the universe is very hard to do. But the MCU somehow made it work. Thanos actions in a sense are completely justified. Having suffered himself in the overpopulation of his home planet Titan, he took it upon himself to make the decisions that absolutely no one will. He see's himself as the true hero and everybody is just a nuisance in furthering his goals. To him everything is about balance, too much of anything would only leave to pain. True his methods in the end just boil down to genocide, but his reasons for doing so are not only compelling but in a way also very resonant.
The cast of Guardians of the Galaxy has always been fun, arguably the funniest superhero team in cinema today... Then Thor 3 happened and turned the Thor franchise from a somewhat good yet lackluster fantasy franchise into a gut-busting, balls to walls straight up fun comedy. So it made so much sense to have the two franchises interact with each other. Having Peter Quill engage in a battle of ego with Thor is just so damn perfect. Just having everyone including Drax pine over how much of a "Man" Thor is just a damn good time to watch. And I love the fact that of all the guardians, Thor ended up hanging out with Groot and Rocket. Having learned that Thor can speak Groot, or just having him have a heart to heart talk with Rocket Racoon, there is just so much potential for these characters to be together that I legitimately want a Thor X Guardians Movie. Valkyrie, Korg and Miek are most likely still kicking around somewhere, for all we know that theory about Loki actually being alive could actually be true. So why not? Come on Marvel make it happen!
I love the implications of the post-credit scene, It was the "big whammy!" moment for me. Who would have thought that the one main character we totally forgot about would be the one to shed the last inkling light of hope. For those who missed the post credit scene here's what happened. Nick Fury and Maria Hill are driving across the city when the snap across the universe happened, the city is in shock as millions of people turn into ash, Maria Hill soon disappears as well. Nick Fury would soon be the last victim of the snap among the heroes, but before he disappears he pulls out what the fandom now calls "The Cosmic Pager" and contacts Captain Marvel. What most fans didn't seem to understand is that this is a very important moment. Among all the deaths via the snap, this is the only one that mattered. Nick Fury was the one character who was actually ahead of everybody else. This proves that Nick Fury is never complacent and will always have one last counter initiative for any treat. That one moment cements Fury's true importance and it also helped hype up the next coming films leading up to Avengers 4.
What a glorious fall Marvel has orchestrated. I was somewhat familiar with how the original comics went down so I already knew parts of what was going to happen, but how Marvel executed everything was just so damn good. For every moment of triumph for our heroes comes a backlash of chaotic proportions. For every attempt at saving someone's life comes at the cost of even more. This movie reminded me so much of that Avatar Episode "Day of the Black Sun." That episode in season 3 where almost everyone introduced in the series show up for an epic battle, only to fail at almost everything. This movie is kind of like that only a lot more exhausting, and I mean that for better and for worst. That being said, in a story perspective, I wouldn't have it any other way. One of the main reasons why this movie was so impactful to a lot of people is because we basically see all the heroes fail, of course, it's going to be a genuine shock. 10 years worth of films, a multitude of heroes, a whole universe explored and it all comes down to one snap at that decisive moment to make you question everything. Was it all meant to be? Or is there a greater plan at work? Well, they are already shooting Avengers 4 right now... so I guess it's the second one.
Well, to be fair, I guess this was expected. When Infinity War was first announced, one of my very first question was "how in the holy hell will they be able to fit all these established characters in one coherent story, without any of them feeling shoed in?" and the only answer I can think of was, they wouldn't be able too. And I was right... There was just too many things going on and a lot of characters to be hyped, that it actually held back the flow of the story. Most the characters that were prominent in the promotion of the movie, didn't even make that much of an impact in the actual movie. Team Cap, for example, was only there to be awesome and fight a war but ultimately didn't really contribute to anything story wise. The Script didn't even provide a proper explanation of where they were after the events of Civil War. Ultimately the story of Infinity War felt more like set pieces spliced together but without a proper sense of flow.
I've studied literature in college, and one of the things that stuck with me when it comes to storytelling is the importance of death in a narrative. The rule is that any major character death should have meaning and reason. That's why the death of Maes Hughes in Full Metal Alchemist was such a big deal, that's why the "Red Wedding" in Game of Thrones ended up being such a game changer. These deaths where constructed effectively as a plot device to further the plot. Death if not handled properly in a story, could come up as manipulative and cheap. (I'm talking to you walking dead! Carl!? Really!?) In Infinity War among the 16 heroes that died, (Yes, I counted) only 4 deaths actually mattered, Loki, Gamora, Vision and Nick Fury. Loki's was to cement his last act of redemption as he tried to save his brother in exchange of his own life, Gamora's was to show another layer to the Thanos character, Vision was basically an integral part of the overall plot and I mean really its like everybody expected him to die anyway, then there's the disintegration of Nick Fury which I already explained earlier. All the other "deaths" are not only cheap and manipulative, on the grand scale of things, they're not even valid. I mean really does anyone here truly believe that Spiderman's or Black Panther's death is going to be permanent? Come on Russo's I expected better than this. On the other side of things, I get it, the whole thing was a set-up for Avengers 4, but still, the emotional punch in the gut everyone is talking about, felt more like a scratch in the head for me.
As I stated above in all fairness, Loki's death, for the most part, was actually handled pretty well. But a part of me couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. There was a lot of potential still for Loki, especially in this story. I mean, yes, the perfect way to establish your new villain is to have him kill off the last one that's a given, but wasn't Thanos already hyped up pretty well throughout the years? It would have been fun to see Loki play a double and/or triple agent part in the story where he sets up a plan to betray Thanos at the very end only to fail like everybody else. Or they could have him interact with Team cap in Wakanda and be in a shaky alliance kind of situation. Or maybe have him still paired with his brother and interact with the Guardians that would have been fun too. With such an established character there would still have been a lot they could have done with him instead of killing him off right off the bat.
Let's be honest 2 and a half hours is never going to be enough to satisfy all our nerd cravings. Thor meeting up with the guardians as mentioned earlier is golden. In retrospect having Tony Stark's snarky personality meet with Doctor Strange's arrogant demeanor is also a damn good time. We got a lot of interactions from characters we always hoped for, and for the most parts, it was awesome. But what about all the other interactions we hoped for but never got? Though we got a quick banter between Shuri and Banner, imagine how awesome it would have been to have the science bros interact with both Shuri and Rocket. Having Tony reunite with Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes would have also been very intriguing to see. This is honestly a nitpick but I genuinely seem to have a love-hate relationship with the decisions made in terms of who got to be with who, I guess in a story perspective it made sense, with all the things going on in the narrative, you can't really have everything you want. And hey, with the 4th Avengers movie going out next year, maybe we get to see these interactions, who knows?
Not the best among the marvel movies, but is definitely not the worst. It's still fun and engaging but it also felt more like a filler episode to past Marvel films than an actual movie. It shed light on one of the most interesting villain in the franchise at the cost of downplaying some of the heroes. The superhero nerd in me truly enjoyed this film, but that side of me who's a little more critical in films in general, can't help but feel a little off. Avengers: Infinity War is an epic that was really not that epic, The Superhero film to beat all superhero film but didn't, the culmination of 10 years worth of MCU but not really... It had its moments, in fact, it had really great moments, but its far from what I expected. It's still a great movie worth watching and supporting though. And if you enjoyed this movie then good on you! This is just my opinion, and opinions could be wrong. Oh God, I hope the Internet won't kill me for this, wait... did I just hear a snap?
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