Avengers: Infinity War

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Josh Brolin, Chadwick Boseman, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Tom Hiddleston, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Idris Elba, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Peter Dinklage, Benedict Wong, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel (voice), Bradley Cooper (voice), Gwyneth Paltrow, Benicio del Toro, Sean Gunn, William Hurt, Ross Marquand, Kenneth Branagh (voice), Winston Duke
Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: Thanos (Josh Brolin) makes his play for the Infinity Stones to become the most powerful being in the universe in a mad plot to wipe out half of existence.

Review:

Tim: I'm continually saying this, but it is just unprecedented what Marvel is doing with their Cinematic Universe. 19 films over 10 years have been building towards Avengers: Infinity War. In that span, the MCU hasn't created a single movie that wasn't really, really good (in my opinion). We have never seen a story of this size and scope in the history of motion pictures. It is amazing. And, best yet, Avengers: Infinity War does not disappoint. This is an incredibly effective, shocking, culture-shifting movie. Joe and Anthony Russo have proven themselves up to the challenge of directing an absolutely massive film with an enormous cast, balancing each of the characters, as well as action, comedy, and drama. This is a stunning achievement.

There's so many things I like about this film, but one is the brilliant decision to really make this a movie about Thanos. Marvel has been criticized for their forgettable villains (rightly), so it was a wonderful change to see an incredibly cool, menacing force in the Mad Titan. I love the time we got to spend learning and understanding Thanos. He's certainly insane, but you understand his thinking. Josh Brolin did a fantastic job bringing him to life.

The film does a terrific job of balancing a unfathomable amount of characters. Each one gets their moment to shine. I want to touch on this briefly, although I won't go into excruciating detail. One of the biggest appeals of these movies is getting to see these different heroes interact. I loved the pairing of Iron Man, Dr. Strange, and Spider-Man for large portions of the film. These three characters couldn't be more different and it was fun seeing them together. Keeping Iron Man and Spider-Man together was a nice continuation from Homecoming and it resulted in the most emotional moment of the film. Having Thor meet the Guardians of the Galaxy was another terrific pairing and their first conversation remains one of the most uproariously funny moments of the entire film. Captain America and his team traveling to Wakanda to meet up with Black Panther was likewise good, although it had fewer incredible moments than the others. I could go on for paragraphs, but this is just a sampling of all the interactions the writers had to balance and they did an effective job.

The cast is just stupid talented. It's stunning to see so many great actors in this film. I don't want to take too much space, so I won't highlight every member of the cast. I already mentioned Brolin as one of the standouts. I love that Robert Downey Jr. got some great scenes since he is more responsible for the success of the MCU than any other single actor. Chris Hemsworth got some hilarious moments and his comedic timing was simply impeccable. Zoe Saldana got some great moments as well and Mark Ruffalo was well utilized. Tom Holland gave a great performance. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany had a few great scenes together. Now, I'm not saying this was all perfect. I wish Chris Pratt had more to do. Benedict Cumberbatch didn't come across as all that likeable in his performance. Chadwick Boseman was good, but I wish he had slightly more screen time. Chris Evans felt underutilized as he didn't really have a whole lot to do. Still, for a film with a cast this size, the Russo Brothers worked wonders.

The visual effects and the action sequences were pretty incredible. Thanos has some great moments where we witness what a force to be reckoned with he is. The battle on Titan was one of my favorite scenes, especially when Thanos throws a moon at his enemies. That's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The battle in Wakanda was effective, although it was similar to the battle in New York in the original Avengers and not nearly as impressive as that one.

I also do need to discuss the ending of the film. I'll try to do this with as few spoilers as possible, but I wouldn't advise reading this if you haven't seen the film. I loved the conclusion of this film. It was so unexpected and different to what we usually see. The snap and the dust were remarkable visuals and I love that those scenes happened without music playing. It was such a gutsy, risky move to conclude the film that way. I know people have complained that the next movie will "undo" many of those results, but even if that's the case, it doesn't bother me. We know something will change in the next movie, but fans leaving the theater had to deal with that ending. Even now, four months after seeing this film for the first time, the ending is still there. It still happened. I don't believe that by "undoing" those events that it cheapens it at all. I loved how this movie concluded.

Avengers: Infinity War isn't a perfect movie, but given the task and challenge for the Russo Brothers, I am truly stunned by this achievement. It wraps up a decade of stories (obviously with more to come) in an unforgettable story. Marvel has done a lot of great movies and this one deserves to be included in the upper tier of them.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 8.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Solider, Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, Dr. Strange