REVIEW: The stakes have never been higher for the Avengers in Infinity War
Ten years. Nineteen movies. Six stones.
We may not have initially known it when we sat down in theaters and were introduced to Tony Stark / Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) back in 2008, but this is the moment that we’ve been slowly building to over the last decade: The Infinity War.
This movie isn’t for those who have never seen a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie before (and if you haven’t, what rock have you been under?). The film isn’t built for epic story progression or character development – all of that can be found between Iron Man (2008) and Black Panther (2017).
No, instead Infinity War thrusts you immediately into the chaos that is left in the wake of Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his quest for the Infinity Stones.
Actually, let’s talk about Thanos for a minute.
Thanos is Tony Stark’s worst nightmare come true. It’s beings like “The Mad Titan” that caused the formation of The Avengers. They didn’t know it at the time, but he’s the reason Tony and Bruce Banner / The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) created Ultron (even if that didn’t go particularly well) back in Avengers Age of Ultron (2015).
Thanos is a madman; he’s practically “space-Hitler” (and no, that’s not just me trying to be funny).
The end game for Thanos surrounds the completion of the Infinity Gauntlet, an all-powerful weapon that he needs to carry out his plan for humanity.
The worst part of it all: the movie almost makes you feel for Thanos at certain points. He actually has some humanity within him.
He’s not just some cookie-cutter villain who wants to rule the world; that’s not it at all. Instead, Thanos sees a problem in the world and he aims to fix it. His ultimate goal is barbaric in every sense of the word; however, it is a cause that he believes in fully. Thanos truly believes he is doing the right thing for the world.
So, who’s going to try and stop this seemingly unstoppable bad guy? Literally everyone.
Infinity War had all the makings to be a giant cluster you-know-what with its stacked, star studded cast.
Thankfully, it’s not.
Save for a couple exceptions, if a character was in an MCU movie before and wasn’t killed off, then they’re likely in this film. While this may seem like it would be overwhelming, Infinity War balances its cast extremely well – instead breaking up several characters into unique little units that follow their own sub-plots.
There are pretty much three story arcs that occur within the film, and for the most part they all happen simultaneously to one another. The awesome part is that each arc and its band of characters tend to weave in and out of one another almost flawlessly.
This leads to several hero team-ups that you never expected you’d see. Frankly, you won’t know you wanted some of these team ups until they happen, and then when they do you’ll be glad they did.
But what about the elephant in the room?
More than anything else, it seems as though the big question on everybody’s mind leading up to the film has been who’s going to bite the dust: Captain America (Chris Evans) or Iron Man.
Anyone who’s asking that is asking the wrong question.
Infinity War quickly makes it clear that everyone has a whole lot to lose should Thanos succeed. Without giving much away, let me just say this - no one leaves this movie unscathed.
Infinity war is probably not going to sweep the movie award shows, and it shouldn’t by any means. This isn’t a film for the academy, it’s a film for the fans.
It was in my second viewing of the film (yes, I’ve already seen it twice) that I realized the brilliance of what Marvel Studios has done.
For 10 years we’ve been invested in these characters. We’ve watched the characters fight, grow, grieve, and love.
The arrival of Thanos has raised the stakes not only for the Avengers, for the Guardians, for Spider-Man and for Dr. Strange; it has also raised the stakes for audiences as well.
Avengers: Infinity War is rated PG-13 and runs for 149 minutes.