Review: Marvel Successfully Pulls Off Crossover Mania With “Avengers: Infinity War”
For starters, this film is definitely best viewed without any spoilers. Therefore, the following review is free of spoilers.
Avengers: Infinity War, directed by the Russo Brothers and starring Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Josh Brolin, and maaaaaaaaaany others, is perhaps one of the most anticipated films in recent years, especially since it’s a culmination of ten years of movies. After seeing it, it lives up to the hype. First, before watching this movie, watching or having knowledge of all of the previous Marvel Cinematic Universe movies is necessary to get the full experience. Watching this in a vacuum with no context will significantly bring down the experience as it depends on a viewer’s investment in the series. The film brings together nearly all of the major heroes from the Marvel productions of the past decade as they struggle to fight the pwerful warlord Thanos, including most of the Avengers (which include Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, and Spider-Man to name just a few), Dr. Strange, Black Panther, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. A good deal of background knowledge is necessary to fully appreciate the film.
One of the major improvements this film has over other MCU films is that the action is done a lot better. Too often in Marvel movies or in any action movies there are multiple jump cuts that make following the action really hard. In this film, the use of constant jump cuts are few and far between and incorporate longer wide shots to showcase the action. The movie also doesn’t fall into the trap of relying solely on the world ending and instead puts more attention on the personal stakes the characters have in the plot.
Another thing this movie has over most other MCU movies is a good villain. Thanos is definitely one of the best villains Marvel has had as the movie does a good job making the audience understand his motives. Thanos’ presence gives the film a distinct feeling of hopelessness and really presenting the question of whether he can be beaten or not. The visual effects were also very well done, bringing to life not only Thanos but the environment and other characters in the movie; however, there are a few times when the CGI could’ve used a little more work.
This movie does also have a few other flaws, one of them being having too many characters. Although it was fun seeing the unique character interactions and crossovers, not every character gets to shine due to the sheer amount of characters in the movie. Some characters don’t get as much screen time as one would think they would. Other problems this movie has is not all of the dramatic beats hit as well as several sidequests that can seem dragged out or take attention away from some of the cooler moments in the film. The movie also has a few plot holes or unanswered questions; however, this could be mitigated in the next part of the movie.
Overall, this movie was good and lives up to the hype despite all the pressure. This movie does have a few flaws, but those are outweighed by its many strengths.
