Avengers: Infinity War (2018) | The Beginning of the End

At last, we come to the big confrontation the MCU has been building toward for a decade. Ever since the brief cameos in The Avengers, the villain Thanos has been lingering on the outskirts of the MCU stories as a looming threat, waiting to finally engage with the various heroes of the galaxy. The Infinity Stones had been revealed in various films as the items of his pursuit for years, and the post-credits scene of Thor: Ragnarok was the big indicator that things were finally going to come to a head. We still had to wait through a few more movies before that finally happened, for better or worse. However, in 2018, Avengers: Infinity War was released, and Thanos finally introduced himself to Marvel’s mightiest heroes. He was the tyrant who sought the Infinity Stones with a desire to wipe out half of all life in the universe, and before the title card even appeared, he already had two of the six in his possession. How could he be stopped?

Pros

Relatively solid pacing that keeps things moving and makes 2.5 hours breeze by
Great arcs and moments that build upon existing characteristics of established characters
Action scenes are shot well and showcase the various abilities of the heroes and villains in creative ways
Impactful and meaningful risks taken that make certain characters more complicated or interesting
Smaller details go a long way
A vast majority of the jokes land without getting in the way of the moment

Cons

Thanos, while more complex than most MCU villains, is not consistent with who he has been built up to be; the same goes for his relationship with Gamora
The side plot with Hulk and Banner feels underdeveloped and fails to meaningfully resolve
A severe lack of Hulk
Certain character decisions are inconsistent or conveniently foolish for the sake of ensuring the movie happens; for example, the Wakanda battle with the barrier opening does not make sense, strategically, or Dr. Strange not using the time stone
Power levels are all over the place and inconsistent
With so many characters in a bloated movie, there isn’t always enough time to maximize the effectiveness of a scene or character

Plot & Thoughts

The Asgardians who had escaped the destruction of their homeworld at the end of Thor: Ragnarok went from the frying pan to the fire. While traveling through space, they are attacked by the massive vessel belonging to the notorious tyrant, Thanos (Josh Groben), which we had seen glimpses of in previous Marvel movies. Without showing everything that happened, it’s quickly established that Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the other Asgardian warriors were easily defeated by Thanos and his soldiers.

Loki (Tom Hiddleston) attempts to manipulate the situation to save Thor’s life as well as avoid giving up the Tesseract that he stole from Asgard, while allowing Hulk to do some damage. Unfortunately, Thanos is too strong and cunning for either distraction. Hulk is easily defeated, and Loki is killed. Heimdal (Idris Elba) manages to send Hulk on the Bifrost to Earth to warn the Avengers before he is also dispatched. Thanos and his soldiers leave Thor’s ship to disintegrate in space, and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) arrives in New York at the feet of Wong (Benedict Wong) and Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), bringing a warning of impending doom. Though they’re able to contact Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and inform him of the coming threat, they aren’t able to come up with a meaningful strategy before Thanos’ servants arrive on Earth and begin causing havoc.

Meanwhile, the Guardians of the Galaxy come across the remnants of the Asgardian fleet and formulate their own plan to stop Thanos. In addition, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Natasha Romanov (Scarlett Johansson), Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Vision (Paul Bettany), and Wanda Maximoff (Elisabeth Olsen) are abroad and remaining hidden from the prying eyes of various governments seeking their arrest since the events of Captain America: Civil War. All of these stories are bound to intersect in some way or another in the culmination of the conflict that has been built up over a decade.

Avengers: Infinity War is an immense movie—just trying to summarize the first act in few paragraphs is a challenge. Yet, surprisingly, the experience moves at such a brisk pace that things never quite slow down enough to be boring or dull. Something is always happening or setting up the next scene, so the pacing remains fast, and the nearly three-hour movie doesn’t feel that long. Likewise, even though there are a lot of characters, the movie makes it easier to follow what’s going on by grouping them into various plotlines. Some of the heroes connect with others, and things intersect towards the end, but you never get lost in terms of where someone is or where someone is going on the adventure. For example, while Thor briefly joins up with the Guardians, he quickly takes off on his own journey with Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel) to get a new weapon capable of fighting Thanos. The remaining Guardians have an encounter with Thanos, but things go wrong, which then leads to Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) to look for Gamora (Zoe Saldana) after receiving a messsage from Nebula (Karen Gillan) to meet somewhere on a world called Titan, which happens to be where Iron Man, Dr. Strange, and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) are headed. Characters are constantly moving around and bumping into each other in the plot, keeping things moving, but it’s relatively easy to follow as the storylines intersect.

There’s a lot to be had when they do intersect, as there are a lot of characters in the MCU who have never met each other up to this point. This leads to a lot of funny moments as the personalities bounce off each other, especially with Tony Stark in the scene. The way he and Dr. Strange butt heads is funny in how they throw quips at each other, but it makes sense because these guys are used to being the smartest people in the room with the biggest egos. When Bruce is struggling to turn into the Hulk during the first invasion sequence, Tony says to Bruce, “You’re embarrassing me in front of the wizards,” showing that he still wants to impress someone as powerful as Strange. Contrast that with a character like Drax, who is often one of the dumbest people in the room. When Drax is wrangling Dr. Strange’s cloak, and he says, “Die, blanket of death!” I laugh every time. Infinity War has many, many jokes that are surprisingly funny. There are some that don’t land, but with the success ratio, it’s probably one of the funniest movies in the MCU.

Likewise, it’s also a surprisingly emotional entry in the MCU, with some significant moments of sorrow. The opening scene of the film kills off Loki and Heimdall from the Thor films, but it doesn’t stop with them. More beloved characters die by the end of this movie, showing the high stakes that are at play in this story, and each scene in which it happens feels powerful and emotional thanks to the great score by Alan Silvestri. The scene involving Wanda and Vision at the climax of the film is as impressive as it is melancholic, with how it plays out and is ultimately concluded, putting Wanda through one of the worst experiences a character has had in these movies. They, like several others, have a satisfying, if not tragic arc throughout the film that manages to elevate the quality of this Avengers movie over many other entries in the MCU.

Thor probably has my favorite arc of all the characters. Up until Ragnarok, Thor has often been the Avenger with the least personal baggage to deal with in comparison to the rest of the team. As a result, he’s managed to stay confident and relatively determined in the other films, even when things are bleak. The same is true here, but his determination is different. In previous films, he pulled his confidence from himself in the moment, or from inspiration from his father in Ragnarok, when he gets powered up in the climax. However, at the beginning of Infinity War, Loki, the last living member of his immediate family, is murdered in front of him. His desire to stop/kill Thanos is not based on a sense of being a hero or love for another, like in the other Thor and Avengers movies. He is driven by grief and vengeance, superbly demonstrated in the scene in which Rocket talks to him, and he holds back tears as he talks about his dead family and how he has nothing else to lose should he fail to kill Thanos. It’s a great scene in which Hemsworth really gets a chance to show his acting ability, and it pulls you into his emotions, making you want him to succeed in his mission. In order to obtain his new weapon, he goes through a Herculean struggle and puts his life on the line, nearly dying in the process. So when he arrives on the battlefield in Wakanda screaming, “Bring me Thanos!” it’s difficult not to get excited.

The other heroes get their time to shine as well. Like other Avengers movies, we’re able to see the different heroes work together and have their abilities play off of each other in the heat of battle. The battle at Wakanda has some great moments, even if the reason they decide to engage with Thanos’ forces doesn’t make the most sense. The climactic battle on the planet Titan is an incredible spectacle that shows off the power of the Infinity Stones as well as the abilities of the heroes facing Thanos, culminating in some crazy moments involving Dr. Strange and Iron Man. It also has moments in which multiple characters make illogical and questionable choices, some of which are in character and some are not. I don’t have a problem with Peter Quill losing his temper and screwing up the plan, but I do have a problem with Dr. Strange not using the Time Stone at any time to undo certain mistakes. It seems like the writers conveniently forgot about that immensely powerful thing he used in his own movie, except in the moments they wanted to acknowledge it. We see what it’s capable of, and it most likely could have helped them beat Thanos, but it just isn’t used because the writers couldn’t come up with a way to integrate it into the fight.

There is one hero who does not get his chance to shine. If you’ve read my other reviews in this MCU blitz, you’d know that I want to see some Hulk destruction. It’s the thing I like the most about Avengers: Age of Ultron and why I enjoy that movie, despite its flaws. The lack of Hulk in Infinity War is a disappointment. He shows up in the opening scene to demonstrate how strong Thanos is when they go toe to toe against each other. But that’s the last we see of him. The script seems to be suggesting that Hulk is afraid of Thanos and that Banner is just unable to bring him out because of this, but this arc is never resolved in Infinity War. Apparently, there were some deleted scenes in which this story was more complete, but what ended up in the finished product was a mostly Hulkless Avengers movie. Banner using the Hulkbuster suit in the Wakanda battle is fun, but I would have liked a little more Hulk.

Image: Marvel Studios | This never happened in the movie, by the way

Before wrapping up, let’s discuss Thanos. He is often regarded in the public zeitgeist as a great villain. I think he’s okay. He’s definitely one of the more interesting villains the MCU has had. Despite these movies being based on comic books, you would assume there had been a plethora of great antagonists, but there have only been a few that stood out as truly interesting. Thanos manages to be one of the better villains only in this movie because an effort is made to paint him as more complex than the heartless tyrant he’s been made out to be in previous cameos and in the next Avengers movie.

All the other instances in which he has appeared show him as a typical power-hungry warrior who is seeking the Infinity Stones. In this movie, however, we learn of the reason why he wants the stones and why he wishes to wipe out half the life in the universe. He has the twisted belief that is similar to Neo-Malthusianism, in which he thinks that life needs to be kept in check in order for it to thrive. His homeworld fell into disrepair because there were not enough resources to go around, so he believes that by committing a genocide without favoritism towards any individual, he can save lives. It’s a twisted ideology that is far more interesting than what the comics did with Thanos, but it still allows him to demonstrate his viciousness as a villain while giving him a justification for his actions. His relationship with Gamora is a big focus of the movie as well, as an attempt to show a more sympathetic side of him. Again, it’s inconsistent with how he has been portrayed thus far, but it still lends to a few good emotional payoffs in the film and gives more depth to him as a character.

TL;DR

While it’s clear from all the reshoot footage that Avengers: Infinity War was not completely planned out perfectly, it still manages to be one of the most entertaining entries in the MCU. Its pacing and direction keep the story moving so that the nearly three-hour runtime passes by quickly. Many of the jokes land, making this one of the funnier Marvel movies. The action is exciting and creative, especially in the climactic battles at the end. The stakes are raised and raised up to the very end as beloved characters are killed off. And even though it closes on a cliffhanger, I kind of wish this is where the MCU story ended, for one reason or another.

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