written by Chrisopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
I will confess to having a soft spot for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I enjoy the vast majority of the films in the series, and in particular I've highly praised every entry from the past two years, excepting Thor: Ragnarok, which I didn't review. But my praise tends to be focused on how these films find their own distinctive identities, with clear thematic concerns, strong character arcs, and to an extent even different styles. The upcoming Avengers film worried me, because I still remembered the last one, an enjoyable but rough, overstuffed, and somewhat predictable behemoth which was too massive for its own good.
Avengers: Infinity War is the culmination of 10 years of movies, and it certainly feels like a product designed to pay off such an expansive array of content. With its absurd bloat and deeply fragmented narrative, this at times doesn't even feel like a proper film, with its character arcs given zero space to breathe where they exist at all. And yet, Infinity War is at least satisfying on its own terms, as a series of comedic, dramatic, and action beats carefully designed to appeal to the series' immense fanbase. It's a brisk 2.5 hours, and there's an undeniable appeal in the margins, but with this one you will need to bring your investment in with you.
If you've been paying attention to these movies, you might have some awareness of Thanos (played here by Josh Brolin). An abstract threat sitting behind the curtain of at least half of the franchise, the two thing that were known about him is that he's the biggest threat of all, and that he wants the Infinity Stones - magic rocks which grant reality-warping powers. Finally, he's approaching his goal, and every single protagonist from the history of this franchise needs to team up in order to defeat him, not only on Earth but across the cosmos.
That's the easy way to sum up Infinity War, a movie where there's a lot going on and where the core dynamics are constantly shifting. The fact is, yes, this is a film with upwards of 18 central characters, and it consistently maintains four separate plot threads which only occasionally intersect. As a consequence, the smaller moments which elevate the best Marvel films are largely absent, and nearly all of the characterization is dependent on the work done by prior movies here. There are few character arcs, fewer subplots, and almost no moments of calm to speak of. Everything is either an action beat, a plot beat, or a comedy beat which bridges plot and action beats.
There is some merit to this. Despite this being the longest Marvel film at an unruly 2.5 hours, it's a surprisingly breezy sit, with constant momentum and just enough variation in tone and pace to stave off monotony. This doesn't prevent some of the action beats from overstaying their welcome, though, and there's a handful of plot contrivances which most likely contribute to the bloat. The story is essentially episodic, and to the extent that a traditional narrative arc does exist here, it's clearly only the rising action, with the falling action to come in a later film. While this isn't a problem in and of itself, the film also doesn't have the thematic clarity of series high points like Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming, and combined these factors can make the movie feel somewhat formless.
With that said, there is a clear trend of rising action, and the film offers up a clear set of items to collect and bad guys to confront. The action beats, while not among Marvel's best, are suitably imaginative, successfully taking elements from the prior films and slamming them together while adding a new context. This does make them a little less inspired than those in the last several films, but these films' blend of wit and solid, comic book-styled choreography continues to be entertaining, even if Marvel's in-house style continues to lack the precision of more accomplished action films like John Wick or Mad Max. But although the compositions could be more graceful, the Russo brothers continue to be highly adept at managing several moving parts in creative and exciting ways, and unlike Captain America: Civil War, not one of the myriad fight scenes here falls flat.
Where Infinity War most clearly succeeds is in the character of Thanos, who is one of Marvel's most three-dimensional villains, with identifiable and even vaguely agreeable motives behind his obviously monstrous actions. Right on the heels of Black Panther's excellent Killmonger, Thanos's genocidal extremism is a lot less understandable, but he's the closest thing the film has to a fully formed character, and he's imagined here with enough fascinating complexity to nearly carry the film on his shoulders. The film convincingly fulfills its obligation to make him the Avengers's most powerful foe yet, but they've also gone the extra mile to make him extra compelling as a character. He's still doesn't serve very well as a thematic fulcrum, but his more nuanced breed of villainy is distinct within the series, and compelling in its own right.
Alas, Thanos doesn't actually get to do all that much, and even his relative emotional depth often comes across as fragmentary. Brolin's performance gives a lot of flavour to his scenes, which for all their cleverness tend to merely consist of Thanos showing up and overpowering whichever heroes happen to be present. Less common are scenes which give greater shape to his emotional complexity, and while these absolutely make him one of the more interesting Marvel villains, they're merely context given to the current storyline rather than a complete story arc, and as such hardly compensate for the void of dynamic characterization seen elsewhere.
What's most interesting about Thanos, rather, is how his presence darkens the tone of the film, even beyond what Age of Ultron and Civil War attempted. There's a peculiar sadistic streak here: characters are injured and even killed in peculiarly morbid ways, and very rarely do the heroes see anything remotely resembling a victory. What's most admirable about Infinity War is the note it goes out on, an existentially horrifying, downbeat conclusion which threatens to change the status quo and, for the first time, gives these characters a sense of mortality. It's one of the few things in the film which feels like a genuine risk taken with the franchise, and while Marvel fans are undoubtedly comfortable with formula, even by franchise standards there's little here that's truly surprising.
The film's most ambivalent quality, meanwhile, is its penchant for fan service. So many scenes are contrived to have two characters interact in a specific location, and while the locations themselves are rarely interesting - almost all are imagined in dreary palettes of grey, blue, or orange - the character interactions themselves are frequently amusing. The film tries its hardest to give each of the movies' main characters a chance to shine, and pays lip service to a handful of their emotional loose ends, and while this generally gives the film an air of calculation, it can be very effective if you enjoy and care about these heroes. Alas, many characters feel underutilized, and some don't even get their moment in the spotlight.
And really, that's the thing about Infinity War, and what makes evaluating it so hard. It's very good at rewarding fans' investment, and offers some peculiar twists within the context of the franchise, but makes zero effort to stand alone, and struggles to achieve much artistic merit in and of itself. If the pulp comic book moments are what you come to these movies for, then this new Avengers is a treat, but if you prefer the smaller stuff, then this new film might feel a bit hollow even in spite of all that's appealing about it. In weighing the satisfying moments against the broader feeling of calculation, I've genuinely struggled with sorting out my feelings about this movie.
Ultimately, I guess it comes down to this: going in, I thought this would be the movie I had to endure to get more of the smaller stuff, but I came out actually curious what happens next. If you're already invested, you'll probably be at least somewhat satisfied in what's offered here. If you aren't, you probably weren't going to watch it anyway. As much as I wish Infinity War's ambitions could have been directed towards a more artful vision, there's excitement and pathos to be found here, and the cumulative effect is hard to imagine coming from any other type of movie. So I'm glad this exists, and had a decently good time with it, but it's still a step down from Marvel's recent highlights, and I'm probably not going to return to it much.
7/10
+ Fairly successful at deriving pathos from prior investment.
+ Lots of fun character interactions.
+ Much darker than prior Marvel films.
+ Thanos is one of Marvel's most interesting villains.
- Mostly lacking in subtext or character development.
- Plot is episodic to the point of feeling fragmented.
- Doesn't take enough genuine risks with the franchise.
- Doesn't even try to stand alone. If you haven't seen all the other movies, do not watch this.
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