Post by Sgt. AWOLaLot on May 18, 2018 22:00:58 GMT -5
This needs no introduction.
"Whoa. 2108 words. This is my longest review yet. Avengers fans, enjoy.
“You have my respect Stark. When I’m done, half of humanity will still be alive. I hope they remember you.”
This is one of the many great moments we get from the latest MCU film, and my favorite one so far, Avengers: Infinity War. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has now been going for 10 years, starting with the original Ironman in 2008, and shows no signs of slowing down. What Marvel Studious has accomplished is truly impressive and is an unprecedented accomplishment in cinema. It all comes together in this giant film as we see almost all of the heroes from the past 10 years come together to face the threat of the MCU’s most dangerous villain, Thanos. I’ve enjoyed each of the MCU films to at least some degree, with their quality ranging from average to very good. However, my preference/bias for darker story lines and moods has led to a little frustration because there hasn’t been a lot of stakes with the MCU films. Enter the Russo brothers, and that has started to change for the better. The first film they directed was Captain America: Winter Soldier, which saw the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Rodgers having to deal with the more cloak and dagger, grey nature of fighting a modern war. Then they did Captain America: Civil War, which saw the division of the Avengers and Rodgers and Stark fighting just short of killing one another (still no character deaths, but still a good film and more on the serious side). Their impressive run continues with Infinity War, and they’ve crafted the kind of film I’ve wanted from the MCU for a long time. Since it’s been a few weeks I will be including minor spoilers, but will keep the major ones out. There’s a lot to discuss, and most of it good. Let’s dive into Avengers: Infinity War.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and stars, well, almost everyone. Robert Downey, Jr., Josh Brolin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christ Pratt, Tom Holland, Scarlett Johansson, Zoe Saldana… The list goes on. The film follows our heroes as they attempt to stop Thanos from getting all of the Infinity Stones and assembling them in the Infinity Gauntlet, a weapon with which he can literally wipe out half of all beings in the universe. Along the way we see our heroes being tested like they’ve never been before, both physically and emotionally. I was very excited going into this film because for the first time since the fight between Captain America and Ironman, I was going to feel real tension during the action sequences. That’s because for the first time, not everyone was guaranteed to come out unscathed; or even alive for that matter. If any of you are like me and have been waiting for the MCU to go to darker places, it succeeds.
As I mentioned in my review for Thor: Ragnarok, the Phase 3 villains have been better on average than previous villains in the MCU (Peter’s father, Vulture, Killmonger, and even Hela are pretty good to great). Now Infinity War needed to do a lot of things right to satisfy fans, but besides balancing all of the heroes (which I’ll get to later), the most important part for the Russo brothers and the writers to get right was the portrayal of Thanos. And oh, did they get him right. Before this film most people would probably pick Loki as their favorite MCU villain, or more recently, Killmonger. Both are good characters, but Loki started taking on more of an anti-hero role with Thor: The Dark World and the threat that Killmonger posed was mostly centralized to Wakanda. What puts Thanos above both of them for me is that Thanos is a villain who’s larger than life like Darth Vader, Bane, or The Terminator. These kinds of villains are the kind that will try and own every scene they’re in. They’re also usually very imposing and just the sight of them can create fear in other characters. Thanos is that kind of a character, and it’s made clear very early that he IS to be feared. My favorite sequence that shows this is definitely when Thanos arrives to get one of the stones. There’s silence when he first arrives, and then we see him easily incapacitating some of our heroes. It reminds me of the duel between Vader and Luke on Bespin where Luke is hopelessly outmatched, as we see when Vader uses the Force against him; or when Bane is fighting Batman in the sewer and you see his henchman looking at Batman with pity as Bane monologues nonchalantly. In all these instances the villain is unleashing something the heroes aren’t prepared for, and the results aren’t good.
In addition to Thanos’ power and strength, he is also a very well written character and Josh Brolin’s performance is fantastic. The interesting thing with Infinity War is that while it is an Avengers film, Thanos is arguably the main character. It’s as much his story as it is Stark’s, Thor’s, or Starlord’s. While his goal of wiping out half the universe is something few people would agree with, we are given enough of a reason to know why he feels it’s the right thing to do. We also get more insight into the relationship that he and Gamora have, and there are some compelling moments between them. And Josh Brolin’s performance is fantastic. Casting choices have always been one of the MCU’s strongest points, and Brolin as Thanos is an awesome choice. He’s menacing and imposing, and has a great script to work with (“All this, just for a drop of blood”). While most of the performance revolves around being a threatening villain, there are also a few moments where we get a more dramatic/sentimental performance. Again, Brolin kills it. The CGI used to create his final look is also really good.
Besides Thanos, we also of course have our heroes. Going into this film, my biggest fear was how the writers and directors were going to find a way to balance almost every hero in the MCU. This is a concern that goes back to when more news started coming out during Infinity War’s production phase. It’s simply because with such a large number of characters, the film could end up feeling unfocused and any subplots could end up forgotten or focused on too much. But then the final runtime was released: 2 hours and 29 minutes, the longest MCU film so far. That made me feel a lot better, because I knew they’d need more than the average film length. Then Chris Stuckmann’s review came out and he said they pulled it off.
After seeing it myself, I can confirm that the Russos and the writers pulled it off very well. One big advantage they had was that the heroes have already been established in their own films, meaning there wasn’t a need for long character introductions. We’re able to jump right into the story, and even though the film is 2 and a half hours, it moves at a decent pace. Overall the screen time for each character is handled very well; most of them get their moments to shine.
In order to help with balancing the characters, they’re divided into groups and we end up with three separate subplots. The interactions are fun too, because many of these characters have never met each other before (“Where is Gamora?”…“I’ll do you one better: who’s Gamora?”… I’ll do you one better! Why is Gamora?!”). My favorite team-ups are probably Thor, Rocket, and Groot and Ironman and Dr. Strange. I really liked seeing Dr. Strange involved and how they used his magic. We got some really cool action scenes with him. As for Thor, he ends up with probably the biggest arc of the film; and some epic moments.
The final battle in Wakanda is also an epic spectacle. It felt like a cross between the Battle of Naboo from Phantom Menace and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields from Return of the King. It had a lot of awesome moments. One of my favorite shots was in the beginning when Black Panther and Captain America run ahead of the Wakandan armies; I love the energy and urgency you feel in this shot, and it’s likely a callback to the awesome chase scene from Civil War. My other favorite moment is when a certain character arrives; I won’t say any more than that, but it’s one of the most satisfying moments of the film.
There were two possible issues with the balancing though. The first is that with how the characters were balanced, some characters don’t get as much screen time as fans might have hoped for (Captain America and Black Panther’s team probably had the least amount in terms of character development). The other is that if you haven’t kept up on the MCU films, you could end up a little lost with the characters and their actions; I’d argue the Russos were almost required to do this.
The acting from our heroes is very good, as always. Robert Downey, Jr. is great and Chris Hemsworth is a standout because at this point Thor has lost a lot, and is ready to give his all to take out Thanos. There are plenty of dramatic moments too where Christ Pratt and Zoe Saldana shine. Then there’s Tom Holland… He didn’t get a whole lot of lines, but he was great; and of course, he killed it in a certain scene that will go down as one of the most memorable in the MCU. I loved it.
The balancing between the comedy and the drama is done very well too. Looking back at Winter Soldier and Civil War, I think the Russos were perfect choices to direct Infinity War. They included some comedic moments but in most cases, it didn’t undercut any of the dramatic moments. There’s only one scene where I could have gone without the comedy that involves Drax. As funny as it was, I’d have preferred it wasn’t in there. But overall the tone is definitely darker, especially towards the end.
The musical score saw Alan Silvestri’s return to the MCU. He composed the scores for the first Captain America film and the first Avengers, which have two of the best main themes in the MCU. The score for Infinity War is… Good. Very good even, but a little frustrating too. The first half of the score has some action cues with some highlights (“Help Arrives” is the first time we hear the Avengers theme come in), along with a lot of cues that are more underscore. These make the score drag a little, though “We Both Made Promises” is a nice cue. The second half is where things get more interesting. “Even for You” is a sadder piece with a dramatic, awesome climax; and the cues accompanying the Wakanda Battle are very good. “Forge” is probably the best cue on the album, which I’m pretty sure is what played during an important moment for Thor, Rocket, and Groot.
My gripes with the score though come down the use of themes. The Avengers’ theme appears, obviously… But Silvestri also had the opportunity to use a lot of other themes if he chose to. His Captain America theme could have been used with a more minor tone; Brian Tyler’s Ironman 3 is versatile enough to easily fit into action cues; and even Dr. Strange’s theme could have made a cameo. I understand that using too many other themes can become distracting and could take away from the musical voice Silvestri is trying to convey, but in a film with almost every Avenger, some musical cameos would have been appreciated.
And this is where I’ll end my review. Avengers: Infinity War is an amazing cinematic accomplishment. Honestly, it sets a new standard for what’s possible with super hero films. The Russo brothers and the writers deserve a lot of praise for what they pulled off. They had almost every MCU hero together in one film and managed to make it cohesive, compelling, dark, and satisfying. This was a film with an awesome villain that pushed the Avengers to their limits, and it had some bad consequences (some of which I hope aren’t retconned). Another thing I love is that after the film ends you can’t really predict what they’ll do next; and that excites me. The Russo brothers have now directed my top 3 MCU films and I’m looking forward to the next Avengers film."
"Whoa. 2108 words. This is my longest review yet. Avengers fans, enjoy.
“You have my respect Stark. When I’m done, half of humanity will still be alive. I hope they remember you.”
This is one of the many great moments we get from the latest MCU film, and my favorite one so far, Avengers: Infinity War. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has now been going for 10 years, starting with the original Ironman in 2008, and shows no signs of slowing down. What Marvel Studious has accomplished is truly impressive and is an unprecedented accomplishment in cinema. It all comes together in this giant film as we see almost all of the heroes from the past 10 years come together to face the threat of the MCU’s most dangerous villain, Thanos. I’ve enjoyed each of the MCU films to at least some degree, with their quality ranging from average to very good. However, my preference/bias for darker story lines and moods has led to a little frustration because there hasn’t been a lot of stakes with the MCU films. Enter the Russo brothers, and that has started to change for the better. The first film they directed was Captain America: Winter Soldier, which saw the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Rodgers having to deal with the more cloak and dagger, grey nature of fighting a modern war. Then they did Captain America: Civil War, which saw the division of the Avengers and Rodgers and Stark fighting just short of killing one another (still no character deaths, but still a good film and more on the serious side). Their impressive run continues with Infinity War, and they’ve crafted the kind of film I’ve wanted from the MCU for a long time. Since it’s been a few weeks I will be including minor spoilers, but will keep the major ones out. There’s a lot to discuss, and most of it good. Let’s dive into Avengers: Infinity War.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and stars, well, almost everyone. Robert Downey, Jr., Josh Brolin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christ Pratt, Tom Holland, Scarlett Johansson, Zoe Saldana… The list goes on. The film follows our heroes as they attempt to stop Thanos from getting all of the Infinity Stones and assembling them in the Infinity Gauntlet, a weapon with which he can literally wipe out half of all beings in the universe. Along the way we see our heroes being tested like they’ve never been before, both physically and emotionally. I was very excited going into this film because for the first time since the fight between Captain America and Ironman, I was going to feel real tension during the action sequences. That’s because for the first time, not everyone was guaranteed to come out unscathed; or even alive for that matter. If any of you are like me and have been waiting for the MCU to go to darker places, it succeeds.
As I mentioned in my review for Thor: Ragnarok, the Phase 3 villains have been better on average than previous villains in the MCU (Peter’s father, Vulture, Killmonger, and even Hela are pretty good to great). Now Infinity War needed to do a lot of things right to satisfy fans, but besides balancing all of the heroes (which I’ll get to later), the most important part for the Russo brothers and the writers to get right was the portrayal of Thanos. And oh, did they get him right. Before this film most people would probably pick Loki as their favorite MCU villain, or more recently, Killmonger. Both are good characters, but Loki started taking on more of an anti-hero role with Thor: The Dark World and the threat that Killmonger posed was mostly centralized to Wakanda. What puts Thanos above both of them for me is that Thanos is a villain who’s larger than life like Darth Vader, Bane, or The Terminator. These kinds of villains are the kind that will try and own every scene they’re in. They’re also usually very imposing and just the sight of them can create fear in other characters. Thanos is that kind of a character, and it’s made clear very early that he IS to be feared. My favorite sequence that shows this is definitely when Thanos arrives to get one of the stones. There’s silence when he first arrives, and then we see him easily incapacitating some of our heroes. It reminds me of the duel between Vader and Luke on Bespin where Luke is hopelessly outmatched, as we see when Vader uses the Force against him; or when Bane is fighting Batman in the sewer and you see his henchman looking at Batman with pity as Bane monologues nonchalantly. In all these instances the villain is unleashing something the heroes aren’t prepared for, and the results aren’t good.
In addition to Thanos’ power and strength, he is also a very well written character and Josh Brolin’s performance is fantastic. The interesting thing with Infinity War is that while it is an Avengers film, Thanos is arguably the main character. It’s as much his story as it is Stark’s, Thor’s, or Starlord’s. While his goal of wiping out half the universe is something few people would agree with, we are given enough of a reason to know why he feels it’s the right thing to do. We also get more insight into the relationship that he and Gamora have, and there are some compelling moments between them. And Josh Brolin’s performance is fantastic. Casting choices have always been one of the MCU’s strongest points, and Brolin as Thanos is an awesome choice. He’s menacing and imposing, and has a great script to work with (“All this, just for a drop of blood”). While most of the performance revolves around being a threatening villain, there are also a few moments where we get a more dramatic/sentimental performance. Again, Brolin kills it. The CGI used to create his final look is also really good.
Besides Thanos, we also of course have our heroes. Going into this film, my biggest fear was how the writers and directors were going to find a way to balance almost every hero in the MCU. This is a concern that goes back to when more news started coming out during Infinity War’s production phase. It’s simply because with such a large number of characters, the film could end up feeling unfocused and any subplots could end up forgotten or focused on too much. But then the final runtime was released: 2 hours and 29 minutes, the longest MCU film so far. That made me feel a lot better, because I knew they’d need more than the average film length. Then Chris Stuckmann’s review came out and he said they pulled it off.
After seeing it myself, I can confirm that the Russos and the writers pulled it off very well. One big advantage they had was that the heroes have already been established in their own films, meaning there wasn’t a need for long character introductions. We’re able to jump right into the story, and even though the film is 2 and a half hours, it moves at a decent pace. Overall the screen time for each character is handled very well; most of them get their moments to shine.
In order to help with balancing the characters, they’re divided into groups and we end up with three separate subplots. The interactions are fun too, because many of these characters have never met each other before (“Where is Gamora?”…“I’ll do you one better: who’s Gamora?”… I’ll do you one better! Why is Gamora?!”). My favorite team-ups are probably Thor, Rocket, and Groot and Ironman and Dr. Strange. I really liked seeing Dr. Strange involved and how they used his magic. We got some really cool action scenes with him. As for Thor, he ends up with probably the biggest arc of the film; and some epic moments.
The final battle in Wakanda is also an epic spectacle. It felt like a cross between the Battle of Naboo from Phantom Menace and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields from Return of the King. It had a lot of awesome moments. One of my favorite shots was in the beginning when Black Panther and Captain America run ahead of the Wakandan armies; I love the energy and urgency you feel in this shot, and it’s likely a callback to the awesome chase scene from Civil War. My other favorite moment is when a certain character arrives; I won’t say any more than that, but it’s one of the most satisfying moments of the film.
There were two possible issues with the balancing though. The first is that with how the characters were balanced, some characters don’t get as much screen time as fans might have hoped for (Captain America and Black Panther’s team probably had the least amount in terms of character development). The other is that if you haven’t kept up on the MCU films, you could end up a little lost with the characters and their actions; I’d argue the Russos were almost required to do this.
The acting from our heroes is very good, as always. Robert Downey, Jr. is great and Chris Hemsworth is a standout because at this point Thor has lost a lot, and is ready to give his all to take out Thanos. There are plenty of dramatic moments too where Christ Pratt and Zoe Saldana shine. Then there’s Tom Holland… He didn’t get a whole lot of lines, but he was great; and of course, he killed it in a certain scene that will go down as one of the most memorable in the MCU. I loved it.
The balancing between the comedy and the drama is done very well too. Looking back at Winter Soldier and Civil War, I think the Russos were perfect choices to direct Infinity War. They included some comedic moments but in most cases, it didn’t undercut any of the dramatic moments. There’s only one scene where I could have gone without the comedy that involves Drax. As funny as it was, I’d have preferred it wasn’t in there. But overall the tone is definitely darker, especially towards the end.
The musical score saw Alan Silvestri’s return to the MCU. He composed the scores for the first Captain America film and the first Avengers, which have two of the best main themes in the MCU. The score for Infinity War is… Good. Very good even, but a little frustrating too. The first half of the score has some action cues with some highlights (“Help Arrives” is the first time we hear the Avengers theme come in), along with a lot of cues that are more underscore. These make the score drag a little, though “We Both Made Promises” is a nice cue. The second half is where things get more interesting. “Even for You” is a sadder piece with a dramatic, awesome climax; and the cues accompanying the Wakanda Battle are very good. “Forge” is probably the best cue on the album, which I’m pretty sure is what played during an important moment for Thor, Rocket, and Groot.
My gripes with the score though come down the use of themes. The Avengers’ theme appears, obviously… But Silvestri also had the opportunity to use a lot of other themes if he chose to. His Captain America theme could have been used with a more minor tone; Brian Tyler’s Ironman 3 is versatile enough to easily fit into action cues; and even Dr. Strange’s theme could have made a cameo. I understand that using too many other themes can become distracting and could take away from the musical voice Silvestri is trying to convey, but in a film with almost every Avenger, some musical cameos would have been appreciated.
And this is where I’ll end my review. Avengers: Infinity War is an amazing cinematic accomplishment. Honestly, it sets a new standard for what’s possible with super hero films. The Russo brothers and the writers deserve a lot of praise for what they pulled off. They had almost every MCU hero together in one film and managed to make it cohesive, compelling, dark, and satisfying. This was a film with an awesome villain that pushed the Avengers to their limits, and it had some bad consequences (some of which I hope aren’t retconned). Another thing I love is that after the film ends you can’t really predict what they’ll do next; and that excites me. The Russo brothers have now directed my top 3 MCU films and I’m looking forward to the next Avengers film."