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Written by Sunil Dhokia An event 10 years in the making, Marvel Studios succeed in their biggest Avengers movie thus far (for the most part). Note: This is going to be a spoiler-filled review of the movie, so if you have not seen Avengers: Infinity War, please watch the movie first and then come back to my review. What's The Movie About? Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Avengers: Infinity War (2018) is a superhero movie that follows the Avengers, who team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, as they try to stop Thanos from acquiring all six Infinity Stones, who seeks to fulfil his mission of wiping out half of all life in the universe. For anyone that is not well-versed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Marvel Studios have been building up to this Avengers movie, since their first entry, Iron Man (2008). This is by creating a series of movies that have storylines and characters which interconnect with one another, with the Infinity Stones being the constant through-line in many of these movies, as the Avengers and Guardians come together in this movie to try and stop Thanos's evil plan from coming together. Positives For a movie that has as much going on as this one, there are plenty of positives to discuss: Story and Writing Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely do a pretty remarkable job of balancing all of the various storylines and characters into a cohesive whole. They achieve this by using the Infinity Stones as a McGuffin to tie all of the various characters together. For instance, Doctor Stange, Wong, Iron Man and Spider-Man are in New York protecting the Time Stone, where-as some of the Guardians are on the planet, Knowhere, to try and retrieve the Reality Stone before Thanos does. By tying groups of heroes to an Infinity Stone, ensures that there are never more than half a dozen characters on-screen at the same time and that each character (even the minor ones) is serving a purpose to the plot. This mostly involves our heroes beating up the bad guys, but it also ensures that the emotional parts of the story are not underserved. Just the thought of a villain wanting to wipe out half of all life in the universe is about as absurd as it's going to get. However, the screenwriters do a great job of fleshing out Thanos's motivations for why he wants to wipe out half of all life. The use of a flashback with Thanos interacting with a young Gamora on her home planet, along with the clever expository use of the Reality Stone, where Thanos explains why he decimated half of all life on his home planet, Titan, allows the audience to understand why he seeks to execute his plan. So while we may not sympathise with the character, we can least understand his point of view as to why he wants to use the stones in the first place. Direction The Russo Brothers come into this movie, having previously directed the last two Captain America movies. In this movie, they craft a much darker tone, when compared to the relatively lighter tones of Joss Whedon's previous two Avengers movies. Just the opening scene alone, where Thanos kills both Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Heimdall (Idris Elba) set down the marker for just how terrifying a villain he is. In turn, the Russos' ensure that the movie has real stakes, where characters are not immune to death from their villainous counterparts. Having said this, the Russos' also know when to inject the movie with humour in just the right places. The thought of a morbid two and a half hour experience is a scary thought indeed. Case in point, the scene when the faction members of the Avengers arrive in Wakanda, as James Rhodes / War Machine (Don Cheadle) informs Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to bow down to Wakanda's king, T'Challa / Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) before Rhodes tells Banner that there is no need for such pleasantries, is among the many moments of genuine levity that the movie contains. Acting Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark / Iron Man, as he slips back into the role with ease. His interactions with Benedict Cumberbatch, returning as Doctor Strange, are a delight to watch, with the clash of egos very much on display here. Furthermore, the emotional turmoil that Tony Stark has been living with since the Battle of New York in The Avengers (2012) brilliantly pays off in this movie. In the scene where Stark is trying to convince Dr Strange to take the fight to Thanos on Titan, Downey Jr. perfectly portrays the anxiety that his character's been living with all this time. Chris Hemsworth as Thor strikes a great balance between the comedic and dramatic moments that his character experiences in the movie. This is shown when Thor hilariously refers to Kevin Bacon as a possible member of the Avengers to the Guardians, with the drama coming from small conversations such as his talk with Rocket (Bradley Cooper) on the family and friends he has lost. His character arc, therefore, is one is filled with pain and suffering, as his need to forge a new weapon (Stormbreaker) to try and defeat Thanos, leaves us rooting for Thor to be our saviour in the story. Josh Brolin as Thanos is arguably the star of the show here, as he brings to the role an appropriate amount of pathos and depth to the character. Brolin's chemistry with Zoe Saldana, who plays his adopted daughter, Gamora, allows Thanos to become fully fleshed out. Particularly in the scene where Thanos sacrifices Gamora's life to obtain the Soul Stone, Brolin conveys this emotional toll on the character through excellent voice acting, and with the help of some brilliant CGI, to showcase the struggle taking place. Action The action set-pieces are some of the best you're likely to see in a superhero movie. Just the opening scene alone does a great job of showing the brute strength of Thanos. Particularly, the fight between Hulk and Thanos is brilliantly shot with a combination of restrained long-shots and oblique angles to show the size and strength of these characters. The stand-out set-piece of the movie is the battle on Titan, where our heroes take on Thanos. The Russos' and cinematographer, Trent Oplaoch, do a great job of establishing a clear sense of geography for where each hero is located concerning the fight with Thanos. The choreography and CGI shine through here, as we are allowed to appreciate each heroes strengths and powers. This is best shown in Dr Strange and Iron Man's duals against Thanos, as the first-rate special effects allow us to gain an appreciation for our respective heroes wizardry and technological powers. Also, the use of an orangey-brown colour palette for Titan means there's never a sense that you can't follow the action unfolding on screen. The climatic Wakanda set-piece is also brilliantly choreographed, with the camera doing a great job of tracking the action of our heroes fighting against the remaining Black Order and Outriders. A nit-pick in this set-piece is the use of a shaky-camera approach, particularly when the focus is on heroes such as Captain America and Black Panther. The camera here can feel frantic at times, as there is a slight disorientating effect to this approach of filming the action. Fortunately, this only occurs on a couple of occasions during the course of the battle. Soundtrack As someone who is a big fan of Alan Silvestri, my thoughts on the movie's soundtrack are somewhat satisfactory. The choice for Silvestri to often create mood and atmosphere across many scenes, best exemplifies this point. For instance, in the scene where Thanos is explaining to Gamora why he destroyed half of the population on her home planet, the instrumentation used here adds little to the emotions being conveyed by these characters. The emotional parts of the soundtrack do land by and large, particularly during the climactic scene where Wanda Maximoff / Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) has to kill Vision (Paul Bettany) in order to stop Thanos from obtaining the Mind Stone. The violin strings in this scene really add to the emotion that the audience is going through in the plight of our hero. The return of the Avengers title theme is also a delight to hear. Though the use of the theme is sparse, confined to key character moments such as Thor's arrival on Wakanda (see 'Forge' track at bottom of review), it's great to hear thematic continuity within the MCU, something that has plagued the franchise since its inception back in 2008. The introduction of a character theme for Thanos is also a joy, with its use being deployed straight out of the gate during the opening moments of the movie. Whilst this is a theme you won't be humming any time soon, the brooding sounds and instruments add to the menace of the character and the peril that our heroes will face. Overall, the soundtrack does just about enough to satisfy the tone of the movie, though the use of other MCU character themes, such as Silvestri's own for Captain America, would have been nice to hear. Negatives The sheer amount of moving parts means that the movie does have a couple of drawbacks: Character Development And Its Lack Of Character development is quite limited in the movie, with only Iron Man, Thor and Thanos having any substantial character arcs within the story. To exemplify this point further, Tony Stark is finally confronting the demon that is plagued his life for the past six years, Thor is on a revenge mission to kill Thanos, with the latter having murdered Loki and Heimdall and Thanos is looking to fulfil his mission of ending half of all life in the universe, due to him experiencing the overpopulation and therefore lack of resources on Titan. Knowing this the sort of information beforehand, will at the very least set an expectation for gauging what kind of story to expect within the movie. Some Required Research Before Viewing If you have not seen any of the previous 18 MCU movies by this point (or at least the key movies that directly tie into this one), then you may struggle to understand why certain events occur, or why characters spew certain dialogue about previous MCU entries. For example, the scene in Dr Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, where Bruce Banner is trying to convince Tony Stark to call Steve Rogers / Captain America (Chris Evans), will only carry any meaning if you have seen Captain America: Civil War (2016). Summary Despite the movie's overall lack of character development, it features some of the best action in the MCU, with excellent performances from Downey Jr., Hemsworth and Brolin, and an ending that will leave you in shock, Avengers: Infinity War is a movie that is among the best the genre has to offer. Verdict On The Movie 8.5 out of 10 Your Thoughts What are your thoughts on Avengers: Infinity War? Where would you rank this movie among the pantheon of other MCU movies? Comment below, as I would love to hear your thoughts. All images above and its copyright belong to Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Marvel Studios and any other respective owners. All YouTube content below belongs to their respective owners. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
1 Comment
Rav
13/4/2020 09:50:21
One thought about character development- I don’t think any was required as the 10 year span of MCU movies would have driven the story to the pinnacle of action!
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About MeMy name is Sunil Dhokia, I'm a movie fanatic and love all things Hollywood. Blog Archives
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