Director: Anthony and Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chadwick Boseman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin
Cert: 12
Run Time: 149 mins
"Evacuate the city, engage all defences! And get this man a shield!"
It’s safe to say that Avengers: Infinity War was a landmark in the superhero movie world, bringing together a huge franchise of Marvel films that have been catching our attention since 2008 with the release of Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been leading up to this moment and have slowly built up incredibly high expectations and tension surrounding Infinity War.
The film follows the Avengers as well as many of the MCU’s other heroes as they unite on their journeys to put an end to Thanos, a frequently hinted-at villain’s plans. Thanos intends to collect the six most powerful objects in the universe, the Infinity Stones, and bring them all together to reduce the overpopulation issue he believes the universe has. With the power of all the stones combined, Thanos can reduce the population of the universe by half with just the snap of his fingers. Heroes from each world imaginable are forced to come together to put an end to this plan before Thanos can succeed.
The Avengers do their best to wage war once they realise they are in possession of the mind and time stones. With the time stone under the protection of Doctor Strange, the band of heroes made up of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr),Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) in the Hulkbusterlead the characters from other Marvel films like Black Panther and Guardians of The Galaxy to defend Wakanda.
Watching it for the first time the film is completely incredible, but on a second or third watch, you start to notice everything that could have been so easily avoided. The ending of Infinity War has been frequently compared to the ending of The Empire Strikes Back in this sense. However, there were many more avoidable events that led to Thanos sitting down on a porch that gets more annoying the more you watch it. While it’s still incredible that these storylines are so well thought out so far in advance, this does become repetitive.
Despite the film being the longest Marvel film at the time of its release, it feels as though it’s over in a remarkably short period of time. The plotline is completely engaging in spite of the many simple mistakes made by the characters, which could be due to the clear unity that the directors (Joe and Anthony Russo) and the writers (Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus) have managed to achieve between themselves and the rest of the production crew. There was a clear vision for the film and it has been achieved effectively whilst still being incredibly engaging to the audience.
Having said that the film’s plot is captivating at the time, but when you look back on what has actually happened over the last two and a half hours, it doesn't seem to be that much. Infinity War had so much potential plot-wise but fell short of what it could have achieved. This could be down to the short length for the amount that needs to happen, the separation of some of the Avengers or simply the sheer number of characters. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong with the film but it does feel as though something is missing even after the release of Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
Several of the characters who have previously featured more heavily in the plotline such as Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Rhodey (Don Cheadle) and even T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and Wanda(Elizabeth Olsen) seemed to be ignored in this film. Granted there was a huge number of plot points to explore, but it feels as though should the final instalment have been split into three parts rather than two, these characters and their stories would have felt less glossed over. This could have also made the mistakes made by the characters mentioned earlier less irritating as they would have received more attention and justification.
Nonetheless, the film still intrigues everyone watching and makes it impossible to not go and watch Endgame immediately. Suspension, a huge cliffhanger and an ending shot that have everyone shocked to the core are definitely highly effective way of keeping people invested in the franchise. A series of action-packed sequences and some incredible fight scenes will also help, along with an amazing entrance to the film by one Steve Rogers. Infinity War still portrays the gravity of the situation the Avengers have found themselves in despite the rushed feel at times and fits well within the Marvel Cinematic Universe alongside its predecessors.
With hard-hitting, shocking and funny moments all rolled into one film, Avengers: Infinity War is a must-see for anyone remotely interested in Marvel or superheroes and will definitely hit the spot! If you’ve been a part of the Marvel fandom since the start, or are coming in new this year, it's definitely worth watching the film!
"Today we don't fight for any life... we fight for ALL of them"
Words by Chloe Pollard.
Trailer from YouTube - Marvel Entertainment.