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“Avengers Infinity War”: AKA ‘Thanos: The Movie’

 Warning: This review will contain spoilers for Avengers Infinity War

Before moving forward, there’s one thing that is important to know.  This is a movie about Thanos. This isn’t an Avengers movie. Yes, I know  what the movie is called, and I know almost every hero is involved, but  this is a movie about Thanos and his quest to find the Infinity Stones.  It’s important to remember that.

Where it succeeded

The beginning of the film. My goodness, the beginning of the film. It  perfectly sets up how serious a threat Thanos is. He kills Heimdall and  Loki (for real this time) and beats the Hulk so badly he’s scared to  come back out for the rest of the film. If that doesn’t scream “high  stakes,” then I don’t know what does.

Image from HypeBeast

Infinity War succeeded in making the audience feel empathy  for the big bad, Thanos. Sure, his quest to extinguish half of all life  in the universe is terrible, but we’re made to connect with Thanos in a  way we haven’t been able to in the past with other villains. Certain  villains like Loki or Baron Zemo have been excellent and relatable to an  extent, but Thanos takes it to a whole other level, and it’s all thanks  to Josh Brolin’s performance. Had it been any other actor portraying  Thanos, I don’t think the movie would have been nearly as good.

Thanos actually cried when he killed Gamora, and that really got to  me. The facial features on Thanos were so good I had to remind myself  that he wasn’t a real being, and just an actor in a motion capture suit.  The way Thanos said “where’s the stone?” when speaking to the Collector  was unnerving. The vast majority of performances were amazing.  Standouts were Robert Downey Jr., Tom Holland, and (of course) Josh  Brolin.

Image from MovieWeb

The directors made it a point to have the viewers feel helpless. The  fact that there’s no music/audio when the heroes turn to dust, coupled  with the way some of the characters die, left audiences feeling like the  heroes really lost. Some finger snap deaths were better than others  though. Spider-Man and Star-Lord were probably the best, while others  like Black Panther and Falcon were less heartbreaking.

Every group in this movie felt satisfying. There were no bad pairs  per se, but some were definitely better than others. Thor and Rocket  were excellent. Same with Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, and the  others in that group. But except for Scarlet Witch and Vision, the  heroes on Earth felt lackluster compared to the ones in space.

To ease the seriousness of beloved characters dying, there were  several jokes throughout the film. I like to think Thanos would  appreciate the balance between humor and seriousness. Drax was easily  the funniest character in the movie. All characters felt like they  retained their characteristics from the last movie they were in. For  example, the Thor in this movie is the same one from Ragnarok, not Age of Ultron or some other version. It works the same way with the Guardians too.

Where it failed

Image from DigitalSpy

There were a lot of moments during the film where it was clear that  the directors just expected viewers to go along with the plot. The  return of Red Skull, how Thanos knew where all the Infinity Stones were,  why Black Widow has a different hair color, and many others. Earlier I  mentioned how the Hulk was too scared to come back out and fight. That’s  something the directors again just wanted us to accept, but it’s the  one thing that made no real sense. It would be one thing if the Thanos  was around when the Hulk is refusing to transform, but he isn’t. Instead  it was the Black Order, which he never fought. Maybe the Hulk was too  embarrassed? Who knows. The movie had a habit of benching powerful  characters, because Scarlet Witch was hardly utilized until the end of  the film.

Not to mention that certain characters like the ones from Black Panther  were seemingly snubbed out of screen time, and it felt like Wakanda was  only there to serve as the “final battle against faceless enemies.”  First New York, then Sokovia, and now Wakanda.

With so many characters in the film, it was to be expected that  certain heroes wouldn’t have the same screen time as others, and that  some would sort of be shoe-horned into the movie. That being said, some  characters felt out of place in the film entirely. Captain America, for  example, seemed to show up and punch things, with next to no emotion.  Even when Bucky died, Cap didn’t even seem to care. There were no little  facial expressions like Thanos had, and he was CGI.

Speaking of GCI, it was clear that the film was rushed in that  aspect, and that all resources were poured into making Thanos look good.  There was a quick scene where Banner (in the Hulkbuster) and War  Machine are standing next to each other, and they both have their  helmets off. In that moment, it seems like their heads are just floating  there, and the CGI on the two suits aren’t finished. But those are just  a few cosmetic gripes, and I feel like Thanos and the Black Order make  up for the lack of polish elsewhere.

In the end

It might seem like there’s more failures in the movie than successes,  but this really is a fun movie. The important thing to take away from  this review is that Infinity War is a Thanos movie, not an  Avengers movie. If you’re expecting that huge sweeping shot of all the  Avengers together at the same time, you’re going to be disappointed.

Image from Metro

From the Avengers’ perspective, there’s still more to do. They need  to undo what Thanos did. However, from Thanos’ perspective, the story is  finished. There’s nothing left to do. That’s where the movie really  shines. Despite all its (mostly) understandable flaws, the movie works  from two different angles and it’s wonderful. I can’t stress enough that  this is Thanos: The Movie.

Will all of the people who died in this film return? Will some, but  not others? Will we see more Red Skull? Was the Infinity Gauntlet broken  at the end of the film? Was Star-Lord messing up the entire thing part  of Doctor Strange’s plan? Where were Ant-Man, the Wasp, and Hawkeye?  Hopefully these questions will be answered in the next film.





Featured image from Leganerd

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