Avengers: Infinity War isn't just a movie; it's a celebratory event paying off 10 years of universe building by Marvel Studios that has fundamentally changed how Hollywood goes about making blockbuster movies. And it's a tough movie to compare and contrast against other films of its comic-book ilk, as it's not so much a standalone work as it is an affirmation of the magnitude of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at large. I guess you could watch it without having seen many, or even any, of the other Marvel films, but I'm not sure why you'd want to. Infinity War is stuffed to the gills with characters and callbacks and emotional hooks pulled directly from the other movies. Most of the time, it's glorious — comic-book-nerd nirvana — and Joe and Anthony Russo, following up their two Captain America sequels, certainly pull no punches, filling the film with one crowd-pleasing moment after another before steering toward darker territory once the two-hour mark has passed.
It's that last act that will likely have the most people talking come Monday, but, for now, let's start at the beginning. Infinity War kicks off by picking up dangling plot threads from seemingly a half a dozen movies. Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), last seen fleeing Asgard at the end of Thor: Ragnarok, have been attacked by Thanos, the giant purple baddie who was glimpsed in OG Avengers and expanded upon in Guardians of the Galaxy before being fully unleashed here. Thanos is out to claim all six Infinity Stones, original pieces of the universe formed in the Big Bang, that if combined would give him magical powers beyond comprehension or opposition. With some Asgardian assistance, the Hulk escapes back to his home planet where, after changing into Bruce Banner, he begins warning heroes both old (Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man) and new (Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange) about the horror approaching Earth.
The Avengers are still largely scattered thanks to the feud that split everyone apart in Captain America: Civil War. Either by choice or chance, the heroes of the MCU begin teaming up into groups to tackle various plans for stopping — or at least slowing — Thanos. Iron Man, Strange and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) end up tracking him through space by stowing away on one of his ships. Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) head to Wakanda, where they hope the advanced technology of Black Panther's country can assist in removing the Infinity Stone that's lodged in the head of Vision (Paul Bettany). Thor bumps into the Guardians of the Galaxy, and they split into two separate teams — one that sets out to retrieve another one of the stones and one that intends to forge a weapon that might fell Thanos. Serving as a pain in everyone's ass is a quartet of Thanos's children — four creepily-designed alien monstrosities who are collecting the stones for their master.
So there's a lot going on in Infinity War, which would account for its two-and-a-half-hour-plus run time. As a result, it can feel like you're watching three different movies all cross-edited into one release. The good news is the Russos, along with screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, are smart enough to find room amongst the dense plotting for jokes, character beats, fun little team-ups and all the things we've come to expect from the Marvel films at this stage. You know how Tony Stark and Strange are both sort of cocky assholes? Well, the Russos sure do, and they make the most of that dynamic. Infinity War is an exciting film, with action sequences that thrill, delight and are happily always easy to follow. There is the prerequisite "the heroes fight a thousand CG bug-aliens" scene, but it's one of the better ones Marvel has done. Infinity War is also a very funny film; Thor, Spidey, a de-Hulk-ified Banner and the Guardians team are all an absolute riot. (Infinity War actually makes for a better Guardians of the Galaxy film than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 did.) No matter who your favorite character is, you're bound to get a moment or two that will put a big grin on your face. Still, with a movie this large, some parts end up being more important than others. I'm not sure what the bigger surprise is: That Guardians' Gamora (Zoe Saldana) plays such a pivotal role, giving the movie its most emotional beats, or that Captain America feels somewhat underutilized, to the point where he almost seems like a bystander at times.
There were worries going in that Thanos couldn't possibly live up to expectations, but the Russos have done a great job with giving the big purple guy — a CG creation voiced and mo-capped by Josh Brolin — a real back-story and proper motivation for his reign of destruction. That you understand where he's coming from makes his mission to eradicate half of the human race all the more terrifying. He's an effective villain and worthy of the six-year build-up to his showdown with the Avengers.
The movie isn't overlong, per se — I certainly never got bored while watching — although I'm pretty sure it couldn't have survived even five more minutes without imploding under its own epic pretensions. The Russos have said in interviews that Infinity War is more of a standalone film than they originally intended. (A Part 1 was dropped from its subtitle before release, and the one-time Part 2, to be released next year, will now have a different moniker altogether.) And though they may be correct on a technicality, don't think you'll leave this film feeling like to you just witnessed a completed story.
A lot of the talk prior to this movie's release has been largely centered around who would live and who would die (no doubt helped by the fact that hardcore fans know that many of the original Marvel actors' contracts are coming to an end). And, yes, there is death in Infinity War. Some of it is surprising. Some of it is heart-breaking. And some of it is of the "what in the fuck is even happening?" variety. It's that last one that may get the Russos in some trouble, as it comes courtesy of a ballsy — and some might say aggravating — final half-hour which leads to a whopper of a cliffhanger that both annihilates the status quo of the MCU and maybe undermines some of this film's more effective scenes. I know that's vague, but it's tough to be more specific than that without getting into spoilers. Come back next week for our podcast on the film where we'll spoil away. I'll get into it in greater detail there. In the meantime, just know that long-term attitudes toward Infinity War could swing wildly based on how the fourth Avengers film plays out next year.
As for now, we'll just have to be content with the non-stop orgy of superheroics on display in this movie. Orgies can be messy, and Infinity War does lack the laser focus of the Russos' first two MCU films. (I'd say both Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War are more successful endeavors overall, although those were no doubt easier balancing acts.) It's hard to imagine Marvel ever going bigger than what is attempted here, but, then again, we do have another one of these things coming in just 12 months. The Russos deciding to make it a quiet character drama sure seems unlikely, doesn't it?
