TEN YEARS IN THE MAKING, BUT WAS IT WORTH THE WAIT?
The sheer hype leading up to this movie was already something to behold in itself. I don't think any movie event has ever been so highly anticipated in the history of cinema since perhaps The Empire Strikes Back in 1980.
Without a doubt the biggest movie event ever, Avengers: Infinity War is the culmination of 10 years and 18 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which began in 2008 with the release of Iron Man.
Simply put, everything about the movie screams "epic". From the visuals to the environments, to the costumes/makeup to the music, Marvel really threw everything but the kitchen sink at this movie, and rightfully so.
This was the moment fans had been waiting for for so many years, which was why it was such a bummer that the movie was kind of a mess.
For starters, the movie had an almost Justice League-like feel to it in terms of how noticeable enforced cuts were in numerous shots scattered throughout the movie.
What I mean by this is when the original shot envisioned by the director ends up being cut short for the sake of getting on with the story. Nothing wrong with that at all, but when a major camera movement is suddenly cut in order for the shot to complete its movement quicker, it becomes very jarring.
This happens numerous times throughout the film, and some bits of editing in certain scenes (especially those with plenty of action) end up having similar effects on the overall feel of the movie, making the pacing of it all over the place.
It was a given that we were going to see the most number of main characters ever put into a single film, and with that comes the terrifying task of actually giving each of them enough screen time or at least something relatively important to do to aid in moving the story along.
I felt the Russo brothers handled this task brilliantly. Each character had a part to play and not necessarily all at the same time, and in no way did it feel too congested.
The only big issue I had with it was perhaps there being one subplot too many. With every one the movie takes, it slows the film down to allow for exposition, and it just happened too often in this one. One subplot in particular featuring Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and Teenage Groot (Vin Diesel) really caused the film to drag dramatically, and I felt the movie would've been the same if it had just glossed right over it.
It's funny how I had a similar issue with Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), also involving Thor. Remember that super weird bit where Thor randomly goes off to "find answers" in that pool in the cave? That bit veered the movie off in such a different and jarring direction, it almost derailed the whole thing.
Mercifully, the issue with Infinity War wasn't as bad.
For the third time now [or fourth, if you count Captain America: Civil War (2016)], it was so awesome to see all these heroes come together to fight. Best part of it was seeing the OG's teaming up with all the fresh meat like Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Just so sick to see everyone working together.
Having said that, I feel it's also imperative that those who haven't seen the previous movies take the time to catch up on these characters' stories. I know there are so many movies to watch but trust me, it's worth it. Plus, you can just skip the few lousy ones like the first two Thor movies and Iron Man 2 and 3.
Let's talk about the big purple baddy, Thanos (Josh Brolin). Boy oh boy have we waited for him to arrive and blow shit up.
He's without a doubt the best Marvel villain ever put to screen (sorry Loki, you've been dethroned). Then again, that's not saying much because Marvel have always struggled with their rogues' gallery.
Brolin delivers a truly badass and multi-layered performance which makes Thanos all the more menacing. Not only is he physically scary, he's also one smart and scheming bastard. I thought the CGI work on him and especially on his facial features and expressions were truly top-notch.
He's huge, he's badass, and yet he's purple like a certain dinosaur. A testament then to the writing and portrayal of this character with all that bling covering his left hand.
His quest for the six Infinity Stones is a pretty epic one, and it's cool to see how he turns up all over the universe, planet to planet through interdimensional portals to find them no matter what the cost.
My issue with him? He's too OP (translation: "overpowered"). I prefer a villain which you can relate to on a more realistic and character-driven level. Most of the greatest movie villains of all-time follow that silhouette. If you make the villain too overpowered, you lose a sense of plausibility.
The ensemble cast was terrific, though for obvious reasons, no one could have possibly been a constant element throughout the entire movie, not even Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) himself who has led the Avengers in both previous films.
At 149 minutes long, it's actually surprisingly short for a movie of such magnitude. I was fully expecting and hoping for an almost three hour epic where they could really take their time to tell the story and not fall into the Justice League trap of speeding the storytelling up.
However, its pacing causes the movie to drag to a point where it actually feels much longer than its stated runtime. I feel that it would've been better should they have truly taken a step back and took their time to make a better and more cohesive film.
What we end up getting, of course, is no Justice League. Despite all its flaws in pacing and editing, the film is, as I mentioned earlier, undeniably epic.
Alan Silvestri's score matches the film in tone and grandeur, something Brian Tyler & Danny Elfman's score for Age of Ultron failed to bring to the fore. I've been listening to the score on loop since it was released on Spotify. Check out the tracks "Help Arrives" and "Forge". You're welcome.
Some last gripes I had with it were in the visuals. This is the most CGI-heavy Marvel movie ever made and for the most part, the movie looks really good.
However, in the smaller bits that didn't have as much CGI, the effects were pretty poor. It's irritating because there was the same issue in Captain America: Civil War where both Tony and Rhodey look so disjointed from their respective armours whenever the helmets were off. It's the same in Infinity War, unfortunately.
It's dark, it's loud and despite some excellent comic relief scattered around, the movie retains this sense of fear and dread which you feel as the events unfold.
All in all, Avengers: Infinity War delivered on all fronts and in style. It's epic as it should be and with many moments involving big characters which made me and my friends cheer out loud in awe of what we were witnessing.
This is Marvel truly flexing its cinematic muscle and showing the others how it's done.
Having said that, the movie is nowhere near perfect. The pacing of it is a major problem that can't be overlooked despite all the awesomeness happening around it.
Still, it leaves you craving for more and that's exactly what we'll get at this time next year, with the immediate follow-up probably already in post-production right now.
7.5/10.
Without a doubt the biggest movie event ever, Avengers: Infinity War is the culmination of 10 years and 18 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which began in 2008 with the release of Iron Man.
Simply put, everything about the movie screams "epic". From the visuals to the environments, to the costumes/makeup to the music, Marvel really threw everything but the kitchen sink at this movie, and rightfully so.
This was the moment fans had been waiting for for so many years, which was why it was such a bummer that the movie was kind of a mess.
For starters, the movie had an almost Justice League-like feel to it in terms of how noticeable enforced cuts were in numerous shots scattered throughout the movie.
What I mean by this is when the original shot envisioned by the director ends up being cut short for the sake of getting on with the story. Nothing wrong with that at all, but when a major camera movement is suddenly cut in order for the shot to complete its movement quicker, it becomes very jarring.
This happens numerous times throughout the film, and some bits of editing in certain scenes (especially those with plenty of action) end up having similar effects on the overall feel of the movie, making the pacing of it all over the place.
It was a given that we were going to see the most number of main characters ever put into a single film, and with that comes the terrifying task of actually giving each of them enough screen time or at least something relatively important to do to aid in moving the story along.
I felt the Russo brothers handled this task brilliantly. Each character had a part to play and not necessarily all at the same time, and in no way did it feel too congested.
The only big issue I had with it was perhaps there being one subplot too many. With every one the movie takes, it slows the film down to allow for exposition, and it just happened too often in this one. One subplot in particular featuring Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and Teenage Groot (Vin Diesel) really caused the film to drag dramatically, and I felt the movie would've been the same if it had just glossed right over it.
It's funny how I had a similar issue with Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), also involving Thor. Remember that super weird bit where Thor randomly goes off to "find answers" in that pool in the cave? That bit veered the movie off in such a different and jarring direction, it almost derailed the whole thing.
Mercifully, the issue with Infinity War wasn't as bad.
For the third time now [or fourth, if you count Captain America: Civil War (2016)], it was so awesome to see all these heroes come together to fight. Best part of it was seeing the OG's teaming up with all the fresh meat like Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Just so sick to see everyone working together.
Having said that, I feel it's also imperative that those who haven't seen the previous movies take the time to catch up on these characters' stories. I know there are so many movies to watch but trust me, it's worth it. Plus, you can just skip the few lousy ones like the first two Thor movies and Iron Man 2 and 3.
Let's talk about the big purple baddy, Thanos (Josh Brolin). Boy oh boy have we waited for him to arrive and blow shit up.
He's without a doubt the best Marvel villain ever put to screen (sorry Loki, you've been dethroned). Then again, that's not saying much because Marvel have always struggled with their rogues' gallery.
Brolin delivers a truly badass and multi-layered performance which makes Thanos all the more menacing. Not only is he physically scary, he's also one smart and scheming bastard. I thought the CGI work on him and especially on his facial features and expressions were truly top-notch.
He's huge, he's badass, and yet he's purple like a certain dinosaur. A testament then to the writing and portrayal of this character with all that bling covering his left hand.
His quest for the six Infinity Stones is a pretty epic one, and it's cool to see how he turns up all over the universe, planet to planet through interdimensional portals to find them no matter what the cost.
My issue with him? He's too OP (translation: "overpowered"). I prefer a villain which you can relate to on a more realistic and character-driven level. Most of the greatest movie villains of all-time follow that silhouette. If you make the villain too overpowered, you lose a sense of plausibility.
The ensemble cast was terrific, though for obvious reasons, no one could have possibly been a constant element throughout the entire movie, not even Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) himself who has led the Avengers in both previous films.
At 149 minutes long, it's actually surprisingly short for a movie of such magnitude. I was fully expecting and hoping for an almost three hour epic where they could really take their time to tell the story and not fall into the Justice League trap of speeding the storytelling up.
However, its pacing causes the movie to drag to a point where it actually feels much longer than its stated runtime. I feel that it would've been better should they have truly taken a step back and took their time to make a better and more cohesive film.
What we end up getting, of course, is no Justice League. Despite all its flaws in pacing and editing, the film is, as I mentioned earlier, undeniably epic.
Alan Silvestri's score matches the film in tone and grandeur, something Brian Tyler & Danny Elfman's score for Age of Ultron failed to bring to the fore. I've been listening to the score on loop since it was released on Spotify. Check out the tracks "Help Arrives" and "Forge". You're welcome.
Some last gripes I had with it were in the visuals. This is the most CGI-heavy Marvel movie ever made and for the most part, the movie looks really good.
However, in the smaller bits that didn't have as much CGI, the effects were pretty poor. It's irritating because there was the same issue in Captain America: Civil War where both Tony and Rhodey look so disjointed from their respective armours whenever the helmets were off. It's the same in Infinity War, unfortunately.
It's dark, it's loud and despite some excellent comic relief scattered around, the movie retains this sense of fear and dread which you feel as the events unfold.
All in all, Avengers: Infinity War delivered on all fronts and in style. It's epic as it should be and with many moments involving big characters which made me and my friends cheer out loud in awe of what we were witnessing.
This is Marvel truly flexing its cinematic muscle and showing the others how it's done.
Having said that, the movie is nowhere near perfect. The pacing of it is a major problem that can't be overlooked despite all the awesomeness happening around it.
Still, it leaves you craving for more and that's exactly what we'll get at this time next year, with the immediate follow-up probably already in post-production right now.
7.5/10.
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