Sooo... I went and saw Avengers: Infinity War today!
Wow. That’s all I have to say. Wow. There was so much going on in that movie. Ten years worth of films culminating into one climatic cinematic event. Twenty-three main actors from a span of eighteen movies!
So how was this spectacular event?
A couple of my worries going in were that the story would be lame, the movie wouldn’t be able to juggle so many characters, the villain (that had been hinted at since the first Avengers in 2012) would turn into just another “Marvel movie villain” that would fade into the mix, and then the film just wouldn’t live up to all the hype.
Let me just say, all these concerns were put at ease. It was such a good film and so incredibly well-done! Of course, it wasn’t perfect, but I was amazingly satisfied.
Where do I even begin?
The story was very basic. There wasn’t a lot of character development, sitting around and talking about emotions or any of that. It was mostly get from point A to point B, punch people, blow stuff up, get from point B to point C, punch some people, find this person, and so on. Normally, this would be very bothersome, but we don’t need a lot of character development with this movie because of all the previous movies which included all that. We already know these characters!
The joy was seeing them in new situations and interacting with other characters that they normally wouldn’t interact with. It was like the first Avengers film except on a much grander scale. I remember when that film came out and how stoked everyone was to see Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, etc. who all had their separate movies all coming together into one movie. It was mind-boggling! Now here in Infinity War, it’s like that times ten since so many more films have come out and so many more characters have been introduced.
The team ups in this movie were just incredible! They were hilarious, savage, and all worked surprisingly well together (not to say they all got along, but they had good chemistry). I loved how they all played off one another both in dialogue and in action. Some standout team ups were Thor with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Dr. Strange with Tony Stark. (Also there was one short moment at the end with Rocket and Bucky. Fantastic!)
And everyone stays in character (for the most part. There is one part at the very end I’ve already been hearing people getting very heated and debating over). Their lines, their actions all line up with their dialogue and actions in their own standalone films. I was very satisfied with how each character was portrayed.
I’d like to say everyone gets an equal part through the movie, but that would be lying. Some characters get a slightly bigger role. Only slightly though, that is important to remember. I do think, though, everyone gets a good amount of screen time even if they don’t have a lot of lines. I know that some people will have their favorite character like Black Widow or someone who has a much smaller role compared to Thor or somebody and will get all salty about it, but hey, I don’t think that’s any reason to hate the entire movie.
The action was super intense and well-choreographed. As I said before, the characters play off each other. I love how they use each other’s strengths and work in synch. I’m not sure it was the most impressive Marvel movie as far as action goes (I think that still goes to Captain America: Winter Soldier), but it was up there.
It was also quite funny. Not on the level of Thor: Ragnarok or Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but it had its moments. It was funny mostly because of the characters just being themselves and interacting with things outside of their usual environment. The jokes didn’t land 100% of the time, but the ones that did always got a big laugh. (Sorry, but I have to spoil my favorite joke, so SPOILER): I loved the part when the Guardians and the Avengers meet up and Peter Quill asks “Where’s Gamora?” and Tony says, “I’ll do you one better, who’s Gamora?” and then Drax says, “I’ll do you one even better, why’s Gamora?” Made me laugh so hard!
The other major thing I was concerned about was the villain, Thanos. We first caught a glimpse of him in the after-credits scene in Avengers. Then we also saw him a few other times in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Guardians of the Galaxy. He had been teased at as this mysterious, powerful villain forever. Unfortunately, Marvel has a history of creating really generic, forgettable villains though, so I was a bit wary.
However, I will just say right now that Thanos was a legitimately threatening and memorable villain. I can’t say a whole lot about him without venturing into spoiler territory, but the movie made him such a round character. He wasn’t some bland, predictable, over-the-top bad guy. He was actually a little sympathetic sometimes (but usually you were screaming profanities at him because of all the awful things he was doing). BUT, you could understand his motivation a little bit. That is to say, you could see his reasoning even if you don’t agree. And Josh Brolin has such a presence too. His performance is what really made the character.
Now, being a Marvel fan, I had been speculating along with others about what significant events would be happening in this film (“significant events” meaning deaths). Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything, but let me just say that this movie is dark and emotional. Yes, there are the usual Marvel quips and that upbeat Marvel spirit, but man does it get intense. Plus, it’s only part one of a whole story so it ended quite dramatically. I was pretty close to tearing up several times. This is another reason I’m sure a lot of people didn’t like the film. It had a bit of a different tone than a typical Marvel film, plus, yes, some characters died.
News flash: major players sometimes have to die in order to set the stakes high and to show great loss. There’s no need to get extremely salty over it and say it’s a horrible movie. It’s called storytelling. Plus, it’s a comic book movie, there’s a chance they might get brought back.
I think maybe the film might’ve been a little over-hyped, but I still think it lived up to most (if not all) of my expectations. I know there are people out there who didn’t like it, but I think those are people who are upset over how dark it was and/or their favorite characters’s deaths. It definitely wasn’t boring. It had an awful lot of stuff in there and it was really long, but never at any point did it feel over-stuffed or too long. In fact, by the end, I was like “wow, that was 2 1/2 hours? Didn’t even notice.” I was thoroughly entertained throughout. In this one, all the characters were pretty separated, but I think in the next one, everyone will come together for a great final battle.
It references almost every single Marvel movie. So, if you’ve seen them at least once, you will understand what is happening and will probably enjoy it. If you haven’t seen any of the movies, you’ll probably be bored since it’s mostly a plot-based movie.
So in the end, I’d say it was a pretty darn good movie. Not perfect, but still good. 8/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment