AVENGERS: INFINITY
WAR:
CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF
A SUCCESSFUL FRANCHISE WITH AN AMBITIOUS YET CONSISTENTLY THRILLING EPIC…WITH
SUPERHEROES!
By Nico
Beland
Movie
Review: **** out of 4
MARVEL
STUDIOS
The
Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy prepping for battle against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War
Marvel
Studios celebrates ten years of moviemaking history that all started with
the release of Iron Man back in 2008,
with the hugely anticipated, Avengers:
Infinity War. Hard to believe it’s been that long ago and here we are
finally watching what the Marvel
Cinematic Universe has been building up to.
Much like the anticipation for the
first Avengers movie in 2012, Marvel
continues its ambition with another genre redefining superhero film that brings
the characters who won our hearts over the past ten years all together in an
action-packed extravaganza that’s big on thrills but heavier on emotion. This
is truly the Return of the King of
superhero movies mixed with the emotional depth of Game of Thrones and The
Walking Dead.
After the events of Captain America: Civil War, the Avengers
have parted ways with each other, billionaire, Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert
Downey Jr.-Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Tropic Thunder, Sherlock Holmes) is mentoring and keeping a watchful eye on web-slinging
teenager, Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland-The Impossible, In the Heart
of the Sea, The Lost City of Z),
and scientist, Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo-You Can Count on Me, Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Spotlight)
has returned to Earth after helping Thor (Chris Hemsworth-Star Trek (2009), The Cabin
in the Woods, Rush) defeat Hela
in Asgard. Suddenly a mysterious new villain appears known as Thanos (Josh
Brolin-True Grit (2010), Men in Black 3, Deadpool 2) who seeks out all the six Infinity Stones to give him
the power to wipe out half the galaxy.
To battle Thanos’ army, the
Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America (Chris Evans-Fantastic 4 (2005), Scott
Pilgrim VS The World, Snowpiercer),
Thor, Spider-Man, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson-Lost in Translation, Her, The
Jungle Book (2016), Vision (Paul Bettany-Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Margin Call, Solo: A Star Wars Story), Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth
Olsen-Martha Marcy May Marlene, Godzilla (2014), Wind River), and their allies, James Rhodes/War Machine (Don
Cheadle-Hotel Rwanda, Crash, Flight), Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie-The Hurt Locker, The Night
Before, Detroit), T’Challa/Black
Panther (Chadwick Boseman-42, Get on Up, Marshall), and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan-Black Swan, Logan Lucky, I, Tonya) must form a partnership with Doctor
Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch-Sherlock,
The Hobbit trilogy, Star Trek into Darkness) and the
Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt-Parks and Recreation, The Lego Movie, Jurassic World), Gamora (Zoe Saldana-Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Star Trek (2009 trilogy), Avatar), Rocket (voiced by Bradley
Cooper-The Hangover trilogy, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle), Drax the Destroyer
(Dave Bautista-Riddick, Spectre, Blade Runner 2049), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel-The Iron Giant, Fast & Furious franchise, XXX),
Mantis (Pom Klementieff-Delicacy, Oldboy, Ingrid Goes West), and Nebula (Karen Gillan-Doctor Who, Oculus, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) if they
want to stand a chance and fight for the universe or die trying.
The film also stars Tom Hiddleston (War Horse, Crimson Peak, Kong: Skull
Island) as Loki, Idris Elba (28 Weeks
Later, Pacific Rim, Star Trek Beyond) as Heimdall, Peter
Dinklage (Game of Thrones, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
as Eitri the Dwarf King, Benedict Wong (Sunshine,
The Martian, Annihilation) as Wong, Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love, The
Talented Mr. Ripley, Contagion)
as Pepper Potts, and Benicio del Toro (Traffic,
Sin City, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) as Tanteleer Tivan/The Collector.
Overall, Avengers: Infinity War delivers both on a spectacle level and from
an emotional standpoint, something I was not expecting an Avengers movie to do. Don’t get me wrong, I was invested in these
characters long before the first Avengers
movie thanks to their solo films, but at least with The Avengers and Avengers:
Age of Ultron, they were mostly flashy special-effects driven popcorn fun
with amusing chemistry between the characters.
This one feels like all hell is
breaking loose and what was once a light, goofy cinematic universe has been
transformed into a dark, gritty, war zone. The universe is on the brink of
disaster, characters we’ve grown attached to are dying (Without giving anything
away), and the only thing that can stop it is an army of people with unique
powers and abilities, Gods, monsters, and aliens battling…the Marvel equivalent of the Devil, I don’t
think I’ve been this emotionally invested in a superhero movie since The Dark Knight or maybe Logan.
Let’s talk about Brolin as Thanos,
at first glance I thought he was just going to be another bland, power-hungry
comic book villain like Malekith from Thor:
The Dark World or Dormammu from Doctor
Strange. Much to my surprise, he was much more fleshed-out and
three-dimensional than I was expecting, and he does show a softer side when he’s
on-screen with Gamora, Josh Brolin really sells it and I’m hoping he can do
Cable justice in Deadpool 2 next
month.
Aside from the action and drama, the
best aspect of Infinity War, at least
in my opinion, is the chemistry between all the characters and seeing them work
off of each other. Similar to the first Avengers movie and seeing Captain
America, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and company interact with each other for the
first time, watching Thor interacting with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Iron
Man working off of Star-Lord and Doctor Strange while acting like a father
figure to Spider-Man is undeniably charming and humorous.
Originally Avengers: Infinity War was supposed to be a 2-parter similar to the
final Harry Potter and Hunger Games movies, and it definitely
feels like that. Clocking in at 2 hours and 40 minutes, most of the movie
consisting of a long epic battle, and the film ends on a huge cliffhanger for
the next Avengers movie coming out next year, this is pretty much a big appetizer
before the main course.
Avengers:
Infinity War celebrates ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and brings the franchise into darker,
more emotional territory while still delivering all the flashy, superhero
action and fun you would expect from a Marvel
movie. Here’s to ten successful years Marvel
Studios and to ten more in the future, I’ll be back for Ant-Man and the Wasp and Avengers 4.
