If film fans, comic book fans in particular, did football chants then there’s a chance one might go along the lines of “Kevin Feige had a dream, to bring together a massive Avengers team” – over the course of ten years, some movie highs (the first Iron Man that kicked it all off, Captain America The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther) and a few lows (Thor 2: The Dark World, still no solo Hulk film that’s at least good) everything has built and lead into this point. Avengers: Infinity War is finally upon us, carrying the weight of expectations that few if any film has successfully carried off, not to mention the projections of box office busting returns from cinemagoers piling in to see how their heroes fare against Thanos, the purple skinned big bad who’s been lurking in the background who’s finally decided the time is right to get up off his arse.
Marvel does of course have an advantage when it comes to Infinity War (and Avengers Assemble/Age of Ultron) that it’s lukewarmly received big team up competitor Justice League didn’t, having introduced their heroes gallery over the course of the decade, with Thanos himself given fleeting moments here and there, popping up in a couple of end credit sequences, bolstered with a few scenes in Avengers Assemble and more prominently in the first outing for the Guardians of the Galaxy. There is therefore a sense of familiarity to the character and his purpose, though for anyone who needs an introduction as to what Thanos’ objective is is provided early on by Stephen Strange and Wong at the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York City, site of Bruce Banner’s abrupt return to Earth. The plot picks up directly after the end credits scene from Thor Ragnorok (an immediate point of catch up for those who haven’t seen that to date), and does of course revolve around the quest for the infinity stones, or how to keep them away from the grasp of the titan and his intention to use all six stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe, with all but one of the stones having appeared in various guises and locations throughout the MCU.
This summary of events to date at the Sanctum kickstarts the process of both bringing the various heroes together from where various storylines left them previously and attempting to handle a large cast of characters in one storyline, something that has historically proved a hard task to accomplish in any genre, let alone one where most of those involved have a superpower or ability that can prove tantalising to utilise to it’s fullest at any and every opportunity – virtually every X Men film to date has struggled to a certain extent to give the main characters enough to do to fully justify having them around as the cast has grown with each instalment. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s script does look to keep things as equally proportioned as they can as the various threads gradually start to come together, with Thanos’ quest the thread used to achieve that, using the opportunity to send the story around the universe as organically as possible and not just a greatest hits compilation of the last MCU decade. If there is something that becomes starkly apparent early on in Infinity War it is how high the stakes are, a tangibly real intensity to proceedings especially around Thanos and the very palpable threat he and his associates carry to a number of the established characters, despite there being a reassurance in the background of an assured future for a lucky few thanks to already announced sequel plans in the next phase of MCU output.
Clearly Markus and McFeely, as well as the Russo brothers, have spent a great deal of time making sure that they nail down the varied rapport between the established friends and partnerships, and their reactions to potential new allies. Having worked on the last two Captain America outings it’s no surprise that there would be a comfortable familiarity with the characters from those stories but the script also manages to seemlessly continue the interplay between the Guardians of the Galaxy established by James Gunn, using it to great and at times much needed comic relief, as well as some enjoyable and on occasion spikey vocal interplay as new and old characters are brought together in various story strands. Though there isn’t scope given the ground needed to be covered and the number of characters present to give a huge amount of focus to one or two characters over others there are notable moments of building on recent character arcs for Vision, Scarlet Witch, Tony Stark and Thor in particular, though the quest for revenge against Thanos by several of the Guardians of the Galaxy isn’t overlooked either, used as it is for some of the film’s more emotional and stirring moments.
Of all those present though the bulk of any development and story arc is given up to Thanos himself, a storytelling aspect that in the past has left other comic book films feeling too interested or weighted towards the villain of the piece at the expense of the hero, but here it is a smart move. Rather than just have hulking purple figure lumber around crushing those before him in a one note performance time and care has been taken to give both depth and reasoning behind the ambition and reasoning employed by Thanos, and why he has been so driven to unite the infinity stones. These traits give Josh Brolin more to work with than arguably expected, and moments of unexpected pathos amongst the mayhem that ensues as his plan with it’s destructive end edges closer as events develop, a horrifying means to an end to balance the universe by an instant moment of destruction.
With a title such as Infinity War promising, and developing, mass conflict it’s perhaps not surprising that by the end of it’s two and a half hour running time that there’s almost a sense of battle weariness by it’s conclusion, or at least half time break with part two due out next May. The story does seek to answer at least most of the “what if” battle scenarios that fans and the various trailers could dream up, even if there are a few moments where new hi tech gadgetry pops up or out almost too conveniently, the Russo brothers have at least managed to avoid the mistakes made in the Matrix Revolutions to name one other conflict centric title that suffered from too many repetitive action sequences with little variety to them, relying solely on a growing numerical threat and little else. With Infinity War the different abilities, powers and skills are used with consideration throughout to try and ensure more of a variety to the action scenes, yet enough restraint used to stop the scenes from becoming too incomprehensible or cluttered by the warring combatants.
With the amount of money that Infinity War is expected to bring in and the budget it commanded (an eye watering 353 million dollars) it’s surprising that it does suffer a couple of moments of wobbly CGI, notably in one scene with wider shots of Thanos as he moves around the set in one of his quieter more reflective moments, and a couple of times his accomplices, all motion capture performances, appear. Oddly given how much of a threat they are supposed to be they are not once named surprisingly, almost coming off as being somewhat one note villains there to combat the various Avengers to save Thanos doing it, save for Tom Vaughan-Lawlor’s Ebony Maw, maker of speeches of grandeur and possessing handy psychic and telekinetic powers. With everything that there is to take in there is still time for a crowd pleasing cameo and a surprise return, and those with a keen ear might pick up on the use of some Star Wars A New Hope style flute notes in parts of Alan Silvestri’s score that drift in in quieter moments.
Rather than being a crowd pleasing Avengers Assemble style character mash up, Infinity War dares to go to somewhat darker and intense emotional places that other writers or directors might not have dared to go to, when the easiest option would be to simply go bigger, more bang for the Marvel buck, and attempt to outdo the last potentially world ending spectacle that audiences were treated. It isn’t a perfect film, or arguably even the best in the MCU to date, but despite a long running time on the whole Infinity War serves up a well judged balance of characters and measured variances in tone, from the thrilling to the emotive to the comedic that will satisfy enough MCU fans, at least unit next April and the concluding part of Infinity War.
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