{"id":5334,"date":"2018-04-25T11:42:54","date_gmt":"2018-04-25T18:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=5334"},"modified":"2018-04-25T12:07:16","modified_gmt":"2018-04-25T19:07:16","slug":"review-avengers-infinity-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=5334","title":{"rendered":"Review: AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thanos ponders the meaning of his existence in “Avengers: Infinity War.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After ten years of cinematic development, \u201cAvengers: Infinity War\u201d brings the universe together to fight the tragic villain Thanos. And what might have been a messy team-up experiment is remarkably cohesive and eminently satisfying.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"It\u2019s hard to overstate what\u2019s at stake for Marvel and Disney with the release of \u201cInfinity War.\u201d As shown earlier this year with the surprisingly effective, box office juggernaut \u201cBlack Panther,\u201d the comic book formula is now a well-oiled movie machine. And unlike the Warner Bros.\/DC problems that have been miss more than hit, the Marvel\/Disney pairing has been a consistent franchise with each film managing to contribute meaningfully to the one that comes out thereafter.<\/p>\n

But what if Marvel missteps? What if that moment of wrong-footing occurred with the most expensive entry of the entire series? Reports are that \u201cInfinity War\u201d and the next \u201cAvengers\u201d entry (combining to form a two-part epic) have run up a collective budget topping $1 billion dollars. This is not where Marvel needs to stumble.<\/p>\n

So, in order to find sure-footing, the studio turned to the brother team of Anthony and Joe Russo, who were responsible for the fantastic \u201cCaptain America: Civil War.\u201d It was that film that rivaled the \u201cAvengers\u201d movies in scope by bringing together Steve Rogers with Tony Stark, introducing a new Spider-Man and populating the adventure with a host of other Avengers. \u201cCivil War\u2019s\u201d final showdown was really poignant, making it hard to believe that the Russo team could repeat the magic. After all, just ask Joss Whedon, who had a tough time equaling, let alone topping the success of the the first \u201cAvengers\u201d film with \u201cAge of Ultron.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully, instead of trying to repeat the narrative notes that served the Russos\u2019 well with \u201cCivil War,\u201d they understandably go wider with \u201cInfinity War.\u201d This means that while the universe hangs in the balance in \u201cInfinity War,\u201d the script doesn\u2019t weigh down the narrative with heavily emotional personal conflict. Sure, there is a level of pathos that connects here, but \u201cInfinity War\u201d is just a broader and frankly funnier movie than \u201cCivil War.\u201d Both pictures have an epic reach, but “Infinity War” is a true \u201cAvengers\u201d movie with all the trimmings.<\/p>\n

And much of the \u201cInfinity War\u201d success is mainly due to the magnificent creation of anti-villain Thanos (a CGI Josh Brolin), who is so conflicted that it\u2019s hard to really hate the guy. He\u2019s a more interesting and fully developed bad guy than most any in Marvel history. While he\u2019s big and strong and positively invincible, he\u2019s constantly deciding, calculating how far he has to go to get exactly what he wants. Killing is necessary, but not something he takes great joy in doing.<\/p>\n

The story revolves around Thanos\u2019 quest to hold all the infinity stones so that he alone can wield infinite power. The reason why this is his life-long mission is part of the somewhat profound mystery of the film, which I dare not reveal. And when we initially meet him, he\u2019s already well on his way to capturing all the stones. Those stones that remain include but are not limited to one thought to be in the possession of Thor\u2019s people and two on planet Earth.<\/p>\n

On Earth, one of the infinity stones is hanging around Dr. Strange\u2019s neck. Remember Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) used the stone to fight off an invading force in his stand-alone film. The other stone on Earth is embedded in the head of the Vision (Paul Bettany). And students of the franchise well know that Vision was once an aware computer created by Tony Stark. It was in the \u201cAge of Ultron\u201d that Vision escaped the computer and found a form much like that of a human being. The infinity stone fused into him helped make that possible.<\/p>\n

Therefore, Thanos is on a collision course for our blue planet. And the only ones that can stop him are the Avengers. Well, the Avengers and every other superhero available. The story takes place both on Earth and in outer space. It picks up where both \u201cThor: Ragnarok\u201d and \u201cBlack Panther\u201d left off. And the interstellar traversing is pretty dizzying.<\/p>\n

Did I mention that the Guardians of the Galaxy show up? Well, that\u2019s been teased in the trailers. Much of the joy of this enormous mashup is in spotting all the familiar heroes as they make their contribution.<\/p>\n

There is really something for everyone in \u201cAvengers: Infinity War.\u201d Thematically, the concept of good vs. evil is in play, but the very nature of evil is an ultimate question dealt with somewhat clumsily. The pace of the film is so frantic and driven that hardly any time is left for a bit of calm and reason. Still, the complex handling of the effects of the accumulation of absolute power are embodied well in the tragic character of Thanos. His place in the MCU is so immense that two movies may not be enough to cover it all.<\/p>\n

Notice that I\u2019ve been intentionally vague and lacking in details here. Spoiling the film would do fans a disservice. It is enough to say that no one is safe when they stand in Thanos\u2019 way. More than a one-man wrecking crew, his goal alone is that of a destroyer of the universe, and he damn well makes you believe it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAvengers: Infinity War\u201d is a successful tuneup for a tumultuous, significant chapter in the continuing Marvel Cinematic Universe that will alter the trajectory of the franchise as it enters its second decade. And the stakes for Marvel and Disney continue to be ever higher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read Jonathan’s spoiler-free review of the year’s biggest film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[298,291,287,284,288,296,293,294,289,297,257,292,290,256,262,285,283,286,295],"class_list":["post-5334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-age-of-ultron","tag-anthony-russo","tag-benedict-cumberbatch","tag-captain-america","tag-civil-war","tag-comic-book","tag-dc","tag-disney","tag-dr-strange","tag-franchise","tag-infinity-war","tag-joe-russo","tag-josh-brolin","tag-marvel","tag-spider-man","tag-steve-rogers","tag-thanos","tag-tony-stark","tag-warner-bros","has-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5334"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5342,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5334\/revisions\/5342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}