Ever since the Marvel Cinematic Universe began with Iron Man in 2008, all the nineteen movies that came out in the last ten years had all been leading to this moment; leading to The Avengers, The Guardians of the Galaxy and other superheroes taking on the Mad Titan, Thanos, in Avengers: Infinity War.
To start with, Marvel’s ultimate project (the culmination of phases 1-3) is actually the strangest and most intense superhero movie of all time. As usual, the review would be in three parts; the good, the bad and the ugly
**SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVEN’T YET WATCHED AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, THEN DON’T SCROLL ANY FURTHER. INSTEAD CHECK OUT OUR EXPLANATION ON THANOS and HIS ORIGIN. ALSO CHECK OUT THE BLACK ORDER and THE INFINITY STONES AS WELL AS THE POWERS THEY WIELD.**
Now onto the review.
THE GOOD
To start with, Avengers: Infinity War is probably the strangest and the most intense movie of all time. It was a beautiful masterpiece that stirred up every possible emotion the human body could muster in a little under 3 hours. A lot of superhero movies tend to get lost in the action without a worthy storyline to back it up, but Marvel’s billion-dollar project didn’t follow the trend. It was in a league of its own. For an overcrowded roaster, every major superhero who appeared in the movie, had enough screentime to make sure they were not missed as the movie progressed, and we were given a full dose of the maddening powers Thanos has even without the Infinity Stones (I mean, for you to scare The Hulk into not wanting to come out again, then you’re definitely frightening.)
The upgrades on many characters were nothing short of awesome; we finally got a glimpse of how terrifying Dr. Strange’s magical prowess is, as the Sorcerer Supreme went toe-to-toe with Thanos (who at this point wielded 4 out of 6 stones) and was a force to reckon with. Iron Man’s bleeding edge armour gave us the first real dose of just how crazy powerful Iron Man is with the right technology (taking on the mad Titan single-handedly and actually drawing blood from the Titan – a move which made Thanos commend him).
I absolutely loved the storyline; the way it progressed from re-introducing the characters, to trying to sort out the aftermath of the Civil War, and so many climactic battles from the very beginning to the end that it’s actually hard choosing which of the fight scenes was the best. Having Thanos interact with and defeating every Avenger on his way to collecting the stones was another reason why Marvel showed that the wait to seeing Thanos as the main villain would be worth it; it definitely was.
From start to finish, Avengers: Infinity War had me on the edge of my seat and the ending (the greatest cliffhanger in the history of cliffhangers) left a deep cocktail of emotions in my core. It was probably the most mortifying and emotional thing to happen since the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones. It made me forget everything that happened in the movie as I kept replaying the scene in my mind over and over again for hours. It wasn’t until a few hours later I started recollecting all that happened and just how great a superhero movie Marvel’s ultimate project truly was.
THE BAD
There were some lapses in powers that made me start asking questions. During the events of Thor: Ragnarok, we were introduced to the idea that Thor was the weather itself and not Mjolnir. He was the one who summoned the lightning and storms, but in Infinity War, he went back to being the ‘god of hammers’. Not that Stormbreaker wasn’t needed, it definitely was, as the movie has already hinted that it is in a league that even Mjolnir can never, ever hope to join, but it felt like Thor couldn’t manipulate the weather nor show his godlike powers until he got Stormbreaker. However, seeing him use it against the outriders and then taking on Thanos (who now wielded the full powers of the gauntlet) himself was actually really satisfying.
The Black Order’s powers were also really downplayed in the movie. Sure one can make the argument that they had to do so, if not, the superheroes wouldn’t have been able to take them down, but in particular, Corvus Glaive’s character was the one that had me questioning marvel’s decision to do this the most. Corvus is someone who singlehandedly conquered worlds and tore through the Avengers in the comics, so he was at least not meant to be someone that should have been taken down that easily. He practically lost every battle he fought and wasn’t any real threat. The other members of the order; Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian (Black Dwarf), had better showings than their leader, Corvus.
THE UGLY
By definition, the thing that made Thanos become termed as the “Mad Titan” was his love for death, destruction and killing. Making him emotional was smart because it introduced the idea that behind all that madness, he had a soul (we usually see just how emotional he can get when Mistress Death is concerned). However, the idea behind Thanos’ decision to wipe out half the galaxy was extremely laughable at best.
After teasing his madness level in the cameos of The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, and Avengers: Age of Ultron, killing half of the universe so that resources can go round, ‘balance’ can be restored and the demand of habitats of the many planets in the Marvel Cinematic Universe can be supplied without a case of overpopulation that gives rise to famine, hunger and other economic problems was really not a motive befitting of Thanos.
We already saw this play out in Kingsman: The Secret Service, and although the movie was great, the plot driving the villain in the movie made us laugh. It wasn’t good enough when it was just subjected to earth in Kingsman, now imagine such a motive on a multiversal level in Infinity War?
All Thanos wanted was to restore balance and then go somewhere peaceful, smile and watch the sunset while having the serenity superheroes get when they come home after taking down a villain and saving lives. All that takes the “mad” away from his title and makes him like every other villain we were forced to sympathize with his/her motives. So far, only Killmonger’s motives have drawn true sympathy from viewers. Thanos didn’t need our sympathy, just like Loki, Hela and other great supervillains that have appeared in the MCU didn’t need. That was what made them great.
Asides that, Thanos’ character, strength and overall villainy, as well as the epicness of Avengers: Infinity War was perfect and was definitely worth the 10-year wait.
So what did you think about the movie? I’d love to know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Avengers: Infinity War is currently showing in cinemas nationwide.
Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and the rest of the Avengers unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet — the evil Thanos. On a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artifacts to inflict his twisted will on reality. The fate of the planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment.