THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
In 2017, I saw an Instagram post where someone said it would be cool see a movie villain try the hardest with their goal and succeed. A year later, we got just that with Avengers: Infinity War.
PLOT
The film begins with the Mad Titan Thanos beginning his quest to retrieve the six Infinity Stones. Already taken the Power Stone from Xandar, he attacks the Asgardian ship, defeating Thor and Hulk with ease, but kills Heimdall (Idris Elba) for sending Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to Earth, in order to warn the planet of his arrival. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) surrenders the Tessearct/Space Stone but gets himself strangled by the titan when attempting to kill him. Thanos leaves and his continues his quest, while his ‘children’ known as The Black Order go after two more stones on Earth. When Hulk crash lands in the NY Sanctum, he turns back into Bruce Banner and first tells Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wong (Benedict Wong). They then go to Tony Stark to explain that Thanos is the one who sent Loki years ago and is after the stones. Black Order members Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian (Terry Notary) arrive in attempt to take the Time Stone from Strange. Maw takes him captive and Obsidian is separated when falling into one of Wong's portals. Tony and Peter Parker aka Spider-Man (Tom Holland) board Maw's ship, kill him and rescue Strange but choose to go after Thanos. Banner uses Tony's burner phone to call Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). In space, Thor is rescued by the Guardians of the Galaxy. Thanos' adopted daughter Gamora explains to Thor that his goal is wipe out half of the universe with the stones. Thor reveals that Thanos is likely going to Knowhere because that is where the Aether/Reality Stone is. While Gamora, Peter Quill, Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) go to Knowhere, Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin DIesel) go with Thor to Nivadellir to make a weapon that'll kill Thanos. The Vision and Wanda Maximoff are attacked in Scotland by Black Order members Proxima Midnight (Carrie Coon) and Corvus Glaive (Michael James Shaw) who want to take the Mind Stone from him. They are quickly rescued by Rogers, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). They regroup at Avengers HQ with Banner and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle). They all go to Wakanda, believing that there advanced technology would succeed in removing the stone from Vision without killing him. At Knowhere, Thanos retrieves his third stone from The Collector (Benicio Del Toro) and when the Guardians get there, he takes Gamora with him, knowing she that knows the location of the Soul Stone. She reveals it to be at the planet Vormir and shows him, in order to save Nebula (Karen Gillan) from death. As they leave, Nebula breaks from captivity and messages the Guardians to meet her on the planet Titan, which is where the heroes on Maw's ship arrive as well. There, the Guardians meet Stark, Strange and Spider-Man. Strange uses the Time Stone and viewed 14,000,605 outcomes, realizing that they only have one chance to beat Thanos. At Vormir, Thanos and Gamora encounter the Soul Stone's keeper, The Red Skull, who had been stuck there since the '40s. He reveals that the only way to take it is for one to sacrifice another that he/she loves. Hesitantly, Thanos sacrifices Gamora, earning his fourth stone. When Thor reaches to Nivadellir, he discovers that the dwarf Eitri (Peter Dinklage) was forced to build the gauntlet that gains the power of the stones. With his help, he and Rocket reactivate the forge to reignite the star that will melt the mold of Thor's new weapon, the Stormbreaker. Thor gets unconscious when holding the door open for the star, but Groot makes the handle for the weapon out of his limbs, helping Thor quickly recover. At Wakanda, The remaining Black Order summon their army of Outriders for the Avengers to face. The heroes and the forces of Wakanda led by King T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), General Okoye (Danai Gurira) and M'Baku (Winston Duke) hold off the army, while Shuri (Letitia Wright) extracts the Mind Stone from Vision. Thor, Rocket and Groot eventually arrive there as well due to Stormbreaker's ability to summon the Bifrost. One by one, the remaining Black Order get killed by our heroes. Banner in a Hulkbuster suit, due to being unable to bring Hulk out again, is able to kill Cull Obsidian. Wanda kills Proxima Midnight and Vision is able to kill Crovus Glaive. The other group of heroes attempt to subdue Thanos at Titan, but Quill ruins it as he attacks him, after discovering that Gamora died. Thanos gains the upper hand on the conflict and when beats Doctor Strange and Iron Man separately, Strange surrenders the Time Stone. With one to go, he then goes to Wakanda. Wanda succeeds in destroying the Mind Stone which also destroys VIsion, but Thanos reverses the destruction with the Time Stone in order to take the last stone. Thor attempts to kill him as he stabs him with his new weapon, but he takes too long, giving Thanos enough time to summon a snap with the power of all six stones in his gauntlet wielding hand. Once he flees, people disappear one by one. On Wakanda, many disappear including our heroes, T'Challa, Wanda, Sam, Groot and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). During a post credits scene, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) sends a distress signal via pager as he and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) disappear as well. On Earth, the only heroes that remain are Rogers, Thor, Romanoff, Banner, Rocket and Rhodes. On Titan, all that remain are Stark and Nebula after Strange, Parker, Quill, Mantis and Drax disappear as well. The film ends showing Thanos at another planet, smiling to his success.
THOUGHTS
When seeing this film in theaters back in 2018, I recall being speechless, gasping as my right leg was shaking throughout. This was truly the intense experience I ever had because every time I tried to figure out what would happen next, I was far from it. Like the follow up that would be Endgame, this was a once in a lifetime experience I’ll never forget. Even though this is partially based on the ‘Infinity Gauntlet’ comic, I could’ve not guessed that it would play out the way that it did. The Russo Brothers returning as directors, along with the writing duo of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely succeed in raising the bar for superhero movies as this was the most epic of the genre until Endgame exceeded it even higher. Even though this is a great script and another great chapter to this arc, there were still some problems of its own. The first problem was the absence of Valkyrie and Korg. Yes, they are alive when we see them in Endgame but Thor doesn't mention what happened to them at all, becoming the biggest plothole of the film because we don't see how they survived Thanos' attack. Also, while planet Earth is aware of insane events like The Avengers' Battle in NY, I wonder if they're chill about the mystic arts because there were no background reactions when Doctor Strange opens a portal in Central Park to find Tony. I'm going to praise Thanos later but because he's all about wiping half of the universe, he goes against his rule when killing every dwarf in Nivadellir but EItri, pre snap. I get that this can be a display of dominance but it is odd doing it to someone who made you the most powerful weapon. He could've pulled a Selvig and make some kind of backup flaw for the gauntlet like he did in The Avengers. If the Aether is a fluid, how did it revert back to a stone? Skipping Thanos’ attack on Xandar makes sense because that’s predictable, but it feels unfair that we don’t how the Aether reverts back to a stone. It feels more of a robbery considering that not even Endgame shows how it works, making it the second biggest plot hole of the series. Lastly, it’s pretty cool seeing Thor show up in Wakanda with Rocket and Groot, but there is no explanation on how he would know there’s a battle in Wakanda. I know we need him to be there to even the odds somehow, but please explain how he knew where to be. Once you ignore these flaws, you’ll be calling this film timeless. Returning to the goods, the visuals are a given to be great and they are at full effect throughout, earning its Oscar Nomination. Because of that, every fight scene delivers spectacularly from the opening fight in NY to the simultaneous climactic battle that goes down in Titan and Wakanda. Even during a movie with such high stakes, there was still room for a few laughs. I am always laughing with scenes such as: Cap saying 'I am Steve Rogers' when meeting Groot, Spider-Man referencing Aliens, Drax calling the Cloak of Levitation a 'blanket of death' or Rocket obsessing over Bucky's new metal arm. The big success of this film is how contained it felt contained for such a massive ensemble. Most actors had their moments but only a few performances/characters really caught my eye here. Robert Downey Jr. gives another home run here as Iron Man. The reason it pays off this time is because he is determined to defeat the man who's haunted him for years, in order to finally rest like he's been trying to for years. And his look of failure felt so real when almost Spider-Man vanishes in front of him. He could’ve died in Thanos’ hand, but Strange knew he would be essential to undo the loss. Chris Hemsworth is great here again as Thor because he lost everything, becoming a broken man on the path of revenge. That is why he took his time stabbing Thanos because he was soaking in his revenge. Then you quickly see his look of regret when he sees people disappear. Now while he doesn't need a weapon to use his powers, he clearly uses Stormbreaker to amplify his powers, hence the destruction he made in the battlefield on Wakanda. I think the reason that Groot stepped in to make the handle because I truly believed he pitied Thor. Yes he's playing the video game Defender the whole time but when he looks at the God, listening to the emotions Mantis is describing. Once he hears his loss, he does feel bad for him. It was fair to skip how did the fling between Wanda and Vision because that would've taken too long to go over. Which is why I accept the foreshadowing that was shown in prior films, hence great chemistry shown between Paul Bettany & Elisabeth Olsen. Zoe Saldana gives her best outing as Gamora because she's expressing all of the hatred and fear she has towards Thanos because of what she knows. When she breaks down after stabbing what she thought was Thanos, it was not just out of relief but because she knows that she knew deep down he was the closest thing she had to a father. I see both sides when Quill attacked Thanos when the group was subduing them, in order to remove the gauntlet. It was bad to do because he should've put his differences. Drax had been craving for avenging his family and he stopped thinking about it during this when he shouts at him. Quill's actions are relatable because I feel like anyone would've acted the same if they lost a loved one. I always have a hard time believing people who claim they would keep it together unlike him. Having said that, I think Chris Pratt owned that scene because he represented all of the anger and loss he's had all his life. The return of the Red Skull shocked me because the theory of him still being alive is one I did not believe and Ross Marquand did a good job sounding a lot like Hugo Weaving. The Black Order were intimidating henchmen but the most intimidating had to be Ebony Maw. I pick Maw because in my eyes Tom Vaughan-Lawlor brought such a persuasive voice and he lived up to being a dangerous foe in his given time. There are some villains that see themselves as a hero in their perspective and the best example is going to be this interpretation of Thanos. We had been waiting for this character to make impact since mid credit appearance in 2012's The Avengers when most viewers didn't know who he was. Now, the world of pop culture will always know who he is. Josh Brolin owns it in his motion capture portrayal of the Mad Titan. He is a terrifying figure because he is not always hesitant to do what needs to be done. I also can’t admit how much of a badass he is when fought all of our heroes. At first, you’re scared of him when he beats down Hulk without using the Power Stone, but are blown away how he puts up his own in the separate fights against Doctor Strange and Iron Man. And of course, seeing him throw a Moon is insane. He truly believes that he is making a good cause out of genocide. He is doing this because he is trying to save the universe from overpopulation and he thinks that doubling the resources won't be enough. It's not rare for villains to win because we saw Zemo split the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War and John Doe complete the seven deadly sins in Se7en, but we've never seen a villain pull off an attempt of genocide. His quote ‘The hardest choices require the strongest will’ is very empowering because it explains that he feels like he has to do this, not want to. His success with such a goal is what will make this character forever iconic for centuries. The only time there is an attempt to make us sympathize for him is when he cries as he kills Gamora. It definitely works at the moment, but it doesn't change that he has to be stopped. What you do learn from him better than our heroes is that we have to be able to evolve/adapt or we’ll be unable to live on. Going back to his success, his snap is going to be one of the most iconic endings in film history. Although his actions are undone in Endgame, you gotta admit how shocking it was to see half of our heroes disappear. You just couldn't expect anything like that to happen because we were so use to seeing a victory. When you see him smile as he sits on that porch, you just accept the victory like Nebula said, 'He did it'. Overall, Avengers: Infinity War is another great chapter to the MCU and if you've made it this far, quit wasting time and see it now.
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