I’ve been reminiscing this week of when I saw Iron Man ten years ago, watching Nick Fury walk onto screen at the end, and realizing that one day we would be getting an Avengers movie.By the time I was graduating high school, The Avengers was the talk of my entire student body, and with the stinger at the end, the question everyone asked was simple: Who was that? In refernece to Thanos, of course, we soon learned who he was. Father of Gamora. Threatening evil purple dude who sits on a chair. The guy who says “I’ll do it myself.” For all the ups and downs the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had, building upward has always been the strengh they’ve possessed. Cumilating in Infinity War, everyone will know who Thanos is, and for every reason they don’t want to, they’ll remember him by.
This is a hard movie to talk about because so much of it could be considered “spoilers.” Basic premise is this: Thanos wants the Infinity Stones, to which he’ll fit them into his Infinity Gauntlet and enact his mater plan. Sounds simple, right? The thing to know is that Infinity War is very much the cinematic adaptation of a comic book event. All characters converge unto this point, the largest we’ve possibly seen on the movie screen in a very long time, and nothing of this calibur has ever been attempted, let alone executed properly.
Does it succeed? Yes. Everything all at once succeeds.
Like every comic event, not every character gets equal time to shine. While characters like Black Panther and Drax are involved and featured, the plot ends up dealing with others who are more directly involved with the Infinity Stones. So, understandably, Vision is a character of great importance because Age of Ultron has one forced into his head, while Doctor Strange wears one around his neck. Common sense, yes? That said, it’s relatively safe to know that even with these many characters in the film, with multiple plot lines and set pieces going on at once on a massive scale, it’s all balanced nicely and done with a tremendous amount of love, care, and respect for these characters.
The gravity of Infinity War is apparent from the opening moments, in which we are introduced to Thanos and the Black Order. Whereas a Marvel movie features the upbeat Marvel Studios fanfare at the beginning, Infinity War is a dark, solemn affair that bears the weight of impending chaos as the logos reveal themselves and the movie begins. For over two and a half hours, the film constantly pushes forward, reintroducing characters, utilizing the greater Marvel universe that we’ve come to know over the years, and fully reward those who have been with these films all the way through. The Russo Brothers have done an exceptional job, and while my heart still belongs to James Gunn as my favorite Marvel director, these two have only proven time and again that they are among the most fearsome directors working in Hollywood today.
While the signature Marvel humor is intact and the characters who are often associated with humor are very much still hilarious, (Drax, Rocket, Spider-Man) Infinity War is undoubtedly among the darkest of the Marvel movies. Parents may actually be shocked by what happens and how bleak the stakes are at times, but it is a tone that has been earned. Jarring as it may be as the film picks up immediately following the bright and colorful Thor: Ragnarok, when the galaxy needs saving on multiple fronts, no other tone would be appropriate for the intensity that Thanos brings to the screen.
And that’s one of the strongest things about Infinity War: Thanos himself. Josh Brolin has helped bring this larger-than-life character to the screen and he could not have been a more fitting choice. Though the film only introduces him and his Black Order as new characters, Thanos is a deeply-layered character whose development comes as the film progresses. While one may not agree with Thanos, you’ll understand him and his goals as he tells them when necessary. It’s not deeply psychological or philisophical, but whether Thanos is right or not in his reasoning is definitely a conversation worth having. With the presence of Darth Vader and the fear-inducing dread of Sauron, Thanos might very well go down as one of the most iconic movie villains of our time.
As one half of a whole story, it is very much like The Lord of the Rings, in which this story is done, but another must happen for us to reach the end of this journey. While waiting a year for what comes next, Infinity War is no doubt doing the impossible. An excellent villain, a well-balanced plot for an unprecedentedly-large cast of characters, and everything you love about Marvel put into one film, this one won’t be beaten in 2018. Take it as me telling you to just go see the movie and experience it for yourself. Infinity War has been coming for a long time now, and rightly so the hype doesn’t have anything on it.
