Our take on... Avengers: Infinity War
Ten years, eighteen movies, six Infinity Stones, and one Infinity Gauntlet have brought us here: the film that Marvel have dubbed the most ambitious crossover in movie history, “Avengers: Infinity War”. The only question is does the film live up to expectations? Of course it does, not only that but it surpasses them easily.
The plot is pretty simple. Thanos wants to unite the Infinity Stones on the Infinity Gauntlet and use their combined power to wipe out half the universe, and only the combined efforts of (almost) every Marvel hero, and some villains, can stop him. Instead of having every character jammed onto the screen at one time, unlikely alliances are formed, and these teams are all split from each other. The clash in personalities makes for some excellent moments, some funny and some serious, but each of them work. From Thor’s interactions with Rocket and Groot, to Tony Stark and Doctor Strange having a clash of egos, it’s a testament to the casting that Marvel have nailed over the years that all these scenes work so well, and all the actors knock it out of the park in their respective roles. While all the actors know their characters inside and out at this stage, special mention must go to the all CGI Thanos, played by Josh Brolin, who is given a much stronger character than I was expecting.
When Marvel first introduced the character of Thanos in the post credits scene to the first “Avengers” film, many wondered how they would eventually get to the showdown between the mad titan, and Earth’s mightiest heroes. To Marvel’s credit, they didn’t jump the gun and shoehorn him in straight away as there was a lot to introduce to the universe first. With a menace as big as Thanos, it would have been pointless to have him fight characters we have no connection with which is why films like “Guardians of the Galaxy”, “Doctor Strange”, and “Black Panther” are so important to this film.
This is a spectacular blockbuster film that other studios can only dream of putting together. The action scenes are bigger than ever with a real sense of tension as it is established in a shocking way early in the film that every character is at risk and nobody is off limits. This sense of foreboding carries right through to the shocking conclusion which reminded me of “The Empire Strikes Back”. At roughly two hours and forty, the runtime can seem a little daunting, but the time sails by as there is so much going on. If it were any shorter, it would have done a disservice to the storytelling done up to this point. Every character gets a moment to shine, and while some characters get more time on screen than others, none of them feel like they’re getting short changed. Two notable absentees are Ant-Man and Hawkeye, but these have been teased to appear in the next film.
Lastly, a word of caution. If you think that you’ll just be able to fire this in and watch it without having seen any of the other films in the series, you’ll probably be in for a bit of a surprise. Marvel usually tries to ease new viewers into their cinematic universe, but not here. The film picks up right after “Thor Ragnarok” and shortly after “Black Panther” so I’d definitely recommend checking out those two, as well as the first “Avengers” and “Civil War” at the very least just to bring you up to speed. Luckily, when you pre-order “Infinity War” online you get a free Marvel DVD of our choosing, while stocks last.
So log on, or visit your local store to pre-order because this is the Marvel film that you’ve been waiting for. If you saw it in the cinema, chances are you’ll want to experience it again. If it’s your first time watching, you’re in for an absolute roller coaster.
Avengers: Infinity War is available to buy at all Golden Discs stores nationwide or here on DVD, Blu-Ray, Blu-ray 3D and 4K Ultra HD.
These are the talented words of our man Kevin Dillon. #kevinwritestuff
