A One Mann’s Movies review of “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018).
Bob the Movie Man’s Movie Rating:
Certification:
UK: 12; US: PG-13.
So, it’s been a week of full-on work and family commitments…. which means it’s also been a week of ducking and dodging of film reviews in case of spoilers! (Actually, all my favourite bloggers have been pretty good!). This review will also be spoiler free,but there is just SO MUCH that can be discussed there will be a Spoiley McSpoiler section after the trailer video.
Upfront I have to admit that I’m not the world’s greatest MCU fan, but even I felt a twinge of anticipation on going into this 19th instalment: a film that has had fan-boys frothing at the loins for years. And the film doesn’t disappoint, drawing together most (but not all) threads of the disparate MCU universe into a sprawling epic adventure.
Thanos (which inappropriately always seems to autocorrect to “Thanks”!) is played by a CGI’d Josh Brolin, first glimpsed as a “monkey” after the original “Avengers” movie where his quest for the “infinity stones” was first mooted. This particular McGuffin has been revealed in parts throughout the series, with others being surreptitiously slipped into this instalment. With all six stones, Thanos will be able to fully exercise his God fixation over the Universe. Will the Avengers and their new Guardian friends (“Who the hell are you guys?” LOL) be able to stop him?
There are shocks and surprises aplenty. Most of these come courtesy of Thanos who, although like all megalomaniac Bond villains is as mad as a box of frogs, has a backstory and a depth of character that is several cuts above most movie villains.
All of the cast seem to have great fun bouncing off each other. The only performance I found out of kilter was Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner who (to me) seemed to be really off his game and false, at least for the early scenes in the movie.
The special effects are – naturally – top-notch and are clever in trying to smooth the joins between the ‘traditional’ view of the Avengers world and the garish world of the Guardians of the Galaxy crew.
Cinema staff must hate a Marvel movie as they have to wait til the very end of the credits before they can move in to clean! And there is a “monkey” (and a good one) at the very end of the credits here, but the credits are very, very long!
So, in summary, it’s complete nonsense as normal, but it’s high-class nonsense, well-written, suitably humorous and provides excellent popcorn entertainment. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo are to be congratulated in pulling off what could have been a disaster. Recommended.
Trailer:
Spoiler Section – Don’t read unless you’ve seen the movie!! You have been warned!!
It’s a bold step for the Marvel team to (apparently at least!) let Thanos win. Here’s a film that doesn’t pull its punches in the way that Ron Howard’s film of “Inferno” did (in that book, the “baddie” wins, and – curiously – in a vaguely similar way).
In my view though they rather over-egged the pudding in the dramatic ‘flaking away’ finale. Some of these Marvel characters like Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) have, I think, rather run their story arc. And Don Cheadle’s War Machine is frankly looking too old to be credible! If these characters had met their demise / disintegrated I would have thought “wow, bold move”. But what made the ending unbelievable was the inclusion of various Marvel ‘golden geese’ on the exit list: namely Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman); Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland). The first two are only one multi-million earning film into their respective franchises!
What this means is that at the start of the next film there is now just BOUND to be a “Bobby Ewing coming out of the shower” moment (kids… Google it or ask your parents!). You could confidently speculate I think that this hocum will probably be based around Dr Strange’s apparently non-strategic action of voluntarily giving up the Time stone to Thanos. The only question then would seem to be WHO would be included in that miraculous resurrection and who has most definitely shuffled off this mortal coil. Gamora? Vision?
Am I also the only one to be mightily hacked off at Tony Stark’s recovery from disembowelment? What looked like being a noble and dramatic end at the hands of Thanos seems to have been remedied by some sort of unspecified blinky light to the abdomen! Still, one only hopes there’s the opportunity for him to die of septicaemia in the arms of Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) arms before episode 20!
It was also a surprise that Ant Man didn’t make an appearance in this film, particularly after Paul Rudd prominently attended the premieres! One must assume he (and possibly also Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye) will appear in the follow-up film. Another likely candidate to appear is the yet to be revealed Captain Marvel (Brie Larsen, “Room“) since (I am informed on good authority) that hers was the SOS signal initiated my Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) at the end of the film.
There’s a lot of loose ends to tie up, and presumably Thanos to defeat in a manner that will require some deft screenwriting given he is now Master of the Universe! So anticipation for the 2019 sequel will likely reach equal heights!
