Avengers: Infinity War Promotional Material

Plot

Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War



Tony Stark in Avengers: Age of Ultron



Characters

Avengers: Infinity War custom wallpaper



Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War



Star-Lord in the Marvel Cinematic Universe



Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War



Thor in Avengers: Infinity War



Overall

Rating

I've been a Marvel fan almost my entire life. Played the video games, collected the comic books, watched the movies, and I thought I would be completely prepared for Marvel's newest addition to the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) - Avengers: Infinity War because of this dedicated background.I. WAS. WRONG!Avengers: Infinity War shocked me and shook me to my emotional core upon watching it the first time. Despite having read the Infinity War comic arc, I was completely in awe watching what the Russo brothers pulled off for their biggest outing yet. Not only did it satisfy the Marvel fan in me, but it completely blew my mind in regards to the cinematic aspects myself. My college major was digital film making, and during my studies I became familiar with every aspect of the film making industry. With all of this combined knowledge, I knew I was going to go into Avengers: Infinity War with a smile on my face, but I didn't quite know how I was going to leave. The answer: my jaw was down to the floor. Let's analyze the film in-depth shall we? Oh. and of course...SPOILERS AHEAD!The plot of Avengers: Infinity War isn't your typical plot to a movie. In fact, it's the first time I've seen a plot quite this complex and intertwined between so many key aspects of the lore in which it is based. A lot of that comes from the 10 years of films that Marvel Studios has produced for us, which is a key aspect as to why Infinity War was so successful. The great thing about this film was that for the people who were familiar with the films and the franchise as a whole, they didn't need a lot of exposition. They knew who the main villain was going to be, they already knew how all the protagonists involved got to where they are currently, and they know the stakes before they even step foot into the theater. This is the strategy that Marvel has begun to implement over 10 years ago, and it has never been attempted before. Due to everything that was put in place before this film, it was able to jump head-first into the plot and get the action started. This movie's plot doesn't just expand through this movie, it expands throughout the entire MCU. Some people point this out as a weak spot in the film itself, how as a standalone film the plot doesn't hold up, but the point is that it isn't supposed to. This is a structure in film that hasn't been done in the industry before, so it is completely understandable that some people would miss the point, but my opinion on this matter is that it was done brilliantly. As fans of the franchise, we wanted to see the culmination of 10 years worth of film making coming together to give us a breath-taking experience, and by god we got it. You can't talk about the plot of this movie withouttalking about the plots of the previous films in the MCU and I think that is absolutely compelling, strictly because it is truly what the medium in which this story was pulled from worked. You can't just read one comic in an arc and expect to get the whole story, you have to read the whole arc which can span several issues to get the full effect, and that is exactly what Infinity War did. I loved it.Growing attached to the characters we've seen in the MCU made their plight and deaths onscreen so much more compelling and emotionally charged. I honestly cannot remember the last time I felt so many emotions during a cinematic experience, and that is almost entirely reliant on the fact that I was able to grow attached to the characters over a 10-year time span.That brings me, of course, to the characters of this film. As I mentioned, we've seen the majority of these characters before, and a lot of them get an amazing chance to shine in the film. There were more main characters in this film than any other film that predated it, so I had some worry about the balance of screentime with this amount of characters, but the Russo brothers pulled it off absolutely flawlessly. Granted, there were some characters that I wish would have been more involved (Black Widow, Cap, and Bruce Banner to name a few) but they were still granted a fair bit of dialogue and action within the film. The cuts between the groupings of characters never felt forced and seemed to be evenly paced. I never got too bored of watching one group onscreen and when the switch was made to another group, I never felt as if I wanted more from the former, but what was yet to come in this sequence for the latter. I was excited to see what was in store next, not longing to see more of the previous grouping and that is a feat that deserves kudos in and of itself to the Russo brothers.Thanos is absolutely amazing. The entire film depending on Josh Brolin bringing the mad titan to life and he delivered in a big way. Not only was the delivery of Thanos compelling, but his backstory and reasoning for what he was doing was understanding and believable. I found myself questioning my own loyalty to these heroes whom I've watched for 10 years because of Thanos' objectives and how I could definitely see his point of view. He, just like the Avengers and the protectors of Earth, wanted to protect the universe in his own way. There were parts of the film where honestly, I didn't know who to root for, and this is truly what makes a compelling villain.This film also does an exemplary job with making you either love or hate a character, especially when it comes to turning the character from someone extremely likeable to despicable or vice versa. Before I saw this film, I was a huge fan of Star-Lord and didn't really care much for Thor. After this film, I have so much respect for Thor and love everything about him, and I can't in good conscienceroot for Star-Lord after his actions. The way Thor was determined to avenge everyone he loved, watching his own brother die before his eyes as he has so many others in such a short time, all the while still keeping that signature smile of his is amazing. Meanwhile, watching Star-Lord nearly single-handedly destroy the entire universe by wanting to get his licks in with Thanos after he killed Gamora was infuriating in all the right ways. Doctor Strange, Ironman, and Spider-Man are also key characters for this film as their arcs all exemplify sympathy in some way, especially the ending dynamic between Stark and Spidey. The willingness of Strange to give his own life for the sake of the 1 outcome out of 14 million in which they eventually defeat Thanos speaks volumes for his character, especially after he verbally told Stark that he would do whatever it took to defend the Time Stone from Thanos. Watching him give it up to Thanos in order to save Tony exemplified who he was as a person, and truly brought his arc from his own film full circle.The final scene with Spider-Man and Ironman however, blew me away. I was a fan of Tom Holland's Spider-Man after his appearance in Civil War, but I feel he turned nearly all of his critics with his performance here. Watching him realize what was happening to him through his Spider sense and his reluctance to "go" was a tear-jerking experience and his final "I'm sorry" to Stark really made me adiehard fan of his.And of course, Tony Stark. The character that started it all as a selfish billionaire who seemed to be only interested in his own self-interest and ego has come full circle as everything that he ever cared about his now been wiped from existence. We can recall that in Spider-Man Homecoming, Stark mentions to Peter that "(if you died) that's on me. I don't need that on my conscience." Seeing how personally he takes Peter's death, and watching nearly all of the Guardians of the Galaxy die before his very eyes visibly shook him to his core, and it was a truly emotional experience.AND THOR THOUGH! THOR. THOUGH!Watching him literally restart a dying star in order to wield Stormbreaker is an amazing look into his determination to avenge and protect everything he cares about. Right now there is not question that he is the baddest of asses in the MCU, as he was the only one to really bring the fight to Thanos as he drove Stormbreaker right into the mad titan's heart. However, Thanos of course manages to escape and leaves Thor nearly a broken man. In fact, he leaves nearly all of the heroes that remain after his destruction of half of the population in the universe broken and that was a hell of a way to end the film.Overall, this entry into the MCU was a breathtaking and exhilarating one. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have never experienced anything quite like it before and I think it is fair to say that, at this point, only Disney is capable of bringing out that raw emotion in me again. Watching these heroes try and fail to defeat their biggest threat and watching them go through raw human emotion is unlike anything I have ever seen. The performances from all involved, actors and directors, were flawless and I wholeheartedly believe that this is one of the best continuations of a story that has ever been produced.Let this not be disguised as my saying that this is one of the best films ever made, however. As I mentioned, as a standalone film, this piece undoubtedly suffers from being a continuation of its source material and previous entries in the MCU, but that's forgetting the point. The point here is to tell a full and complete story, and with something of this magnitude, that literally cannot be done in a single film. Marvel has taken the medium in which they have produced for decades in comic books and have decided to bring them to the big screen, which definitely implies that these are not meant as standalone films for the most part. Sure, you can see Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, etc. without too much context, but that is not the main pillar on which the MCU is built. This whole universe is built around these movies intertwining with one another and giving us the stories of these characters, as well as the bigger threats to the galaxy. I think this film did an exemplary job of pushing that story further than it has ever gone before. I absolutely loved it.What did you think of Avengers: Infinity War? Let me know what you thought and if you agree/disagree with anything I said in the comments below!