Avengers: Infinity War (2018) ****/5: Best Avengers film released by Marvel because Thanos is such an imposing physical villain. Thor is the standout heroic character. In terms of quality it is not on Black Panther's level and this is largely due to the superficiality of Thanos' philosophy of balance.

Avengers: Infinity War is a very epic film yet limited by its own scope. I was expecting much more from this film and so while it flashed by in a very entertaining package I found it difficult to come to terms with the lack of transcendence.  The scale does mask the lack of originality present in some areas of the film which is not a big issue for the most part but it can give a sense of grandiosity which is incomprehensible. At least for some parts if you can say that this has been done before and Infinity War is applying it to a grand comic book  epic about the universe then it’s not so bad. The film is also incoherent in parts because it is so grand yet so limited. I say this because if it was to address every issue then it would have to be at least 180 minutes and incorporate some more places and more characters to give this film a truly universal feel. It’s clear from watching Infinity War that a lot is missing. This is clearly why it’s one of a two part film but the film could have stood more effectively on its own if it wasn’t deliberately one of 2. This film is the set up for a more eventful and climactic battle in Avengers 4….I hope.

 With that said this is still the best Avengers film ever released up until this point even though only a few things really stick with you (Are the Guardians of the Galaxy Avengers? Why couldn’t they just call it Infinity War to avoid the confusion between the Guardians and the Avengers?) The creative team had to be selective in terms of the focus placed on particular characters and I can see why Thanos and Thor are the two heavy hitters here: Thanos for the destructive or evil side and Thor for the Avengers. Iron Man/ Tony Stark is still about with his fancy tech but in terms of power hitting he is second to Thor. Thor is the standout power hitter here on the side of good, not the Hulk.

This film is basically about the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy trying to stop Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his Black Order (Black Order? Really? In 2018) or Children of Thanos from acquiring all 6 infinity stones to place in his infinity gauntlet which would give him unimaginable power and the ability to inflict his destructive will on the universe.

Positives

The primary positive is the epic scope of the film which brings together several characters from the Marvel cinematic universe which we have come to know since Iron Man was released in 2008. New characters are also introduced. Obviously non-comic book fans will have trouble keeping up with all the characters and will be justified in scoffing at some of the looney toon like characters.  The presence of all these characters obviously means that not everyone gets the same sort of focus or attention; which is why they have solo movies I suppose. There are not many individual character arcs despite the proliferation of characters and this is why we’re confronted with the Thanos story arc which is the most affecting individual based story in the film. Next up would obviously be Thor.

Other major characters such as Iron Man and Dr. Strange are just reacting to events as they unfold but in terms of affecting the story in a profound way and giving it meaning then Thor and Thanos are the standouts. More so Thanos who dominates the screen time and spends a lot of time justifying his desire to balance the universe and demonstrating that only he is capable of carrying out the task (with a heavy heart of course). It is clear that not many people will be able to identify with the mad titan Thanos but they will be impressed, like I was, with his physical presence which provides a suitable challenge to the Avengers and the Guardians. He is the physically dominant foe that the Avengers have been lacking. Loki and Ultron were not very effective in imposing their presence on the Avengers which Is why those films were not as effective. Thanos does have some serious power and he demonstrates that pretty early with his beat down of the Hulk and Thor, the two most powerful Avengers.  He has the serious presence that I like to see from a villain and Bane from The Dark Knight Rises had a similar dominant physical presence.

Obviously Thanos is even more formidable when he starts collecting the stones which is why the many heroes have to band together to tackle him and only on Titan are they close to defeating him. The battle against Thanos on Titan is the most impressive action sequence in terms of super powered battles and visual spectacle. The battle in Wakanda is also fairly well done. When I see them as battles within the grander contest of an infinity war I can make better sense of the film.  There is also some emotional resonance involving Thanos and Gamora, a member of the Guardians (or the Avengers?) which was impressive although I didn’t really react emotionally because Marvel has not done well enough in establishing an emotional connection with many of its heroes. It was a good attempt to humanize the character of Thanos but it did not resonate enough for me.( Gained the whole world at the cost of your soul? I just hope they were not trying to be so corny) It’s interesting that marvel wants us to sympathize with a man determined to extinguish half   of humanity and I’m sure that his philosophy of balance would resonate with many in favour of racial cleansing or those who wish to purify the line. Although Thanos doesn’t preach hate ironically but I guess those in favour of racial cleansing were not in tune with the higher order (or black order) of the faith. The only way Thanos can make sense as a character is that he must embody something or he has some essential features which make him embody a certain concept. We hear a lot in the comics about Thanos and his love for mistress death so maybe he too is the embodiment of death and destruction. A malevolent force given form as a particular purple giant. He would also make sense if he was one of a kind. It’s not clear if he’s the only member of his race still existing but one gets the sense that he took centuries to become the major force that he is. With that said the creative team at marvel studios delivered in presenting the Marvel heroes with a very tough opponent.

As for the heroes there are a lot of standouts such as Iron Man and Dr. Strange but Thor takes the cake for me. Carrying on from Ragnarok Infinity War seems to continue Thor’s story and push it forward.  By the end Thor emerges as the one individual capable of defeating Thanos in a physical brawl. While Thanos has his infinity gauntlet Thor does create a new weapon known as STORMBREAKER, a massive hammer and axe in one. It’s a powerful weapon and makes Thor look like the superman of Marvel. Yes I’m spoiling it (a bit) but Thor’s journey in Infinity War does give him a certain heroic quality that’s not seen with the other heroes. There’s one particular scene where Thor recounts briefly the development of his life. It’s very reflective and unlike the humorous approach taken in Ragnarok. In that moment Thor came across as a legendary figure or cut from the Norse legends. In that reflective moment Thor assumes the stature of a godlike figure. I never knew he was so old lol. It’s only fitting that he is the one most capable of challenging Thanos physically.

The action was pretty good and so were the visuals but it’s nothing out of the ordinary. This is all expected but the palette was not very distinctive especially since this is some cosmic adventure. I was expecting more in terms of presentation of new worlds. The journey of Thanos, the Guardians and some of these Avengers throughout the universe is pretty impressive in its epic scope and I am a big fan of epics. Although you’re vested in some stories as opposed to others it does give the sense that some thing big is taking place only if you look at it from a cosmic point of view. Earth is a mere footnote in the story here and one understands Marvel making its world more cosmic as opposed to being based in the realm of Earth.

The ending was pretty affecting and again it just goes to show that Thanos is a powerful individual when wielding the infinity gauntlet with all the 6 infinity stones. But knowing that Infinity War is part 1 of 2 makes the ending less impactful unless things remain as is by the end of Avengers 4.

Some fans of Black Panther will be very disappointed in Infinity War although the final battle does take place in Wakanda. The Black Panther story doesn’t really move forward here and is more of a reaction to what’s going on in the outside world. I have a feeling that Marvel didn’t expect Black Panther to be such a monster hit or it would have included more about Wakanada. The ending is only impactful for me because Black Panther is my favourite marvel property.  As usual marvel wants its white heroes to save the day, including a very unimpressive Steve Rogers (former noble idiot, Captain America).

Negatives

Some of the main downsides of this film are the same that most critics out there have with Infinity War. The many characters in this film makes it difficult to care about all of their fates, even those you thought you would care more for. It goes to show that despite all this world building a significant amount of the marvel universe is very superficial and is more based on various characterizations from the comic books coming to life on the big screen as opposed to these characterizations having real meaning. So while it’s commendable that the Marvel cinematic universe has been going strong for ten years Infinity War, as the culmination of all that world building, does expose all its shortcomings as a franchise. The film flies by but doesn’t leave much of an impact in many areas despite the many instances of characters coming together for the first time. Characters coming together has been one of Marvel’s strong points however. Obviously Marvel is known very much for its humour which is overdone in this film although not as much as in Ragnarok. Marvel is also known for having a threadbare story in many areas although with Infinity War as the culmination of everything it does make sense in the long run although one wonders what it was all about. It is yet another demonstration of character vs. character or characters coming to life. Character clashes don’t register without the characters serving core functions.

 If Infinity War seems so threadbare in terms of plot then what does it say about the entire franchise as it went from episode to episode. Did we really have to wait 10 years for Thanos to arrive? When he does make his grand entrance it does seem a bit anti-climactic when considering that only now does he decide to assemble all the Infinity Stones (How convenient that he decides to assemble the stones as Marvel prepares to  celebrate 10 years). In previous installments when Thanos was featured all he did was sit on a chair; now all of a sudden he wants to go after the infinity stones. What was he doing for all of these centuries in that chair? Was he tallying the entire population in the universe or waiting for life forms to proliferate before he decided to balance it? Is he some high judge or god of the universe? What is his actual role as an individual? How did he come to these conclusions concerning his philosophy of balancing the universe? His philosophy would only make sense if he was a force of nature. As a living being his actions come across as maniacal or burdened by madness. His hypocrisy becomes even more startling when you realize that he isn’t prepared to take his own life if needs be.  This is why Thor is a good counterpoint to the Thanos character. Humanizing Thanos actually backfires to some extent if one considers all these points. His character needed much more exposition and backstory to go beyond the odd emotional moment.  The plan of Thanos reminded me a lot of the functions of the League of Shadows led by Ra’s Al Ghul in Batman Begins and so I came away thinking about the lack of originality in this used up villainous philosophy. Every comic book fan knows about Darkseid’s  search for the anti-life equation. The creation of the Thanos comic book character was influenced by Darkseid which obviously preceded him.  So how profound is Thanos really in terms of reasoning?

The philosophy of balancing the universe is also skewed and is not effectively challenged. In practical terms it manifests as wiping  out a half of the universal population however that is actually bad for business. If life does not continue to grow then the possibilities for development and expansion are limited. So his philosophy needed some more quantification, apart from the usual pronouncements, to be more effective. Wiping out the entire universe doesn’t necessarily make sense if one doesn’t know the numbers. If Thanos is all knowing then he should be some genius. So he must have crunched the numbers to come to these conclusions about the universe filling up beyond capacity. With no numbers behind his philosophy of balance then the rhetoric of Thanos is empty and inconsequential and is just a vehicle to make him into  a high powered villain. I got no numbers from  him and humanizing a character whose philosophy promotes genocide is strange. Infinity War must be an adaptation of Hitler’s Mein Kampf (Hmmm).

Last main criticism of the film is the apparent limited scope of the film. I thought the film would be bigger as presented here. There were big moments but not the scope I was expecting. I was expecting more of a cosmic presence than was actually presented in the film. For instance I was hoping for more indications that life on other planets throughout the universe were being affected by Thanos’  quest especially when one considers what happens at the end. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 a t least tried to show the consequences of Ego’s plan for many planets throughout the universe. This  concern with the life on planets throughout the universe is not sufficiently formulated in this film. We see the effects on Earth but not enough universally which would continue to emphasize the greater impact of Thanos’ quest.  This is why I was hoping to see what happened to Xandar which would have made infinity War more of a war than just a series of battle involving the Avengers and the Guardians. So in one sense the film could have been more effective by focusing on a universal war with Earth included as opposed to a series of battles for  the gems. The battle in Wakanda is the closest we get to an on the ground battle that can have massive consequences. The battle for the gems is important but it should have been connected to a wider issue of universal war against the forces of Thanos. It just did not a feel like a genuine universal war and the infinity war was just a series of superpowered battles against Thanos and his Black order. . Hopefully this will be addressed in Avengers 4 which would emphasize the role of beings from other planets taking part in the fight against the forces of Thanos. We could even do with more from the earth.  While Wakanda is on the verge of destruction where were its allies? Was the world oblivious? Why did it not take up the dimensions of a global struggle? Where were the news reports? And not just the one in the post credit scene? Was this just another example of Wakanda’s isolation from the world? So I ask all these questions just to demonstrate that there are a lot of disconnected parts. So the heroes jump from place to place but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are connected. A lot still seems to happen in isolation despite the supposed scope of the film. Hopefully Captain marvel will provide the necessary cosmic dimension that will link the story to the wider universal struggle.

It was still a good film but apart from the dominant physical presence of Thanos he does come across as superficial in a lot of areas. In the realm of physicality in this film at least there is STORMBREAKER. What a weapon that is