Avengers: Infinity War, Ten Years in the Making (Spoiler Free Review)

Avengers: Infinity War has been billed as the most ambitious crossover event in history (a fact which is now a meme).

After watching the film, you can see why.

Give or take 20 of the actors (I won’t list them all because spoilers) have had their name at the top of a movie poster or headlined a film, overall.

It would have been so easy for the narrative to get bogged down by the massive cast or universe-arching plot…but it doesn’t.

Quite simply, Avengers: Infinity War¸ is everything fans hoped it could be when they first heard Nick Fury say “I’d like to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative.” Perhaps even…it’s more.

It seamlessly weaves threads from 18 movie and binds them cohesively into an astonishing spectacle.

Each character is given moments to shine, and none of the cast feels wasted in what are, ultimately, much smaller roles than they are used to occupying.

The script is quite possibly the best so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with humour, drama, and tension. It captures the essence of what these characters have become. There were far more elements of humour in Avengers: Infinity War, than in previous films, which says something as humour is a guiding principle of the MCU, but the jokes are never out of place. Fans have come to grow with these characters and so their reactions to the situations seem true.

In fact, Avengers: Infinity War does the one thing that the majority of MCU movies don’t: craft a compelling villain. With the exception of Loki (and Kaecillius from Doctor Strange, in this writer’s opinion) the motivations of most MCU villains are paper thin, and just generally obvious.

But Infinity War is different. The screenwriters took great pains to offer a complex villain whose motivations, while flawed, might be seen as understandable from a certain point of view.

Sometimes drastic action is required to stave off even greater tragedy. That’s Thanos’ modus operandi and it makes complete sense in the context of the film. Thanos is not a caricature of a villain; he feels like a living and breathing entity, unique unto himself. Thanos is a great portion of why the film should be considered a triumph: if this is they type of villain fans can expect in the future, then fans should be excited for what’s to come.

Avengers: Infinity War is laden with easter eggs for fans of the films (including some truly unexpected ones) but it doesn’t require an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things Marvel to follow.

Having seen it in mixed company (with massive fans, and non-fans alike) both were able to follow the story well; in fact, one of the non-fans remarked that she knew there was a point worth noting based on the gasps from the person on her right.

Avengers: Infinity War is a film ten years in the making.

And it was well worth the wait.

[Feature Image courtesy Marvel.com]