Avengers : Infinity War

AVENGERS : INFINITY WAR

Directors : Joe and Anthony Russo

Year : 2018

Genre : Superhero

Rating : ****

After 10 long years and 18 very different movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe reaches its astonishing crescendo with 'Avengers : Infinity War', Joe and Anthony Russo's highly anticipated and hugely impressive superhero spectacular that effortlessly manages to balance the franchise's unmistakable brand of humour and heart with multiple scenes of cataclysmic threat and devastating loss. The result is a consistently entertaining, frequently funny and, at times, genuinely upsetting viewing experience whose every second oozes pure craftsmanship, imagination and most of all, love for the diverse mythology of the series.

Perfectly dove-tailing with the end credits sequence of 'Thor: Ragnarok', 'Avengers : Infinity War' sends our heroes across the far reaches of the universe in order to prevent the megalomaniacal titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) from getting his giant purple hands on the elusive infinity stones; six legendary artefacts who bestow upon their owner unlimited power.

As is to be expected from a MCU production, 'Avengers - Infinity War' looks and sounds phenomenal, with the many action scenes, environments and creatures/aliens all brought to life with dazzling  computer effects that far exceed anything seen in the franchise before. Impressive too are the methods by which the Russo's and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely manage to juggle the various plot threads running throughout the running time of the film. As last Summers 'Justice League' proved, it's incredibly easy for a movie with a multitude of characters to rapidly devolve into complete incoherency. However, by intelligently splitting our heroes up into easily manageable groups, the Russo's have made it simple for us to keep track of both the story as well as the various character arcs. Not only does this allow for our favourite heroes to get more screen time but it also makes it that more satisfying when the majority of the Avengers join forces with Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and his armies for the final battle on the fields of Wakanda.

As usual, the gigantic cast is universally great with each A-list actor taking their roles seriously without any hint of satire or tongue-in-cheek self-awareness. Personal highlights would include the always reliable Robert Downey Jr. who is once again likeably  smarmy as Tony Stark, Benedict Cumberbatch who is very entertaining as the magical Doctor Strange and Zoe Saldana who brings depth and tragedy to the previously unexplored character of Gamora. However, the  unequivocal star of the show is the fearsome Thanos whose mere presence elicits tremendous fear and threat. Brought to life though terrific CGI and voiced with delicious menace by Josh Brolin, Thanos is a far cry from the one-dimensional Marvel villains of old. Instead, he is a deeply methodical and single-minded entity whose ultimate goal to eradicate half of the universe, while indeed psychotic, makes a disturbing amount of sense. This in turn allows us to empathise and even sympathise with his cause, even if that cause involves mass genocide. Given a great deal of both backstory and motivation as well as a healthy dose of pathos, Thanos has quickly joined the ranks of cinemas greatest villains and I can't wait to see what else The Mad Titan has up his infinity gauntlet in future 'Avengers' outings.

Coming in at a supersized 149 minutes, 'Avengers : Infinity War' is by no means an easy movie to sit through. There is a humongous amount of emotional and narrative baggage one is expected to bring along with them and while die-hard aficionados are sure to be impressed with the film, newcomers are undoubtedly going to be left in the dark. In fact, at least 95% of the previous movies should be watched beforehand to have any kind of understanding of the apocalyptic events of the movie as well as the dozens of separate character arcs that have been painstakingly laid out over the past decade. 

However, as someone who has been invested in the franchise since 2008's 'Iron Man', I couldn't be more satisfied with the end product. It is blockbuster entertainment at it's very best, complete with well rounded characters both protagonist and antagonist, beautifully choreographed and immensely exciting action sequences, cheer-inducing victories, heartbreaking defeats and a surprisingly bleak finale whose explosive ramifications are sure to leave fans such as myself salivating for next year's as-yet untitled sequel.  'Avengers :  Infinity War' may not be my favourite entry in the MCU - that honour still belongs to the Russo brothers own 'Captain America:  Civil War' - but in terms of pure scale, scope and ambition, it is a truly monumental cinematic achievement.