There will be major spoilers in this review. You’ve been warned. If you want to keep reading, that’s on you.
Avengers: Infinity War has been the movie that we’ve been waiting for for ten years since the premiere of Iron Man ten years ago. For fans who have followed these characters from the beginning, this two hour and forty minute movie with 76 characters was the ultimate, satisfying payoff for Marvel fans. For some people who have only seen a few Marvel movies here and there, this movie may have not made as much sense, but I’m so happy that Marvel went in this direction by assuming the fans would know what was going on. This enabled the movie to move at a quicker pace and to also not waste time explaining the history of everything. It also enabled them to bring back jokes and references from past movies.
Avengers: Infinity War took the record for highest box office weekend in the U.S. from Star Wars: The Force Awakens; this movie broke that record with $258.2 million, while Star Wars made $248 million.
Overall, I would give this movie a 9/10. So here’s my breakdown. Again, there are spoilers ahead.
1. The Easter Eggs
There were many Easter eggs and references in this movie, and I loved it. The biggest surprise was the reappearance of Red Skull. Red Skull was in Captain America, and we thought we weren’t going to see him again until Infinity War. He now protects the soul stone which Thanos successfully gets.
Another Easter egg appears during the post-credit scene. Before Nick Fury fades away to dust, he reaches into his bag and grabs a pager. The camera zooms into the page that is sent, and the symbol for Captain Marvel shows up, which implies that she will be helping the Avengers in Infinity Wars Part II (which hasn’t had an official name released yet).
Some people were wondering why Tony Stark, in the beginning of the film, uses a flip phone when he considers calling Steve Rogers. At first, the phone seemed really out of place in the movie, especially for a high tech person like Stark. However, this is the phone that Captain America sent Stark at the end of Civil War when he sent him the apology letter.
There were obviously more references and callbacks such as the Iron Spider Suit, The White Wolf, pop culture references (Squidward), references back to the comics, and many more. But let’s keep going.
2. The Plot Twists
Marvel did exactly what we all thought they weren’t going to do, and as sad as it was to see some of our favorite characters fade away, it was so satisfying from a storytelling standpoint. Everyone was making bets that Iron Man and Captain America were done for in this movie, but Marvel killed all of the characters that we thought were safe, like Star Lord, Black Panther, and Spiderman. Watching all of these new characters disappear in ashes was a shock to everyone in the audience which also brings in one of the weaknesses of the movie. My instant shock and surprise only lasted for a few seconds when I saw Black Panther and Spiderman fade away because I instantly knew that both of these characters had sequels lined up, so they have to come back somehow, right?
3. THAT Scene
While we’re on the subject of Spiderman fading away, according to a thread on Reddit from a Q&A with one of the film’s producers, Joe Russo, he confirmed that Tom Holland completely improvised the scene where he fades away in Tony Stark’s arms. Spiderman Homecoming, Captain America: Civil War, and now Avengers: Infinity War have been building up this father/son relationship that Stark and Parker have, so having Parker fade away while Stark can’t do anything but watch will most likely motivate some of Stark’s anger in the next movie.
4. The Anti-Hero
The first time I watched this movie, it felt a little odd in terms of structure. Movies and stories normally follow the basic plot structure of an introduction, a conflict, and a resolution. There is not really a story arc for our main heroes, there are more of quick beats and check-ins to their plot. In my opinion, this is not so much of a superhero story, but rather it is more of Thanos’s story. In the beginning, Thanos has his conflict presented: he has to gather all of the Infinity Stones. The story progresses with him gathering each stone until he finally acquires the last one. In about the middle of the movie, he almost loses the Gauntlet when Spiderman and Iron Man try to pry it off his hand until Starlord ruins it by not being able to control his anger over losing Gamora. However, the movie does not end with a resolution which is perhaps my favorite part. It ends on the perfect cliffhanger which leaves us with so many questions and unresolved feelings until next May when the next movie comes out.
5. Thanos
Thanos is probably my favorite villain in all of Marvel. He actually has depth as a character, and Marvel does an excellent job of making the audience feel like they want him to succeed and get all of the Infinity stones. They almost don’t want Spiderman and Iron Man to be able to take off the gauntlet because they really want to see what happens when Thanos actually snaps his fingers. Having Thanos have an actual reason as to why he wants all this power also adds depth as a character rather than having him just want to be a villain because he wants to be power. He genuinely thinks that he is doing what is right for the universe, and it is a relevant discussion that is happening even today and will continue in the future. You have to be a really good writer and producer to make the audience root for the villain rather than the heroes that they’ve come to know and love for the past ten years.
Overall, this is a movie that was made mostly for Marvel fans who have followed the majority of the films. A new fan who jumped on the bandwagon after seeing Black Panther will most likely be disappointed and lost. However, for fans who have dedicated their attention to this universe, this was the ultimate payoff. I don’t know about you guys, but I will be rewatching it over and over to fill this hole that the movie left in my life until next May when the second half comes out.
If you haven’t gone and seen this movie, I definitely recommend going to see it.
HC,
Alyssa Harmon
Sources:
https://asset.kompas.com/crop/89×72:918×486/780×390/data/photo/2017/11/29/1714148978.png
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/entertainment/star-wars-avengers-box-office/index.html