Filmsane

Ever since 2012’s Avengers (the amazing Joss Whedon directed master piece), the team has just gown and grown in size and number. There were numerous additions, numerous obstacles and villains, but by now… in 2018 the scale and scope of the franchise got so big that one must ask the very simple yet so necessary question…

Is bigger truly the better option?

In Infinity War’s case… No. No it isn’t. But that doesn’t mean that the movie is not good at times, enjoyable, emotional and heartbreaking even. Overall it’s a bloated but tear-inducing spectacle of a movie that surprisingly got a villain that can math Loki in term of charisma and evil. Let’s start with him actually. With  Thanos. Played by Josh Brolin, Thanos is a genocidal maniac. Determined to wipe out half of the Universe (due to over-population), and the only thing that’s stopping him in completing his mission are the six stones in his Infinity Gauntlet. Oh and the Avengers too… can’t forget about them. He needs to collect every single one of those gems, but the search for them will take him on several locations. Yes… the Earth is one of them.

Frankly, i was worried by the abundance of super-heroes here and what it might do the quality of the movie. And yup… My fears were justified when I saw the splitting up of characters in smaller groups. There is bound to be someone left out, and I’m afraid Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johansson), Sam Wilson / Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes / White Wolf (Sebastian Stan) were the most affected by this over-crowded scenario.

They were sadly left with just a couple of lines and roles that cannot even be considered supporting. However, out of this unlikely pairing, there are some positive details that caught my eye, and impressed me quite a bit. The Gamora’s origin story was a nice touch to the mix and her love/hate relationship with her adoptive father Thanos was stretched but emotional. Stark is continuing his mentor role to the young Peter Parker and it’s endearing as ever, but I was mostly impressed by two unlikely pairings in this film.

Stark/Strange and Thor/Rocket. Both of the fighting duos are filled with humor and fight for alpha dominance. You can really see some novelties about every single one of the four characters (new suit, new hammer, new super-power abilities, and new leadership position) and it’s quite impressive to see how the structure of the film is based on their ability you work together in the most unlikely settings. Even if they don’t want to.

I was a bit surprised to find Hulk’s reluctance to come out of Bruce Banner’s body shocking and funny at the same time, but what mostly surprised me was how, basic (not in a good way) the Vision/Scarlet Witch love story arch is here. I’m very well aware that due to the number of the super-heroes here, the screenwriters couldn’t have managed to portray them equally, but we’re left at the bare minimum of their relationship. Yes, they are in love. Yes they’re hiding. That’s pretty much it.

The Russo bothers wanted to leave the best for the end, and it actually works like a charm. Not to say that we didn’t have epic battles and crushing losses before the final fight, but the one in Wakanda was quite something. It reminded me of those old war epics I saw when I was a kid. The bad guys on one side of the field, the good on the other. And they clash in the middle with rage and aggression reserved for the worst enemies.

And speaking of bad… Let’s talk about Thanos at the end. Yes I promise this looong review will have an end. I wasn’t too impressed with the looks of Thanos back when the first trailer was published, and I’m still not impressed after seeing Infinity War. He looks like a play-dough molded art project, made by a high school freshman. Not that impressive. But I was surprised by the dept of his character, his emotional range and even the charisma. Yes, his destructive mission was one-sided but his layers were multiple and complex.

I’m looking forward for the next Avengers film to be honest. But for now, Infinity War delivers the goods. Yes it may be bloated and stuffed with characters. Yes it may be lacking coherent thread from all of the different locations throughout the Universe. But you cannot deny that it isn’t emotional, funny and surprisingly enjoyable in terms of over-all quality.