AVENGERS INFINITY WAR

Film Review by FIORE

I’ve not seen a film so non-stop action like AVENGERS INFINITY WAR since JOHN WICK 2.  The film starts in mid-battle between a portion of the Avengers and Thanos on Assguard, homeland of Thor.  The battle is devastating and launches a series of attacks throughout the universe as Thanos continues his quest for ownership of the six infinity stones, a subplot that inhabited most of the other Marvel films.  There are possibly two scenes, where strategy is delineated, when the action stops, but every other frame of AVENGERS INFINITY WAR involves someone fighting, blasting, webbing, or teleporting through dimensions.

The movie is chock full of superheroes and villains, all by the stars who first brought them to life.  One of the best is a cameo by Hugo Weaving, as the Red Skull.  For my money, the best of the superhero actors in Benedict Cumberbatch.  As Dr. Strange, he has enough thespian moxy to portray his character with believability, yet still with a wink to a very firm tongue in cheek.

The standout in AVENGERS INFINITY WAR is, without doubt, Josh Brolin as Thanos.  Until this point in the Marvel Film Universe, he has been a snarling antagonist; but here he is revealed as an ideologue, someone who seeks to balance the universe through a well-conceived, if demented, plan.  Thanos is Al Gore on steroids; a tree-hugging, green-weenie who wishes to conserve the universe’s resources and provide a life of luxury for every being by eliminated half of its population.  Brolin actually sounds sincere in his dialogue, and you’ll find yourself at times, rooting for the bad guy.

Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeeley write a script incorporating elements from almost all the previous Marvel films.  This could place viewers not familiar with the movies at a disadvantage.  AVENGERS INFINITY WAR is the first of two films surrounding Thanos, his universal plan and the infinity stones.  It also provides a means for Marvel to eliminate some of the secondary characters, who frankly, should not have their own franchise.  The script will satisfy all comic fans who like the dark side of superhero stories. 

Despite spectacular special effects, non-stop action and snarky one-liners, AVENGERS INFINITY WAR has several glaring errors.  The most notable involves Mark Ruffalo’s performance as Bruce Banner/The Hulk.  For an unexplained reason, Banner is a complete nincompoop.  Arguably the greatest scientific mind in the Avengers is suddenly mentally retarded.  He cannot grasp occurrences and can find no solutions to situations, being bested by an African villager.  Prior to work on this film, Ruffalo was on the tour circuit, spouting liberal progressive mantras, especially for gun control and violence.  The transformation of The Hulk could be the actor’s doing, in which case it’s time to bring back Ed Norton.  Finally, the SFX techs were fighting a tight deadline on the release date, which was moved up more than a month, causing several scenes to suffer from poor, noticeable matting issues.  They are glaring, and distracting, considering the solid effort in other sense and segments.

SPECULATION *********

AVENGERS INFINITY WAR is akin to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK in cinema history, leaving most viewers with a sense of dread.  In watching the movie, though, I believe I spotted the out for the next film.  This paragraph is total speculation on my part and may be a spoiler for some, so you may want to jump to the concluding paragraph, if so inclined.  I believe there were enough clues given in the battle between Thanos, Dr. Strange, Iron Man and Spider-Man to suggest Dr. Strange utilized a time reset on the time infinity stone.  The man saw 14 million possible outcomes, with only one that provided victory, and in the next film, that stone will reset for round two.

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AVENGERS INFINITY WAR is a lot of fun.  It is really nothing more than an SFX extravaganza of action and comic puns to help you down your popcorn.  It is too long, closing in on the three-hour meter.  Luckily, I had my usual seat in the last row, and was able to stand and stretch my knees a few times.  The movie is not as well written as CIVIL WARS, which continues to set the bar for superhero films.  If you can forgive the lapses in SFX, the destruction of Bruce Banner’s character and a rather lame manner for some heroes to exit, AVENGERS INFINITY WAR will be a tasty dessert in your Marvel menu.