Cinephile No. 714 “Avengers: Infinity War”

“An Event Unlike Any Other”

A Review of "Avengers: Infinity War” by Nathan H. Box

Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Writers: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo

Rating: 4 STARS, SHOWTIME

The Plot

The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

My Critique

It is impossible to write about this film without spoiling some necessary plot point. With that said, you’ve been warned.

I never judge a film by the reaction of a crowd. As I scanned Twitter for the first impressions of “Avengers: Infinity War,” I found several critics falling prey to such an exercise. If you were to judge the audience I watched this movie with on an unassuming Monday night, you would have heard silence, seen disbelief, noticed sadness and a great deal of bewilderment. You might have easily concluded that no one liked this film. That judgment can easily sink into your own.

Instead, we need to judge this film for what it is. It is an event unlike any other, 10 years in the making, cobbling together some of the most well-known stars in Hollywood in an attempt to deliver on one of the most ambitious projects in modern-day cinema all to show the depth, breadth, and arch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

To achieve this audacious goal, Marvel needed us to focus on a villain with a very clear thesis; the universe has a finite amount of resources and the population of the cosmos has become burdensome. In other words, genocide is great. Of all the villains faced in the last ten years, the thesis of Thanos is the clearest. Therefore, I believe this to be the best film in the MCU.

Defeating Thanos, someone hellbent on winning becomes an exercise in futility. As he gobbles up Infinity Stones for his gauntlet, he becomes even more powerful. The question becomes, how do you beat someone who can control the laws of physics? Repeatedly throughout this film, our heroes make wrong choices. They put the well-being of one over the fate of humanity. This desire to do no harm allows Thanos to grow stronger and ultimately leads to the demise of half of the galaxy.

This stunning event is what has left so many audience members shocked. We aren’t used to a storyline where the bad guy wins and achieves his ultimate goal. We have certain expectations for stories such as these. “Avengers: Infinity War” defies our expectations and beckons us toward a final installment with an age-defying question; Can the strongest among us defeat a god?

Be good to each other,

-Nathan

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