Soufyaan Timol
Infinity war is, without a doubt, the most anticipated movie of this year. It brings all our favourite superheroes together (from Marvel) and pits them against their most powerful enemy yet; Thanos, the destroyer of worlds. His goal is to acquire the six Infinity Stones, with which he would wipe half of the universe’s population, with but a snap of his fingers. All the heroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will have to join forces if they want to stand a chance of surviving this new threat.
I could say that this is a new concept, something that has never been attempted before, or a movie that will redefine the genre, but, none of that would be true. In recent years, we’ve seen countless movies where the fate of the world or of the universe is at dire stake. It has become a winning formula, with each of those movies making hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. Infinity War does promise us something different though, and I cannot say that it does not deliver. I was very happy that the movie’s twists were unpredictable. In that respect, Infinity War heavily succeeds.
The movie is darker than the average superhero movie and goes places where few of them have ventured before. It contains several jokes, well timed, and, mostly funny, with Dave Bautista’s Drax stealing the show once more. Unfortunately, at times, the action scenes feel a bit too forced, though they remain nonetheless a stunning visual spectacle.
Infinity War is, for those who don’t know, ‘what 10 years and 18 movies have led to’, that is what the marketing says. Regrettably, the movie does not feel as such. New characters are, more or less, properly introduced, but there does not lie the problem. Character development, a felt need, was incredibly rushed, as a result of the huge cast. The two main relationships of the film, which were clearly meant to have an emotional impact on the audience, were only introduced in this movie, and, again, were given way too little time to properly evolve.
The movie’s villain, Thanos, is one the main disappointments of the movie. He is well played by Josh Brolin and at some point feels truly humane. But, in Marvel’s attempt to make him a grey character while still being a dark monster, like Black Panther’s Killmonger, they undermined his credibility. Thanos goal is (light spoilers ahead) to wipe out half the universe, because, young, he saw his planet die as a result of overpopulation. This could make sense, but, the more you think about it, the more it doesn’t. With all the Infinity Stones, Thanos could achieve his goal. But so could he create another universe, or double the amount of resources available, or literally anything.
At times, the movie felt emotional and at others, funny. The action scenes were beautiful; well-choreographed and stunning CGI. It was a striking show – that should satisfy the average moviegoer, and for the most part, it does. But, beyond that, it’s hard not to see how every scene was calculated. An action scene, then a joke, then something emotional, then another action scene, some shocking revelation, and another action scene, in a loop which would keep the audience hooked till the end. That left very little for character and plot development.
Infinity War is, ultimately, another commercial movie, meant to grab as much money as possible. It had the potential, and the cast, to be one of the greats, but due to its ambition of constantly trying to please the mass of viewers, it fails in becoming anything beyond a good entertainment.
Rating: 7/10