Wow, that's a lot of names. If you had a hard time keeping up with all of that, don't worry; I've been watching almost all of these films, and it was a lot for me. Needless to say, this film is intended for the specific audience of moviegoers who have seen every Marvel Studios entry. This is due to the brisk pacing; on the one hand, the movie never slows down, moving from one action setpiece to the next. Longtime fans won't be bored for a second. But for everyone else, it's painfully noticeable that the movie never once stops to take a break and explain, "here's who these guys are, and here's what they're trying to do, and here's why."
As far as the casting goes, one of the biggest strengths of having such a massive cast is getting to see a variety of different faces interact with each other. All of the performers are clearly having a lot of fun with the action, and one of my favorite interactions comes from Tony Stark and Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man. This iteration of Parker is a teenager who looks up to the Avengers, and he and Stark share a mentor/student partnership reminiscent of Daniel-san and Miyagi. But the big surprise is Brolin as Thanos, who is arguably the main character; it's all of his actions that drive the plot forward, and he's got the most emotional depth. He's one of those villains who truly believes that what he's trying to do is what's right for the universe, even if the consequences affect him personally. The fact that he cries more than any of the heroes in no way nullifies his presence of intimidation. The action setpieces are riveting; they pack the film with such a variety of locations and heroes, constantly moving and never dragging. It's not a far-fetched statement to say that the aesthetic of the film resembles a living, breathing comic book. This can lead to a mixed effect, given that, while it does accurately capture the tone of its source material, it's clear that the days of the original Iron Man, a film mostly grounded in reality, are long gone. I remember Iron Man being the rare and exceptional superhero flick that grabbed my dad's attention, and greatly enjoying it with him. By comparison, when everything is so bombastic and literally otherworldly, it can feel like the movie is really pushing to see how many molds it can break before breaking itself. Don't get me wrong, it takes a lot of risks, and most of them pay off (just look at the last several minutes). But I do miss the smaller-scale scope of Marvel. Overall, Avengers: Infinity War is a blast for longtime fans, but maybe a bit too much for less-initiated viewers. The excessive amount of heroes onscreen pushes the limits of "too much of a good thing," but it never becomes exhausting, taking advantage of as many memorable interactions as the massive runtime will allow. The story chugs along at a rate of an explosive mile a minute, savoring larger-than-life spectacle setpieces at the expense of helpful exposition. Basically, what all of this means is that it's a movie for the fans. I'm one of those fans, and have been for a long time, and I had a lot of fun with it. But I'm also writing this review to those of you who aren't Marvel buffs: it's very well-made, but I don't see it becoming as widely accessible as something like Superman or Spider-Man. For everything it did right, I give Avengers: Infinity War three out of four stars.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|