Avengers: Infinity War soars through a galaxy of big stars that the world has fallen in love with over the last 10 years. A decade-long of brewing momentum that spews generosity on its loud visual effects, and unprecedented humor injects, are only but a couple of reasons why Marvel is at the top of their A-game.
When it comes to a pitch perfect image of a superhero movie, Avengers: Infinity War epitomizes that cinematic definition. Marvel has once again proven its keen eye for pleasing cinephiles and comic book fans alike through a very satisfying visual and emotional treat. Over the last 10 years, Marvel has, one by one, assembled the Avengers’ standalone movies before coming up with this big collaboration with everyone on-board — something that DC’s Suicide Squad could learn something from. They made sure that the audience has fully invested on these characters, that it almost didn’t matter how short or long each of their screen time was, or how underwritten some of them were. Marvel has done every establishing rapport to the moviegoers over the last 10 years, which goes to show that a film this big truly takes a decade to have full and complete fruition.
The stars are overwhelmingly big. From the nostalgia brought by Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man way back in 2008, to Chadwick Boseman’s luminous Black Panther just 2 months ago, the movie is a collection of an end-to-end dynasty of stars, making Marvel an unstoppable force who truly knows how to build a universe. The combination of all these characters along with their respective trademarks brought so many nuances to the film: from Thor and Star Lord’s sharp comic versatility; Spiderman’s naive-Gen Z persona; Black Panther’s regal cast ensemble; Doctor Strange’s ethereal, almost ghost-like presence, to the ill-fated romance of Scarlet Witch and Vision, just to name a few. They have proven that superhero movies is a trend that hasn’t gotten old, and won’t likely be getting close to it anytime soon. It is a pure testament that superheroes will always be a part of the psyche in every generation, and it’ll never be outdated or old-fashioned. Infinity War has upheld that timeless legacy.
READ MORE: First review of CinemaBravo for Avengers: Infinity War
That being said, the movie primarily worked because of two things: 1) too many big stars, and b) our connection with the characters, as established by our years of emotional investment towards them. It’s always refreshing to see them all together in one movie. However, there really isn’t anything particularly new to the story, or anything groundbreaking to the premise. From X-Men: Days of Future Past, to Justice League (a bad movie, but hey, the premise is a been-there-done-that) — that Superhero: All Star theme is something that didn’t register as fresh or new. Infinity War only felt like it’s high above the rest because of these top-billed A-listers, who aced each of their characters, needless to say.
Moreover, the first half of the film seemed like a never-ending momentum towards something that ultimately never felt fully achieved, other than a boastful prelude towards the next Marvel movie. It was an oxymoronic combination of being too long, but equally too short. The build-up was painstakingly long, but the climax ultimately felt underwhelming (Really? All that otherworldly, interplanetary build-up scenes, and the fight ends up in some random forest that looked like it was shot in someone’s backyard?) Don’t get me wrong — it was great movie, but its boiling hot premise dwindled down to a lukewarm finale. Infinity War felt like an overly-prolonged commercial for the next Avengers film.
Nevertheless, Avengers: Infinity War stirred my curiosity to the continuance of the Marvel universe, and is a testament that a decade-long franchise and partial conclusion is just the beginning of it all. It left me hanging, but for most part, it made me want to see what’s next. At the end of the day, that feeling of excitement towards the sequel is all you could hope for in a franchise.
4.5 out of 5 stars
About Avengers: Infinity War
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is now showing in PH cinemas.
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk), Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Don Cheadle (James Rhodes/War Machine), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Stephen Strange), Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spiderman), Chadwick Boseman (King T’Challa/Black Panther), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Paul Bettany (Vision), Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch), Anthony Mackie (Wade Wilson/Falcon), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/White Wolf), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Dave Bautista (Drax), Bradley Cooper (Groot), Vin Diesel (Groot), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Benedict Wong (Wong), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Benicio Del Toro (The Collector), Josh Brolin (Thanos) and Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord). Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, from a screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
Runtime: 2 hours, 36 minutes
CinemaBravo 