With an ominous new threat on the horizon, The Avengers must reunite to prevent the Mad Titan Thanos from collecting six magical infinity stones that will grant him almost unimaginable power.
When Marvel Studios launched their ambitious cinematic universe with 2008’s Iron Man, few would have thought that 10 years on the franchise would still be going strong. Yet seventeen popular films later, expectation has built to fever pitch levels for this third team up film. This time uniting not only the Avengers, but other Marvel characters such as Spider-Man, Black Panther and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Robert Downey Jnr returns to reprise his role as Tony Stark, and is joined by a huge ensemble cast including Chris Evans, Scarlet Johansson, Chadewick Boseman and Mark Ruffalo to name but a few.
Faced with the daunting task of arranging so many characters into a coherent story, directors Joe and Anthony Russo only partly succeed.
The action heavy script is rather thin on plot and sees Josh Brolin’s Thanos methodically targeting the splintered heroes in search of the mystical stones.
The result is a series of hectic battles that span the entire universe. It may well leave newcomers bewildered, but this is made for the fans who’ve invested their time in the franchise and will likely rejoice in the many links and call backs to previous instalments. The fact a sequel is planned for next year is quite apparent as events lean heavily towards set-up. But the films real joy comes from seeing this vast array of superheroes interact. The bickering caused by the clashing ego’s of Downey Jnrs Iron Man and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange is amusing, whilst the interplay between Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and the charismatic Chris Pratt as Starlord is a real highlight. The problem is that with a cast this big, it is almost impossible to give anybody significant screen time and these great moments are a little too fleeting. Nevertheless the film moves at an astounding pace and has so much happening that it easy to get swept along. Even with its mammoth run time of two and a half hours it is never boring and fans of the recent Black Panther film won’t be surprised to hear that a wonderful third act battle in the African country of Wakanda is the films finest moment.
With such expectation surrounding the film, the Russo’s were under pressure to deliver and whilst they haven’t produced the absolute masterpiece many fans would’ve hoped for, Infinity War will delight many.
An epic but rather overstuffed spectacle with more than enough memorable moments to have fans queuing up for the next instalment.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Paul Steward
@Grittster
28/04/18