TL;DR - A very good action-packed movie with plenty of emotion as well. This movie leans on the previous films for character establishment and development but works well even as a stand alone film. Highly recommended.
Long version:
This needs to be two reviews, really. One about the movie itself. And one about the culmination of the past 18 Marvel films that have been leading to this two-parter finale. Let's start with the film itself.
Avengers Infinity War -
One of the rarest movies out there is one starring a villainous protagonist. And make no mistake, this is Thantos' movie. He is the driver of the action, he pays the heaviest emotional price to accomplish his goals. The heroes, the Avengers and others, act as antagonists to his goals. Sure, that's the case in just about every fantasy, where the heroes stand between the big bad guy and his goals. But in other stories, the focus is usually on the hero protagonist. But the focus here is mostly on Thanos, even when he's not on camera, the rapid cuts between different settings and characters rarely keeps him off stage for long in Infinity War.
Even more rare is for a story to have a villain protagonist that is sympathetic while still staying monstrous. Mark Lawrence has his Prince of Thorn book series but he fails to make a sympathetic character. Glen Cook's Black Company series doesn't keep the main characters truly villainous. This movie is balanced, to borrow a theme expressed in the film. Thanos is powerful, intelligent, motivated and driven by a belief that he is right. This isn't someone going after power for it's own sake or to aggrandize his ego. He is going to right a wrong, as he sees it, in the universe.
And he's going to do it by killing half of the universe's population.
What worked:
Pretty much everything. The pacing of this movie is fast. The character are put into new small groups and are all following their own plots. The film cuts between these groups so you never have time to get bored or for the story to be dragged down by too much exposition or over-long fight scenes.
There are high emotional stakes as well as high 'plot' stakes. The heroes are trying to save half the universe and to save or to avenge the lives of their loved ones.
But Thanos is gaining power, not for it's own sake and not for a love of killing (and not to impress his girlfriend, thank God), but to allow the survivors to flourish in a galaxy of limited resources. Thanos has his own high emotional and plot stakes.
At the same time, the good guys and bad guys here are not ambiguous. Thanos has depth, more so than expected, but he IS bad/evil and 'must' be stopped. This is not a grey movie. We do not have 'gray' heroes who snap necks or kill random, faceless thugs.
Everyone or almost everyone is given moments to shine, to save the day in little ways if not big always. With a cast of this size, this is also a near miracle.
Most of the humor is character-based, we don't have jokes undercutting too many big emotional moments. It happens once but it actually works there. Plus Drax is just hilarious.
Perhaps needless to say, the special effects in this movie are flawless. There is no 'bad' CGI in here. Everyone and everything looks real. We live in an age of visual marvels. What is even more 'marvelous' is that the technology has been tied to a good story.
What didn't work:
This is a very good movie. But it's not perfect. There are a few flaws. Most of them don't take away from the film but one or two of them do bump me a little.
The biggest one is the basic assumption at the core of Thanos' reasoning. That there are limited resources in a limited universe and the only way to avoid over-population and destruction of all society is mass murder on a cosmic scale. This is what Thanos calls 'balance'. And this monstrous belief is not a fictional one and is not shared only by big, purple supervillains. It's called Malthusianism, after the 18th century theorist, Thomas Malthus. He believed that population would increase exponentially while food supplies would increase linearly. At some point, overpopulation would cause mass starvation, war, disease and death. Even today, there are radicals who call for enforced sterilization, mandatory birth control and even call for mass murder of the kind Thanos uses fictionally here.
The problem here isn't just the monstrousness of the philosophy. It's that it is false. Or has been proven so, so far. As population has indeed increased, so too has our food production. Even today, our challenge is food distribution, not availability or even cost. Technology, from agriculture to birth control, has resolved the Malthusian dilemma.
And no one in the movie ever makes the case that Thanos is wrong on factual, not just on moral grounds. On moral grounds, Thanos is willing to pay the price of being hated and 'misunderstood' and even willing to sacrifice those he cares about. He is not accessible to moral arguments. He views his position as fact. But no one attempts to refute his facts.
Second, some of the scenes are edited too quickly. It is hard to follow the action, which can be literally dizzying in places. This is not true everywhere. The choreography of the fight on Titan is clean and easy to follow. So is the fight with Dr. Strange and Iron Man with the first two Black Order henchmen. Likewise the final fight against Thanos is clearly, mostly because it is in slow motion. But the Wakandan battle and the early fight with Scarlett Witch and the other Avengers verses the other two Black Order henchmen is unclear. I'm wondering if two different crews and fight choreographers were used or two different editors. We have two of each working on Infinity War. There were similar problems with Black Panther, but different editors and different fight choreographers were used here.
Third, we don't see Thanos obtaining the Power stone and the destruction on Xandar. It MAY be that they're planning to save that for a movie perhaps featuring Nova, as written by Dan Abnett. But no such announcement has been made. And it may appear in flashback in the second part of Infinity War. I don't know but it stands out and feels odd, since we spend time watching Thanos acquire the other five.
The rest are nit picks. Like how Pepper Potts is a terrible character and a nag and a terrible match for Tony Stark or any other man with self respect. Or how everyone can just talk to everyone else at any time, seemingly. Or how sometimes Thanos uses his power stones well and sometimes he doesn't. Or how only girls fight girls and boys fight boys in most of the movie, which is odd.
Or, most of all nits, how the Black Order is established and used. Only one really stands out, Ebony Maw. And he's killed without being able to 'Mary Poppins' himself to safety when, of all characters, he should and could have survived his defeat.
Plot (with spoilers):
Picking up some time after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Black Panther, we see Thanos finally in motion to collect all 6 infinity stones. He has taken the Power stone from Xandar (off camera) and we see him butchering the survivors of Asgard. Thor is beaten and defeated. Quickly, Thanos defeats the Hulk decisively, receives the Space stone from Loki and strangles Loki to death when he attempts to kill Thanos. Heimdall manages to send Hulk away summoning Bifrost, the rainbow bridge, but is killed for this. Thanos and his Black Order henchmen/children depart, leaving a crippled Thor on a burning starship that explodes.
Hulk arrives on earth, crashing into Dr. Strange's home and transforming permanently (for this film at least) into Bruce Banner. Banner warns Strange and Tony Stark about Thanos but almost immediately, two members of the Black Order attack them in an attempt to seize the Time stone from Dr. Strange. Spiderman helps in the fight but Dr. Strange is abducted. Iron Man and Spiderman stow away onboard the starship and manage to rescue Dr. Strange however they are unable or unwilling ultimately to change the starship's course and they decide to attempt to attack Thanos on his homeworld, Titan when they arrive.
Meanwhile, the other two members of the Black Order attack Scarlet Witch and Vision as the two lovers are debating going off on their own. Vision is crippled in the ambush and never truly recovers or is able to use his full powers. Scarlet Witch fights tremendously well but just when she is about to be cornered and killed, Captain America, Falcon and Black Widow show up to rescue them both. They decide to see if they can remove the Mind stone from Vision without killing him and then destroy the Mind stone rather than letting it fall into Thanos' hands. To do this, they must go to Wakanda.
Meanwhile, out in space, the Guardians of the Galaxy are responding to a distress signal sent by the Asgardians. They arrive to find a nearly dead (mostly dead?) Thor, who they rescue and whom rapidly recovers. Rocket Raccoon and Thor, with Groot, go off to have a new weapon forged to replace his broken hammer, a weapon that can actually defeat Thanos. The other Guardians decide to go to Knowhere, where The Collector has the Reality stone. They intend to steal the stone before Thanos can get it. However they arrive too late. Gamora attacks her foster father and seemingly kills him. However it is revealed that Thanos has already acquired the Reality stone and the ambush was merely a test to see how Gamora felt towards Thanos. He handily defeats the Guardians and forces Gamora to reveal the location of the Soul stone by torturing her 'sister' Nebula. She is unable to tolerate Nebula's torture and reveals the Soul stones location. Thanos takes Gamora to the location of the Soul stone. There is his forced to sacrifice the one person he truly loves, his daughter Gamora, to receive the soul stone. Thanos does so with regret and having paid for the stone with her life, he departs for Titan.
Meanwhile, Thor and Rocket find that the forge world where they intended to find a weapon is cold and abandoned. Thanos has been here, too. And his Infinity gauntlet was created by the last surviving 'dwarf' blacksmith. Thor and Rocket manage to re-start the forge and obtain a mighty axe, using part of Groot as the haft.
On Titan, the Guardians meet and confront Iron Man, Spider Man and Dr. Strange. They unite and ready an ambush on Thanos, the plan being to separate Thanos from the Gauntlet that holds the Infinity stones. There is an epic battle but Thanos defeats the combined heroes, despite near success when Star Lord learns of Gamora's death and attacks a stunned Thanos before the Gauntlet can be removed. Dr. Strange, having looked into the future and finding only ONE scenario where the heroes succeed, 'strangely' gives Thanos the Time stone in return for Thanos sparing Iron Man's life. Thanos takes the Time stone and heads to Earth for the final Infinity stone, in Vision.
The heroes arrive in Wakanda and are greeted and aided by Black Panther and his sister. They attempt to remove the Mind stone so it can be destroyed without killing Vision, however the surviving Black Order members have come back to earth with an army of ravening four armed beasts. They attack immediately and manage to circumvent the protective shield around Wakanda. Bruce Banner is unable to summon the Hulk and fights in borrowed 'hulkbuster' armor. In the vast attack, the Avengers are put in great jeopardy but the return of Thor turns the tide of battle and the members of the Black Order are killed. However, Thanos himself arrives, with 5 Infinity stones. And single-handedly, he defeats all the heroes as they try to keep him from Vision. Scarlet Witch manages to destroy the stone but doing so while the stone is still in Vision, killing him. Thanos uses the Time stone to rewind time to before the stone is destroyed and pulls it out of Vision's skull, killing him a second time and giving him all 6 stones.
Just then, Thor attacks Thanos with his new axe and inflicts a terrible wound to Thanos' chest. However he is not able to prevent Thanos from using all 6 stones at once. And half the heroes and people in the universe die and turn to ash.
Wounded, with the Infinity Gauntlet twisted and seemingly broken, Thanos escapes. And, having accomplished his goal, he rests and smiles wistfully at an alien sunrise.
***
And yeah, that's it. Thanos wins. Heroes fail. Many, many heroes die and turn to ash before their friends and loved one's eyes.
Now this IS part 1 of a two part movie. But....the BALLS on Kevin Feige and the Russo brothers are immense. Not since the Empire Strikes Back have we seen this kind of dark, down ending in a series.
For one of the rare times in my life, I have NO idea where they could go with this. And no idea how to 'fix' this situation. This isn't just a cliffhanger. This is an avalanche that leaves the few survivors stunned, broken and disorganized.
What would I change?:
Not a lot, honestly. This movie does everything pretty damn right.
I'd have shown the Xandar massacre. I could probably write a scene that would take less than 3 minutes of screen time but would have given us even more spectacle. But honestly, the movie serves up plenty of spectacle and shows us Thanos power in other ways.
The set up for the Soul stone should have come before this film but it is the emotional core of Thanos' journey here, so it does work.
It would be nice to find a use for Falcon, War Machine and Black Widow. They aren't helpless, but they don't do much and have no plot impact.
Valkerie and the characters from Thor 3 are not here at all. But I sorta hate all of them, so good riddance.
Likewise, Bruce Banner went from scientist in Avengers 1 and 2 to scared little boy in this movie. That's not great characterization, though it does set up character development for him and Hulk and that's not nothing.
The Black Order should have had a bit more interaction and 'named' each other more. They did their job here, but they felt like red shirts.
Summary:
This is a nearly miraculous movie in how much it got right, in the choices made and in paying off setups from previous films and leaning on the characterization done in previous films. It is an action movie with a lot of emotion and high stakes.
Even if you haven't seen all the other Marvel movies, it works well enough and is worth study as well as mere entertainment.
Highly Recommended
***
Part 2 - Avengers Infinity War and what it means as a series:
Ok, let's talk EVEN MORE about this movie because it IS more than just a one-off or two-off entertainment event.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it started with Iron Man in 2008. However the McGuffin 'powerful artifact' plot line really begins with Captain America 1. In that film, the Nazi's gain what we know as the Tesseract and they/Hydra develop sci-fi super weapons with it. Then in The Avengers, we have Loki coming to earth at the head of an army lent to him by Thanos and bearing a spear/scepter that contained another infinity stone, the Mind stone, though it was not called by that name then. Thor 2 featured yet another stone, the 'Aether', a confusing low point for the series. This is the Reality stone and it was taken to The Collector.
It wasn't until the Guardians of the Galaxy 1 that we got the full back story on the Infinity Stones and got to see Thanos demanding the Power stone from Ronan the Accuser. After Guardians of the Galaxy, the overall plot, featuring the Infinity stones, gets pushed more front and center, though not to the extent you might think. Only Dr. Strange and Avengers 2 really feature the stones as plot points and neither are the main plot device of either film. Marvel really had hit its stride by then, in writing and tying the movies together gracefully.
We can also be grateful for good casting, mostly, and multi-picture contracts. Infinity War works so well because these characters were introduced and developed over many previous movies. They don't just feel like a costume and a power set. They feel like real people. Part of that credit goes to the writing and performances and direction, but also the structure of the Marvel Cinematic Universe where they have been no ret-cons (long may that last, knock wood) or recastings, re-imaginings or what have you that have plagued the X-men, the Fantastic Four, Spider Man and Batman/Superman.
We don't need to learn Captain America's backstory in Infinity War. When he shows up and snatches the spear thrown at him, the audience literally cheered. Because we knew him and we knew what he was going to do: save the day, be a hero. Likewise, Bruce Banner's character in this movie is tolerable because we've seen him in the Avengers 1 and 2 and in Thor 3. This early character development is pretty essential to Infinity War working at a high level. I still think it works even if you don't know everyone and everything, they do a good job dropping in mild exposition here and there.
So talking about characters, lets go even deeper. I'm going to list all the heroes in Infinity War, what they did and their ultimate fate. Some did more and were more important to the plot here than others. Some may be even more important in part 2, after the vast die-off at the end of Infinity war. Keep one more thing in mind: each of these characters are unique in look AND 'voice'. As a writer, I can tell you making characters 'sound' unique is not easy and is worthy of praise.
Thor - Is defeated by Thanos, off-camera, is tortured to get Loki to reveal the Space stone's location. Survives the destruction of his ship and is rescued by the Guardians. Goes to have a new weapon forged, powerful enough to defeat Thanos. Restarts the forgeworld sun and holds a mechanism open long enough to melt the metal in the forge. Transports to the final battle in Wakanda, turning the tide of battle. Destroys several drop ships of the invaders and inflicts a terrible wound on Thanos. Charms the pants off everyone but Star Lord.
Loki - Surrenders the Space stone after first defying Thanos to kill Thor. Attempts to ambush Thanos while swearing fealty. Is strangled to death, possibly for good, by Thanos.
Heimdall - Transports Hulk to Earth to give warning and is killed as a result.
Hulk - Gets his ass handed to him decisively by Thanos and then refuses to come out again, apparently out of fear. As Bruce Banner, he brings the message of Thanos' coming and threat. Calls Captain America after Tony Stark is unable to. He fights in the final Wakanda battle wearing a borrowed Hulkbuster suit of armor.
Iron Man - Fights two of the Black Order to attempt to protect Dr. Strange and the Time stone. Boards the alien spaceship and rescues Dr. Strange. Fights the Guardians of the Galaxy on Titan before teaming up with them. Fights Thanos on Titan and is badly wounded. His life is traded for the Time stone by Dr. Strange.
Pepper Potts - Is apparently getting married to Tony Stark. Because Nemesis is a real force and Stark has had too much success and happiness in his life. Nags at him and attempt to browbeat him into NOT saving the world. Is a scrunt. Survival uncertain but probably since we live in a fallen, unjust universe.
Dr. Strange - Receives the warning about Thanos and collects Tony Stark. Fights against the Black Order. Is captured before he can use the Time Stone. Stand up to Tony Stark, snark for snark. Suggest they not fly to Titan and avoid Thanos instead. Is overruled for plot and Tony Stark ego reasons. Fights against the Guardians before combining with them against Thanos on Titan. Looks into the future with the Time stone to try to find a scenario where the heroes can win. Seemingly finds a single possibility. However, gives the Time stone to Thanos in return for Tony Stark's life. Dies at the end saying 'this was the only way', seemingly not having explained to Tony Stark what he needs to do.
Wong - Wants a tuna melt. Fights against the Black order to protect Dr. Strange. Managed to strand the most physically powerful Black Order member via teleportation. Returns to guard Dr. Strange's home and items. Probably survives or not seen to die at the end.
Spider Man - Spider Sense warns him of the alien ship arrival bearing the Black Order. Fights the Black Order. Loses Dr. Strange to the Black Order. Gets new 'superior' Spider man suit. Stows away on starship against instructions. Helps blow Ebon Maw out into space. Fights against the Guardians on Titan. Becomes an Avenger for real. Fights against Thanos on Titan. Dies and is turned to ash while begging for his life.
Star Lord - Rescues Thor, much to his annoyance. Has gained a little weight. Promises Gamora, very reluctantly, that he will kill her if Thanos tries to take her away. Leads the Guardians to Knowhere in an attempt to steal the Reality Stone before Thanos can. Fights Thanos or tries to on Knowhere. Tries to keep his word to Gamora and shoot her. Is liked by Thanos. Travels to Titan after being told by Nebula that Thanos is going there. Fights Dr. Strange, Iron Man and Spider Man before uniting. Comes up with the plan to ambush, hold and remove the gauntlet from Thanos. But breaks his 'stun' by attacking him when he learns of Gamora's death. Fights Thanos on Titan but loses. Dies at the end when Thanos uses the Infinity Gauntlet. Is pretty damn bad ass for a goofball.
Gamora - Has comfortably settled into her relationship with Peter Quill, apparently. Knows what Thanos' ultimate, genocidal goal is. Knows where the Soul stone is. Assassinates her father, Thanos, in Knowhere but is defeated by the Reality stone. Is captured by Thanos and pressured into revealing the Soul stone's location by Thanos' torture of Nebula. Has a flashback to Thanos discovering and adopting her. Is loved by and sacrificed by Thanos to gain the soul stone. Appears, as a child, in the 'soul zone' to speak to Thanos after he kills half the universe.
Drax - Has most of the good lines/jokes. Knows a man when he sees one. Also knows a pirate angel when he sees one. Can hold so still and move so slowly, he can become invisible. Or not. Attacks Thanos in Knowhere, unsuccessfully. Fights Dr. Strange, Iron Man and Spider Man on Titan before uniting against Thanos. Manages some good hits in against Thanos. Does not get his vengeance. Dies at the end.
Mantis - Is very cute and cuddly. Has 'mean face' down. Awakens Thor after his rescue. Knows Drax when she sees him. Tries to confront Thanos on Knowhere but is defeated by the Reality stone. Scares Spider Man. Fights Thanos and her ability to put Celestials to sleep is used to good affect during the ambush. But is defeated by Thanos and dies at the end of the movie, turning to dust.
Groot - Is a brat. Plays handheld version of Defender and is surly the whole movie. Uses part of his body to form the handle for Thor's new Thanos-killing axe. Fights in the final battle at Wakanda. Dies at the end when Thanos uses the Infinity stones.
Rocket - Gets promotion to 'Captain' and actually acts like it, surprisingly. Shows empathy. Takes Thor to forge world to get new Thanos-killing axe for Thor. Give Thor a cybernetic eye, brown in color. Helps re-start star forge. Fights in the final battle and helps turn the tide against the invading aliens in Wakanda. Knows a good gun, and good arm, when he sees it. Survives the great culling at the end, the only Guardian of the Galaxy to do so.
Nebula - Attempts to kill Thanos after the events of Guardians 2 and 'very nearly succeeded'. Is captured and tortured. Thanos learns Gamora knows about the Soul stone from her. Breaks free after being healed by minions of Thanos and tells the Guardians Thanos is going to Titan. Fights Thanos on Titan but is defeated. Survives the great culling at the end.
The Collector - Gives up the Reality stone to Thanos. Likely dead, only seen 'alive' during the Reality stone trap.
Captain America - Shows up to rescue Vision and Scarlet Witch. Leads them to the Avengers HQ where he confronts Sec. of State Ross and gains the allegiance and help of War Machine. Leads the Avengers to Wakanda and gains the aid of Black Panther to attempt to remove the Mind stone without killing Vision. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Attempts to stop Thanos but is defeated. Survives the final culling at the end of the movie.
Bucky Barnes - Is called back into service by Black Panther. Gets new arm. Is reunited with Captain America. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Dies at end in the great culling at the end of the film.
Black Panther - Allows the Avengers into the country. Offers aid in removing the Mind stone from Rallies his people to fight the invading army of Thanos. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Gives the order to open the shield to the invaders to avoid becoming flanked. Dies at the end in the great culling.
Main Bald Black chick warrior (yeah, go ahead and hate me; her name and look don't stand out) - Fights in the last battle in Wakanda. Survives the great culling.
Shuri - Is so smart. Somehow. Despite apparently limited contact with the outside world and zero experience with Infinity stones and creating new life forms. But is so smart. Attempts to remove the Mind stone from Vision and would have likely have succeed if not interrupted by the Black Order and then Thanos. Survival uncertain, not shown to die in the great culling.
Baku? Gorilla-themed guy - Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Is using a wooden club, which somehow works despite not having any powers or vibranium. Survives the great culling.
Falcon - Helps rescue Scarlet Witch and Vision. Travels to Avenger HQ to reunite with War Machine. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Dies at the end in the great culling.
Scarlet Witch - Is in a romance with Vision. Fights the Black Order. Is very, very powerful. But has little defense. Refuses to destroy Mind stone before Thanos' arrival because of love for Vision. Agrees to destroy it if removed. Fights decisively in the final battle in Wakanda. Destroys the Mind stone while holding back or slowing down Thanos. Is very, very powerful. Dies at the end in the great culling.
Vision - Is in a romance with Scarlet Witch. Has developed a very British stammer dealing with emotions like love. Apparently tolerates being in Scotland. Gets badly wounded in his first fight and basically does next to nothing apart from being rescued a lot. Gets rescued a lot. Attempts to sacrifice his life for the sake of untold numbers of people. Gets turned down about the idea until the very end. Fights to protect Shuri when the Black Order comes for him. Dies twice.
Black Widow - Rescues Scarlett Witch, twice. Fights the girl black order member. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Survives, somehow, despite not having super powers. Has blonde hair. Has great voice. Survives the great culling.
War Machine - Joins Captain America at risk of court martial. Trolls Bruce Banner in Wakanda. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Fights against Thanos and loses. Survives the great culling.
Nick Fury - Calls Captain Marvel for help when he sees the great culling happening. However dies before he can issue some trademark profanity.
...that's 29 distinct characters who have some plot-related actions or responsibility! I'm a little dizzy just from writing that up, let alone doing it in screenplay form and making ti work. Damn.
What Marvel movies has done here is unlike anything anyone else has ever tried. And they pull it off with style and grace. 18 movies building up, in small ways and in big, to this moment. When half the universe is killed off.
Warner Brothers/DC tried to follow in Marvel's footsteps but failed. Why it failed is likely a source for a good, long article in and of itself. But most of the reason is due to: vision, casting, pacing. DC wanted to get to where Marvel is in a hurry. It wanted to do so by making dark, gritty stories that don't fit the DC characters. Instead of spending time creating, developing and using their characters, they tried to jump ahead in line. Casting and direction have also hampered them, as have cost cutting measures in their special effects.
Like Marvel movies or hate them, you have to respect the effort and the balancing act at work here. Kevin Feige had a vision AND Marvel/Disney gave him the freedom to pursue it, even to the point of removing personnel who were tainting his vision.
Along the way to Infinity War, they mastered the art of character development (of heroes and villains), of action that serves to develop the plot and reveal character, the art of casting. It survived turbulent relationship failures with talented directors who would not accept the production direction Feige was laying down and found even more talented directors who could be trusted to match the Marvel vision while expressing their own voice.
The Russo Brothers, Kevin Feige, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely....all the techs, cast and crew....you did it. You made a miracle.
So what does Infinity War mean? It means an ending. It means, I hope, that hard work and boldness is rewarded. It means having a well-developed villain is no less important than a likeable hero. It means the old stories still work, the old ideas of entertainment first, still work.
It means...I'm going to watch Infinity War a few more times. And I'm going to enjoy myself each time I go.
Thanks, sincerely.
Long version:
This needs to be two reviews, really. One about the movie itself. And one about the culmination of the past 18 Marvel films that have been leading to this two-parter finale. Let's start with the film itself.
Avengers Infinity War -
One of the rarest movies out there is one starring a villainous protagonist. And make no mistake, this is Thantos' movie. He is the driver of the action, he pays the heaviest emotional price to accomplish his goals. The heroes, the Avengers and others, act as antagonists to his goals. Sure, that's the case in just about every fantasy, where the heroes stand between the big bad guy and his goals. But in other stories, the focus is usually on the hero protagonist. But the focus here is mostly on Thanos, even when he's not on camera, the rapid cuts between different settings and characters rarely keeps him off stage for long in Infinity War.
Even more rare is for a story to have a villain protagonist that is sympathetic while still staying monstrous. Mark Lawrence has his Prince of Thorn book series but he fails to make a sympathetic character. Glen Cook's Black Company series doesn't keep the main characters truly villainous. This movie is balanced, to borrow a theme expressed in the film. Thanos is powerful, intelligent, motivated and driven by a belief that he is right. This isn't someone going after power for it's own sake or to aggrandize his ego. He is going to right a wrong, as he sees it, in the universe.
And he's going to do it by killing half of the universe's population.
What worked:
Pretty much everything. The pacing of this movie is fast. The character are put into new small groups and are all following their own plots. The film cuts between these groups so you never have time to get bored or for the story to be dragged down by too much exposition or over-long fight scenes.
There are high emotional stakes as well as high 'plot' stakes. The heroes are trying to save half the universe and to save or to avenge the lives of their loved ones.
But Thanos is gaining power, not for it's own sake and not for a love of killing (and not to impress his girlfriend, thank God), but to allow the survivors to flourish in a galaxy of limited resources. Thanos has his own high emotional and plot stakes.
At the same time, the good guys and bad guys here are not ambiguous. Thanos has depth, more so than expected, but he IS bad/evil and 'must' be stopped. This is not a grey movie. We do not have 'gray' heroes who snap necks or kill random, faceless thugs.
Everyone or almost everyone is given moments to shine, to save the day in little ways if not big always. With a cast of this size, this is also a near miracle.
Most of the humor is character-based, we don't have jokes undercutting too many big emotional moments. It happens once but it actually works there. Plus Drax is just hilarious.
Perhaps needless to say, the special effects in this movie are flawless. There is no 'bad' CGI in here. Everyone and everything looks real. We live in an age of visual marvels. What is even more 'marvelous' is that the technology has been tied to a good story.
What didn't work:
This is a very good movie. But it's not perfect. There are a few flaws. Most of them don't take away from the film but one or two of them do bump me a little.
The biggest one is the basic assumption at the core of Thanos' reasoning. That there are limited resources in a limited universe and the only way to avoid over-population and destruction of all society is mass murder on a cosmic scale. This is what Thanos calls 'balance'. And this monstrous belief is not a fictional one and is not shared only by big, purple supervillains. It's called Malthusianism, after the 18th century theorist, Thomas Malthus. He believed that population would increase exponentially while food supplies would increase linearly. At some point, overpopulation would cause mass starvation, war, disease and death. Even today, there are radicals who call for enforced sterilization, mandatory birth control and even call for mass murder of the kind Thanos uses fictionally here.
The problem here isn't just the monstrousness of the philosophy. It's that it is false. Or has been proven so, so far. As population has indeed increased, so too has our food production. Even today, our challenge is food distribution, not availability or even cost. Technology, from agriculture to birth control, has resolved the Malthusian dilemma.
And no one in the movie ever makes the case that Thanos is wrong on factual, not just on moral grounds. On moral grounds, Thanos is willing to pay the price of being hated and 'misunderstood' and even willing to sacrifice those he cares about. He is not accessible to moral arguments. He views his position as fact. But no one attempts to refute his facts.
Second, some of the scenes are edited too quickly. It is hard to follow the action, which can be literally dizzying in places. This is not true everywhere. The choreography of the fight on Titan is clean and easy to follow. So is the fight with Dr. Strange and Iron Man with the first two Black Order henchmen. Likewise the final fight against Thanos is clearly, mostly because it is in slow motion. But the Wakandan battle and the early fight with Scarlett Witch and the other Avengers verses the other two Black Order henchmen is unclear. I'm wondering if two different crews and fight choreographers were used or two different editors. We have two of each working on Infinity War. There were similar problems with Black Panther, but different editors and different fight choreographers were used here.
Third, we don't see Thanos obtaining the Power stone and the destruction on Xandar. It MAY be that they're planning to save that for a movie perhaps featuring Nova, as written by Dan Abnett. But no such announcement has been made. And it may appear in flashback in the second part of Infinity War. I don't know but it stands out and feels odd, since we spend time watching Thanos acquire the other five.
The rest are nit picks. Like how Pepper Potts is a terrible character and a nag and a terrible match for Tony Stark or any other man with self respect. Or how everyone can just talk to everyone else at any time, seemingly. Or how sometimes Thanos uses his power stones well and sometimes he doesn't. Or how only girls fight girls and boys fight boys in most of the movie, which is odd.
Or, most of all nits, how the Black Order is established and used. Only one really stands out, Ebony Maw. And he's killed without being able to 'Mary Poppins' himself to safety when, of all characters, he should and could have survived his defeat.
Plot (with spoilers):
Picking up some time after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Black Panther, we see Thanos finally in motion to collect all 6 infinity stones. He has taken the Power stone from Xandar (off camera) and we see him butchering the survivors of Asgard. Thor is beaten and defeated. Quickly, Thanos defeats the Hulk decisively, receives the Space stone from Loki and strangles Loki to death when he attempts to kill Thanos. Heimdall manages to send Hulk away summoning Bifrost, the rainbow bridge, but is killed for this. Thanos and his Black Order henchmen/children depart, leaving a crippled Thor on a burning starship that explodes.
Hulk arrives on earth, crashing into Dr. Strange's home and transforming permanently (for this film at least) into Bruce Banner. Banner warns Strange and Tony Stark about Thanos but almost immediately, two members of the Black Order attack them in an attempt to seize the Time stone from Dr. Strange. Spiderman helps in the fight but Dr. Strange is abducted. Iron Man and Spiderman stow away onboard the starship and manage to rescue Dr. Strange however they are unable or unwilling ultimately to change the starship's course and they decide to attempt to attack Thanos on his homeworld, Titan when they arrive.
Meanwhile, the other two members of the Black Order attack Scarlet Witch and Vision as the two lovers are debating going off on their own. Vision is crippled in the ambush and never truly recovers or is able to use his full powers. Scarlet Witch fights tremendously well but just when she is about to be cornered and killed, Captain America, Falcon and Black Widow show up to rescue them both. They decide to see if they can remove the Mind stone from Vision without killing him and then destroy the Mind stone rather than letting it fall into Thanos' hands. To do this, they must go to Wakanda.
Meanwhile, out in space, the Guardians of the Galaxy are responding to a distress signal sent by the Asgardians. They arrive to find a nearly dead (mostly dead?) Thor, who they rescue and whom rapidly recovers. Rocket Raccoon and Thor, with Groot, go off to have a new weapon forged to replace his broken hammer, a weapon that can actually defeat Thanos. The other Guardians decide to go to Knowhere, where The Collector has the Reality stone. They intend to steal the stone before Thanos can get it. However they arrive too late. Gamora attacks her foster father and seemingly kills him. However it is revealed that Thanos has already acquired the Reality stone and the ambush was merely a test to see how Gamora felt towards Thanos. He handily defeats the Guardians and forces Gamora to reveal the location of the Soul stone by torturing her 'sister' Nebula. She is unable to tolerate Nebula's torture and reveals the Soul stones location. Thanos takes Gamora to the location of the Soul stone. There is his forced to sacrifice the one person he truly loves, his daughter Gamora, to receive the soul stone. Thanos does so with regret and having paid for the stone with her life, he departs for Titan.
Meanwhile, Thor and Rocket find that the forge world where they intended to find a weapon is cold and abandoned. Thanos has been here, too. And his Infinity gauntlet was created by the last surviving 'dwarf' blacksmith. Thor and Rocket manage to re-start the forge and obtain a mighty axe, using part of Groot as the haft.
On Titan, the Guardians meet and confront Iron Man, Spider Man and Dr. Strange. They unite and ready an ambush on Thanos, the plan being to separate Thanos from the Gauntlet that holds the Infinity stones. There is an epic battle but Thanos defeats the combined heroes, despite near success when Star Lord learns of Gamora's death and attacks a stunned Thanos before the Gauntlet can be removed. Dr. Strange, having looked into the future and finding only ONE scenario where the heroes succeed, 'strangely' gives Thanos the Time stone in return for Thanos sparing Iron Man's life. Thanos takes the Time stone and heads to Earth for the final Infinity stone, in Vision.
The heroes arrive in Wakanda and are greeted and aided by Black Panther and his sister. They attempt to remove the Mind stone so it can be destroyed without killing Vision, however the surviving Black Order members have come back to earth with an army of ravening four armed beasts. They attack immediately and manage to circumvent the protective shield around Wakanda. Bruce Banner is unable to summon the Hulk and fights in borrowed 'hulkbuster' armor. In the vast attack, the Avengers are put in great jeopardy but the return of Thor turns the tide of battle and the members of the Black Order are killed. However, Thanos himself arrives, with 5 Infinity stones. And single-handedly, he defeats all the heroes as they try to keep him from Vision. Scarlet Witch manages to destroy the stone but doing so while the stone is still in Vision, killing him. Thanos uses the Time stone to rewind time to before the stone is destroyed and pulls it out of Vision's skull, killing him a second time and giving him all 6 stones.
Just then, Thor attacks Thanos with his new axe and inflicts a terrible wound to Thanos' chest. However he is not able to prevent Thanos from using all 6 stones at once. And half the heroes and people in the universe die and turn to ash.
Wounded, with the Infinity Gauntlet twisted and seemingly broken, Thanos escapes. And, having accomplished his goal, he rests and smiles wistfully at an alien sunrise.
***
And yeah, that's it. Thanos wins. Heroes fail. Many, many heroes die and turn to ash before their friends and loved one's eyes.
Now this IS part 1 of a two part movie. But....the BALLS on Kevin Feige and the Russo brothers are immense. Not since the Empire Strikes Back have we seen this kind of dark, down ending in a series.
For one of the rare times in my life, I have NO idea where they could go with this. And no idea how to 'fix' this situation. This isn't just a cliffhanger. This is an avalanche that leaves the few survivors stunned, broken and disorganized.
What would I change?:
Not a lot, honestly. This movie does everything pretty damn right.
I'd have shown the Xandar massacre. I could probably write a scene that would take less than 3 minutes of screen time but would have given us even more spectacle. But honestly, the movie serves up plenty of spectacle and shows us Thanos power in other ways.
The set up for the Soul stone should have come before this film but it is the emotional core of Thanos' journey here, so it does work.
It would be nice to find a use for Falcon, War Machine and Black Widow. They aren't helpless, but they don't do much and have no plot impact.
Valkerie and the characters from Thor 3 are not here at all. But I sorta hate all of them, so good riddance.
Likewise, Bruce Banner went from scientist in Avengers 1 and 2 to scared little boy in this movie. That's not great characterization, though it does set up character development for him and Hulk and that's not nothing.
The Black Order should have had a bit more interaction and 'named' each other more. They did their job here, but they felt like red shirts.
Summary:
This is a nearly miraculous movie in how much it got right, in the choices made and in paying off setups from previous films and leaning on the characterization done in previous films. It is an action movie with a lot of emotion and high stakes.
Even if you haven't seen all the other Marvel movies, it works well enough and is worth study as well as mere entertainment.
Highly Recommended
***
Part 2 - Avengers Infinity War and what it means as a series:
Ok, let's talk EVEN MORE about this movie because it IS more than just a one-off or two-off entertainment event.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it started with Iron Man in 2008. However the McGuffin 'powerful artifact' plot line really begins with Captain America 1. In that film, the Nazi's gain what we know as the Tesseract and they/Hydra develop sci-fi super weapons with it. Then in The Avengers, we have Loki coming to earth at the head of an army lent to him by Thanos and bearing a spear/scepter that contained another infinity stone, the Mind stone, though it was not called by that name then. Thor 2 featured yet another stone, the 'Aether', a confusing low point for the series. This is the Reality stone and it was taken to The Collector.
It wasn't until the Guardians of the Galaxy 1 that we got the full back story on the Infinity Stones and got to see Thanos demanding the Power stone from Ronan the Accuser. After Guardians of the Galaxy, the overall plot, featuring the Infinity stones, gets pushed more front and center, though not to the extent you might think. Only Dr. Strange and Avengers 2 really feature the stones as plot points and neither are the main plot device of either film. Marvel really had hit its stride by then, in writing and tying the movies together gracefully.
We can also be grateful for good casting, mostly, and multi-picture contracts. Infinity War works so well because these characters were introduced and developed over many previous movies. They don't just feel like a costume and a power set. They feel like real people. Part of that credit goes to the writing and performances and direction, but also the structure of the Marvel Cinematic Universe where they have been no ret-cons (long may that last, knock wood) or recastings, re-imaginings or what have you that have plagued the X-men, the Fantastic Four, Spider Man and Batman/Superman.
We don't need to learn Captain America's backstory in Infinity War. When he shows up and snatches the spear thrown at him, the audience literally cheered. Because we knew him and we knew what he was going to do: save the day, be a hero. Likewise, Bruce Banner's character in this movie is tolerable because we've seen him in the Avengers 1 and 2 and in Thor 3. This early character development is pretty essential to Infinity War working at a high level. I still think it works even if you don't know everyone and everything, they do a good job dropping in mild exposition here and there.
So talking about characters, lets go even deeper. I'm going to list all the heroes in Infinity War, what they did and their ultimate fate. Some did more and were more important to the plot here than others. Some may be even more important in part 2, after the vast die-off at the end of Infinity war. Keep one more thing in mind: each of these characters are unique in look AND 'voice'. As a writer, I can tell you making characters 'sound' unique is not easy and is worthy of praise.
Thor - Is defeated by Thanos, off-camera, is tortured to get Loki to reveal the Space stone's location. Survives the destruction of his ship and is rescued by the Guardians. Goes to have a new weapon forged, powerful enough to defeat Thanos. Restarts the forgeworld sun and holds a mechanism open long enough to melt the metal in the forge. Transports to the final battle in Wakanda, turning the tide of battle. Destroys several drop ships of the invaders and inflicts a terrible wound on Thanos. Charms the pants off everyone but Star Lord.
Loki - Surrenders the Space stone after first defying Thanos to kill Thor. Attempts to ambush Thanos while swearing fealty. Is strangled to death, possibly for good, by Thanos.
Heimdall - Transports Hulk to Earth to give warning and is killed as a result.
Hulk - Gets his ass handed to him decisively by Thanos and then refuses to come out again, apparently out of fear. As Bruce Banner, he brings the message of Thanos' coming and threat. Calls Captain America after Tony Stark is unable to. He fights in the final Wakanda battle wearing a borrowed Hulkbuster suit of armor.
Iron Man - Fights two of the Black Order to attempt to protect Dr. Strange and the Time stone. Boards the alien spaceship and rescues Dr. Strange. Fights the Guardians of the Galaxy on Titan before teaming up with them. Fights Thanos on Titan and is badly wounded. His life is traded for the Time stone by Dr. Strange.
Pepper Potts - Is apparently getting married to Tony Stark. Because Nemesis is a real force and Stark has had too much success and happiness in his life. Nags at him and attempt to browbeat him into NOT saving the world. Is a scrunt. Survival uncertain but probably since we live in a fallen, unjust universe.
Dr. Strange - Receives the warning about Thanos and collects Tony Stark. Fights against the Black Order. Is captured before he can use the Time Stone. Stand up to Tony Stark, snark for snark. Suggest they not fly to Titan and avoid Thanos instead. Is overruled for plot and Tony Stark ego reasons. Fights against the Guardians before combining with them against Thanos on Titan. Looks into the future with the Time stone to try to find a scenario where the heroes can win. Seemingly finds a single possibility. However, gives the Time stone to Thanos in return for Tony Stark's life. Dies at the end saying 'this was the only way', seemingly not having explained to Tony Stark what he needs to do.
Wong - Wants a tuna melt. Fights against the Black order to protect Dr. Strange. Managed to strand the most physically powerful Black Order member via teleportation. Returns to guard Dr. Strange's home and items. Probably survives or not seen to die at the end.
Spider Man - Spider Sense warns him of the alien ship arrival bearing the Black Order. Fights the Black Order. Loses Dr. Strange to the Black Order. Gets new 'superior' Spider man suit. Stows away on starship against instructions. Helps blow Ebon Maw out into space. Fights against the Guardians on Titan. Becomes an Avenger for real. Fights against Thanos on Titan. Dies and is turned to ash while begging for his life.
Star Lord - Rescues Thor, much to his annoyance. Has gained a little weight. Promises Gamora, very reluctantly, that he will kill her if Thanos tries to take her away. Leads the Guardians to Knowhere in an attempt to steal the Reality Stone before Thanos can. Fights Thanos or tries to on Knowhere. Tries to keep his word to Gamora and shoot her. Is liked by Thanos. Travels to Titan after being told by Nebula that Thanos is going there. Fights Dr. Strange, Iron Man and Spider Man before uniting. Comes up with the plan to ambush, hold and remove the gauntlet from Thanos. But breaks his 'stun' by attacking him when he learns of Gamora's death. Fights Thanos on Titan but loses. Dies at the end when Thanos uses the Infinity Gauntlet. Is pretty damn bad ass for a goofball.
Gamora - Has comfortably settled into her relationship with Peter Quill, apparently. Knows what Thanos' ultimate, genocidal goal is. Knows where the Soul stone is. Assassinates her father, Thanos, in Knowhere but is defeated by the Reality stone. Is captured by Thanos and pressured into revealing the Soul stone's location by Thanos' torture of Nebula. Has a flashback to Thanos discovering and adopting her. Is loved by and sacrificed by Thanos to gain the soul stone. Appears, as a child, in the 'soul zone' to speak to Thanos after he kills half the universe.
Drax - Has most of the good lines/jokes. Knows a man when he sees one. Also knows a pirate angel when he sees one. Can hold so still and move so slowly, he can become invisible. Or not. Attacks Thanos in Knowhere, unsuccessfully. Fights Dr. Strange, Iron Man and Spider Man on Titan before uniting against Thanos. Manages some good hits in against Thanos. Does not get his vengeance. Dies at the end.
Mantis - Is very cute and cuddly. Has 'mean face' down. Awakens Thor after his rescue. Knows Drax when she sees him. Tries to confront Thanos on Knowhere but is defeated by the Reality stone. Scares Spider Man. Fights Thanos and her ability to put Celestials to sleep is used to good affect during the ambush. But is defeated by Thanos and dies at the end of the movie, turning to dust.
Groot - Is a brat. Plays handheld version of Defender and is surly the whole movie. Uses part of his body to form the handle for Thor's new Thanos-killing axe. Fights in the final battle at Wakanda. Dies at the end when Thanos uses the Infinity stones.
Rocket - Gets promotion to 'Captain' and actually acts like it, surprisingly. Shows empathy. Takes Thor to forge world to get new Thanos-killing axe for Thor. Give Thor a cybernetic eye, brown in color. Helps re-start star forge. Fights in the final battle and helps turn the tide against the invading aliens in Wakanda. Knows a good gun, and good arm, when he sees it. Survives the great culling at the end, the only Guardian of the Galaxy to do so.
Nebula - Attempts to kill Thanos after the events of Guardians 2 and 'very nearly succeeded'. Is captured and tortured. Thanos learns Gamora knows about the Soul stone from her. Breaks free after being healed by minions of Thanos and tells the Guardians Thanos is going to Titan. Fights Thanos on Titan but is defeated. Survives the great culling at the end.
The Collector - Gives up the Reality stone to Thanos. Likely dead, only seen 'alive' during the Reality stone trap.
Captain America - Shows up to rescue Vision and Scarlet Witch. Leads them to the Avengers HQ where he confronts Sec. of State Ross and gains the allegiance and help of War Machine. Leads the Avengers to Wakanda and gains the aid of Black Panther to attempt to remove the Mind stone without killing Vision. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Attempts to stop Thanos but is defeated. Survives the final culling at the end of the movie.
Bucky Barnes - Is called back into service by Black Panther. Gets new arm. Is reunited with Captain America. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Dies at end in the great culling at the end of the film.
Black Panther - Allows the Avengers into the country. Offers aid in removing the Mind stone from Rallies his people to fight the invading army of Thanos. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Gives the order to open the shield to the invaders to avoid becoming flanked. Dies at the end in the great culling.
Main Bald Black chick warrior (yeah, go ahead and hate me; her name and look don't stand out) - Fights in the last battle in Wakanda. Survives the great culling.
Shuri - Is so smart. Somehow. Despite apparently limited contact with the outside world and zero experience with Infinity stones and creating new life forms. But is so smart. Attempts to remove the Mind stone from Vision and would have likely have succeed if not interrupted by the Black Order and then Thanos. Survival uncertain, not shown to die in the great culling.
Baku? Gorilla-themed guy - Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Is using a wooden club, which somehow works despite not having any powers or vibranium. Survives the great culling.
Falcon - Helps rescue Scarlet Witch and Vision. Travels to Avenger HQ to reunite with War Machine. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Dies at the end in the great culling.
Scarlet Witch - Is in a romance with Vision. Fights the Black Order. Is very, very powerful. But has little defense. Refuses to destroy Mind stone before Thanos' arrival because of love for Vision. Agrees to destroy it if removed. Fights decisively in the final battle in Wakanda. Destroys the Mind stone while holding back or slowing down Thanos. Is very, very powerful. Dies at the end in the great culling.
Vision - Is in a romance with Scarlet Witch. Has developed a very British stammer dealing with emotions like love. Apparently tolerates being in Scotland. Gets badly wounded in his first fight and basically does next to nothing apart from being rescued a lot. Gets rescued a lot. Attempts to sacrifice his life for the sake of untold numbers of people. Gets turned down about the idea until the very end. Fights to protect Shuri when the Black Order comes for him. Dies twice.
Black Widow - Rescues Scarlett Witch, twice. Fights the girl black order member. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Survives, somehow, despite not having super powers. Has blonde hair. Has great voice. Survives the great culling.
War Machine - Joins Captain America at risk of court martial. Trolls Bruce Banner in Wakanda. Fights in the final battle in Wakanda. Fights against Thanos and loses. Survives the great culling.
Nick Fury - Calls Captain Marvel for help when he sees the great culling happening. However dies before he can issue some trademark profanity.
...that's 29 distinct characters who have some plot-related actions or responsibility! I'm a little dizzy just from writing that up, let alone doing it in screenplay form and making ti work. Damn.
What Marvel movies has done here is unlike anything anyone else has ever tried. And they pull it off with style and grace. 18 movies building up, in small ways and in big, to this moment. When half the universe is killed off.
Warner Brothers/DC tried to follow in Marvel's footsteps but failed. Why it failed is likely a source for a good, long article in and of itself. But most of the reason is due to: vision, casting, pacing. DC wanted to get to where Marvel is in a hurry. It wanted to do so by making dark, gritty stories that don't fit the DC characters. Instead of spending time creating, developing and using their characters, they tried to jump ahead in line. Casting and direction have also hampered them, as have cost cutting measures in their special effects.
Like Marvel movies or hate them, you have to respect the effort and the balancing act at work here. Kevin Feige had a vision AND Marvel/Disney gave him the freedom to pursue it, even to the point of removing personnel who were tainting his vision.
Along the way to Infinity War, they mastered the art of character development (of heroes and villains), of action that serves to develop the plot and reveal character, the art of casting. It survived turbulent relationship failures with talented directors who would not accept the production direction Feige was laying down and found even more talented directors who could be trusted to match the Marvel vision while expressing their own voice.
The Russo Brothers, Kevin Feige, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely....all the techs, cast and crew....you did it. You made a miracle.
So what does Infinity War mean? It means an ending. It means, I hope, that hard work and boldness is rewarded. It means having a well-developed villain is no less important than a likeable hero. It means the old stories still work, the old ideas of entertainment first, still work.
It means...I'm going to watch Infinity War a few more times. And I'm going to enjoy myself each time I go.
Thanks, sincerely.
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