It was probably Lord of the Rings that started it all, by showing that planning or making more than one film at a time was not only possible, but could also make a shedload of cash. Except we have gone a long way beyond just a trilogy, or eight Harry Potters. The number of films setting up the world and characters of Infinity War would take a while to count. The heroes of Earth and beyond have to come together and face the biggest threat to the Universe yet…
So far, Marvel’s record has been enviable: the films have never been less than fun, and most of them have been far better than one had a right to expect. Imagine if, as a writer, you were told “Here are some already established characters. Have them fight some bad guys, and possibly each other, for two hours or so.” What a poisoned chalice that would be… but Avengers Assemble succeeded in almost all terms.
All the same, I reckoned that if any film was going to mess up, it would be this one. If every major character in it got one minute of screen time, that would be half the running time gone! Perhaps an exaggeration, but still…
I did find the film underwhelming, but not for the reasons I expected. The multitude of characters are mostly well handled and prioritised. No, what they finally messed up on was the fighting. You may think that one cgi-heavy superhero fight looks much like another, but that isn’t so. There are definitely such things as good and bad implausible slug-fests. The same directors have previously been successful; they make sure there is some kind of narrative. Eg Winter Soldier punches at Spiderman. Spiderman catches the fist, there is a beat while we register the skinny kid is stronger than a cyborg assassin, then he exclaims, “Dude, you got a metal arm! That’s awesome!” All of which is good fun, and done slowly enough that I could register it happening.
But Infinity War… a confused mass of shooting lights, blurs and explosions. Someone is tied up on a ship and you think “Hold on, I don’t remember them getting captured, thought they were still wrecking New York!” Maybe they accelerated the fights to shave some minutes off the running time.
In fairness, the film only falls short compared to the high standards set by the previous ones. Objectively, there is much to recommend it, and some parts are daring. The plot revolves around a Big Bad called Thanos (played by Josh Brolin) attempting to gain ultimate power. Infinity War is in many ways his film, following the antihero’s quest. Thanos has sensibly been doctored to have an expressive face. He is at once utterly villainous, but also complicated and in some ways, even sympathetic. His justification for what he does is topical and relevant, but not over-done. He spends a lot of the film doing to the superheroes what they have spent their films doing to sundry villains; you suddenly get a sense that Earth is only a small planet at the mercy of a greater universe holding things much stronger than humanity.
His henchmen suffer a bit, though. Mostly, they are unreal special effect creations only one of whom has any personality. That said, I’d have no idea how to beef them up without making the film far too long.
The ending… not giving too much away to say there is one hell of a cliffhanger. It will take a lot of finesse for them to get out of it (assuming they do).
Am I waiting for the next one? Yes, but not with nearly as much anticipation as I did this one.
Paladin of Idleness 