Danielle Solzman
The stakes have never been higher with the release of Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War.
Ten years in the making, it all culminates in this epic crossover of a film. All of our favorite heroes in one film save for Hawkeye and Ant-Man–neither of which were one the poster. With this large of a cast, it a was a question going into the film of how would they be able to handle the appearances of so many characters and the battle for screen time. The solution, it appears, was to have a major battle in Wakanda and another one on Thanos’ home planet of Titan.
Avengers: Infinity War kicks off right where Thor: Ragnarok ends with the Asgardian refugee vessel sending out a distress call upon being attacked by Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his minions. Heimdall (Idris Elba) doing what he can to get the message out there sends Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to Earth but not before an epic face-off between Hulk and Thanos. One can tell upon first glance that the battle for survival is on. Who lives and who dies? It isn’t for me to say.
Thanos’ main goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones. Going into the film, we knew the locations of many of these stones. Some, like the Soul Stone, had their whereabouts unknown. While these questions do get answered, there’s no fun in ruining how they come into play so I’ll just leave it at that. The film, for the most part, is all about stopping Thanos from getting the stones.
Wakanda saves the day when Steve Rogers and crew need a place to call home with Thanos coming to earth. Wakanda soon becomes Thanos’ personal playground because of the stone in Vision’s head. Vision has evolved so much in the past six years that he can now take on the form of a human.
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s screenplay has a nice mix of the classic Marvel humor. Some of this is depicted in the trailer and TV spots but it’s so much fun watching it all play out on screen that when the final scene plays, there’s a disappointment in the film being over.
The only downside of Avengers: Infinity War is that Marvel’s first family, The Fantastic Four, are nowhere to be seen and neither are the X-Men. Of course, it’s due to licensing at the moment. It’s a shame though–imagine Reed Richards working with Bruce Banner!
As far as the end credits are concerned, there is no mid-credits scene. There’s a scene at the end of the credits that immediately sets up the sequel.
The showdown to end all showdowns, Avengers: Infinity War leaves one wanting more. There’s a lot of questions to be asked but the immediate question is where in the MCU time line does Ant-Man and the Wasp take place?
DIRECTOR: Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
SCREENWRITERS: Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
CAST: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Tom Hiddleston, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Idris Elba, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, featuring Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, with Gwyneth Paltrow, with Benicio Del Toro, with Josh Brolin, and Chris Pratt
