The task of balancing so many characters, in addition to developing Thanos beyond his brief appearances in previous films, is nearly impossible. But even with all the might of the Avengers, it's unclear if it will be enough to defeat Thanos. In a stand against Thanos and his Black Order, Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) battle the Titan's hoards of Outriders. Meanwhile, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) comes across the Guardians of the Galaxy - Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) - and they work together on their own plans to stop Thanos.īack on earth, those left of the Avengers rally around Vision (Paul Bettany) in order to protect the Mind Stone, with everyone converging on Wakanda to receive the help of T'Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Shuri (Letitia Wright), the Dora Milaje lead by Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Jabari army led by M'Baku (Winston Duke). For Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), that means protecting the Time Stone, even as he butts heads with Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), though they have help from Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland). As Thanos (Josh Brolin), the Mad Titan with ambitions of killing half the universe in order to bring balance, searches for the Infinity Stones that will complete his Infinity Gauntlet, all the heroes work to prevent him from achieving his goal. In Avengers: Infinity War, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely set about the difficult task of including all the major superheroes of the franchise by splitting them into teams. Avengers: Infinity War delivers an exciting culmination of the MCU, though it's overstuffed and suffers from certain typical Marvel movie problems. The question of Avengers: Infinity War was whether Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and directors Anthony and Joe Russo could meet or exceed those expectations. There is an unprecedented amount of hype surrounding the latest installment in Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe, but an unprecedented level of expectations as well. (A surprise guest appearance later in the film, which we won't spoil here, is equally as harebrained and fantastic.Avengers: Infinity War delivers an exciting culmination of the MCU, though it's overstuffed and suffers from certain typical Marvel movie problems.Īvengers: Infinity Warsets out to accomplish a feat never previously attempted in Hollywood: bring together all the heroes of a sprawling superhero universe in a cohesive narrative while delivering an event that justifies 10 years and 18 movies worth of build up. "He came to steal a necklace from a wizard," Stark explains to Parker as he whizzes past. Yeah, Iron Man and Spider-Man trying to keep a "Squidward"-looking, Thanos-spawned alien from stealing Dr. And taking cues from Thor: Ragnarok, Iron Man 3, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Black Panther, Infinity War is far more self-aware than its predecessors, embracing its goofiest aspects with infectious zest. The diversity that made Black Panther such a monumental success isn't tamped down, or tokenized (everyone knows that Wakanda is where it's at). It's also a film that has the benefit of past experience, and uses that to its advantage.
Maybe that's because it leans heavily on a select few fan-favorite universes - whichmakes it feel like the core Avengers are being dropped into Black Panther, Thor, and Guardians of the Galaxy, rather than the other way around. For a movie that is merging a handful of well-established worlds, Infinity War achieves astounding tonal consistency.
Director-siblings Anthony and Joe Russo do a deft balancing act, not just with their myriad of characters but also with tone.