We are all, in our own way, chasing dragons. Large or small, permanent or fleeting, it is with these memories of the past that we look at the present, and the future. The elderly want to be young again, the young want to be free. Tony Stark wants redemption, and I want my blockbusters to remind me of the first time I watched the Avengers unite on screen. The first time that Iron Man brought the party to us, and Hulk told Cap that he’s always angry; the first time that we heard that classic Avengers theme and saw our heroes in the same frame together, ready to save the world.
These are the moments that movies are made of. These are the dragons we chase. In Avengers: Infinity War, our optimism pays off. Almost.
Infinity War occasionally rises above all the information it must convey and offers memorable individual scenes: Rocket acting as reluctant shrink to Thor; the extra second the camera lingers on Tom Holland’s face when Tony Stark mock-knights Spidey and tells him he’s an Avenger; the pained interactions between Thanos and his daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldana). But there’s too much business to take care of, and little time to pause and let the viewer take it all in. The narrative is affecting (assuming you’re already invested in the series) but the treatment is unimaginative: good for instant tears or cheers, but not, I think, the stuff you’d remember 20 years later.
The denouement left the audience, which had been whooping in all the appropriate places, quiet on their way out. Maybe some of them were wondering if what they’d seen was going to be reversed, at least in part, in the sequel. As a piece of filmmaking, Infinity War is efficient, professional—the sort of qualities prized by studio heads and fans who resent authorial personality superseding source material. Its boldness lies in the decisions taken at the “universe” level. The cutting of multiple threads shows how much confidence Marvel has in its ability to forge a new set of relationships. Thanos, immortal, achieved through thanatos, death.
Meanwhile, in Wakanda, Steve Rogers brings together Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Bucky and T’Challa - who, by the way, gets a hero entry to beat even Captain America’s. Their job is to help defend Vision, within whom resides the Mind Stone, the most coveted piece to the puzzle Thanos is so close to solving.
Somehow, despite coming very close (on almost as many occasions as there are Infinity Stones) to messing it up - there is a certain relentlessness to the storytelling - the Russos are largely successful in their attempt to make another episode of a larger story. Because that’s exactly what the Marvel Cinematic Universe is - the most expensive piece of episodic entertainment ever made, run by the trailblazing Kevin Feige. No wonder he hires TV guys for these movies.
This is also the most visually ambitious the Russos have ever been. They ditch the dull, grey uniformity of their previous two Marvel movies for a more vibrant, more freewheeling palette. But despite how tremendous Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War were, the Russos’ handling of small-scale action (by which I mean hand-to-hand combat) was oddly jittery, too heavily edited, without any room left for us to appreciate its nuances. Unfortunately, it appears that the problem would have to be solved another day, because they certainly didn’t address it here.
There can be no doubt, however, as to their ability to shoot large-scale set pieces. God knows there’s enough evidence here - this movie is, at a polite estimate, 60% action. But while the Russos showed restraint in Civil War by limiting IMAX to the airport fight, Infinity War - and many of you might not know this - is the first film ever to have been entirely shot in that format. Watching it in IMAX 3D was an overwhelming experience.
You will notice every pore on Thanos’ incredibly rendered skin and every minor tick Brolin sneaks in, every wrinkle on Robert Downey Jr’s ageing face, and every fibre on Doctor Strange’s cloak.
Overall IGNITO Rating:- 8.8/10
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