An Impactful & Enthralling Event Of A Film

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2018)

Spanning 10 years and across over 18 films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's penultimate climax certainly has a lot to live up to, so the question on everyone's mind is naturally: does it live up to the hype? In short... yes (at least for me personally)! All those who felt the creeping sensation of 'superhero fatigue' may rest at ease - all the tropes, cliches and stereotypes previously associated with Marvel films are essentially thrown out the window in favour of a fascinatingly character-focused action/sci-fi flick (although the film's ending leans closer to horror). Where films like Justice League, X-Men, Civil War and even this film's predecessor, Age of Ultron, struggled to allow their large, colourful roster of characters the necessary breathing air and screen-time, Infinity War soars above and beyond in delivering a much-needed 'Empire Strikes Back' approach in splitting the crew apart into seperate factions and subplots. Even despite this, the first half of this admirably lengthy film does, at times, feel choppy. While their inclusion is otherwise seamless, jumping from the Guardians' upbeat, quirky tone to the downbeat, Earth-bound Avengers is admittedly a little jarring at times. The effects are fittingly grandiose and epic, as is the action, which helps to justify the 'War' in the title. Overall, it's a film that functions better as an event and payoff for years of ticket purchases and fan commitment than it does as a singular story, and I for one firmly believe it's all the better for it.