Marvel reaches heights of infinty, and beyond

Rating: 9/10 (1 May 2018)

The definition of Marvel is "to be affected with wonder and astonishment, as at something surprising or extraordinary". Disregarding puns aside, 'Avengers: Infinity War' is the perfect encapsulation of its brand's namesake, as feelings of sheer 'wonder and astonishment' is what I experienced while watching the film.
Somehow the Russo Brothers have managed to create a huge cinematic event that lives up to all the hype. This is one of the best MCU films yet, and this isn't just because of its size and spectacle. It still uses elements of the Marvel formula, so to speak, which have worked so well before, being bombastic action sequences and humorous character interactions, and unsurprisingly dials them up to 11. But then, these elements are applied and seamlessly blended with a tone which isn't exactly dark, but definitely desperate, which brings about a larger sense of danger and consequence that has never been done in one of these films before.
While there isn't much of a plot outside of trying to stop Thanos from assembling the Infinity Gauntlet, it's the character interactions I mentioned before that Marvel usually does so well that keeps the audience captivated. And somehow, the Russos, along with screenwriters Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely, pull it off so well. This film has a gargantuan cast, and it manages to combine the differing tones from the various franchises without feeling cluttered. The duo of Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch as Iron Man and Doctor Strange makes complete sense, as their wit, sarcasm and goatees create great potential for friction and disagreement. An enthusiastic and awe-ridden Spider-Man also tags along with them, and Tom Holland makes it seem he's constantly amazed to witness the events taking place just like the audience. The campy cosmic styles of Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy mesh together exceptionally and undoubtedly deliver the best uses of comedy. And the majority of the cast from 'Civil War', along with a few other additions engage in an awesome climactic battle in the 'Black Panther' setting of Wakanda. Naturally, not a lot of these characters understandably go through much development, which was a miracle in itself to see in Civil War, but a few do. This being Hulk, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Gamora, and especially Chris Hemsworth as Thor, who has further transformed his once disengaging character until 'Ragnarok', to probably the best Avenger, who has the most legitimate reasons to be engaged in this conflict.
But the best character is the big bad himself, Thanos. Josh Brolin delivers an incredible performance of this character, who has been built up and hyped for so many years now, and he completely subverted my expectations. He is not the loud-spoken, egotistic, emotionless monster that had been previously portrayed in his cameos, who seemed to lack any form of motivation outside of a thirst for universal conquest. Instead, he is now a soft-spoken, sardonic, charismatic but fearsome individual, who has surprisingly altruistic motives for collecting the Infinity Stones and using them for universal genocide, that actually makes reasonable sense. And because of this, he is faced with certain challenges that he has to go through in order to achieve his goals, which demonstrates the raw determination of this character that makes him all the more compelling to watch. Some of my personal favourite scenes were just dialogue between him and one other character, which effectively utilises Brolin's acting skills to show Thanos' more emotional and sensitive side, which I found more interesting, that overall creates what is probably the best comic-book villain since Chris Nolan's 'Dark Knight' Trilogy.
The structural features on display are mainly on-point. Trent Opaloch returns as the cinematographer from the Russos' previous 'Captain America' films, but this time suitably cuts down on the shaky-cam techniques which work well with the grounded tone of those films. Instead, there is a naturally more vibrant and poppy colour palette unlike his previous dull and graded cinematography. And every shot which encompassed this is just simply gigantic, which fits greatly with the enormous stakes of the film. Alan Silvestri makes a welcome return as the composer, and while there aren't any memorable tracks outside of the recurring motifs from the first 'Avengers', the score as a whole is noticeably emotive and synchs up well with the majority of the scenes, which creates more of an aural impact than the forgettable background noise in 'Age of Ultron'. The visual effects are very impressive, especially the motion capture used for Thanos, as it effectively picks a lot of subtle facial expressions Brolin uses to perform, that make him seem all the more realistic. And while I'd say the CGI does not reach the levels of visual splendour shown in 'Guardians Vol. 2', for the most part, they successfully merge with the live action, and work as a major improvement over the PS2 graphics in 'Black Panther'.
Despite my gushing, there are certain issues on display. I felt like the script allowed for characters to make choices and actions which were either extremely convenient or inconvenient so that the story could proceed accordingly without having to grind to a sudden, albeit logical halt. And being the nineteenth instalment in this cinematic universe, there are going to be obvious continuity errors, as I found some events in previous films, especially 'Ragnarok', did not lead into this as well as they could have. And I already mentioned the size of the ensemble cast, unfortunately, means a few characters are dismissed from having actual development, especially the other villains, Thanos' Black Order, who don't contribute much except interesting designs and opponents for the Avengers. But this is only Part 1, so I believe the few heroes who felt left behind outside of fighting will get more time to develop properly in Part 2.
Thus, 'Avengers: Infinity War' epitomises how to culminate a cinematic universe with now a decade of history, which is not showing any signs of franchise fatigue. And yet somehow, it also manages to be a shocking, thrilling, grandiose event, where it becomes the prime example of pure popcorn cinema. This is why these films appeal to the masses, and so they should.