How to Properly Subvert Expectations

Rating: 10/10 (15 March 2019)

Rian Johnson, Shane Black, Warner Brothers, take notes! In a day and age where films such as Iron Man 3, Justice League and Star Wars: The Last Jedi subvert audience expectations to infuriating results, Avengers: Infinity War does it in a way that actually works. Returning behind the camera for IW are The Russo Brothers who previously helmed the last two Captain America films for Disney/Marvel from a screenplay written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely who also wrote all three films in the Captain America trilogy and who were writers for the first two Chronicles of Narnia films. The plot follows the Mad Titan Thanos (played by Josh Brolin) in his attempt to find all six Infinity Stones and bring balance to the universe. Though the Avengers have split up months after the Accords situation, they must sacrifice all in an attempt to stop Thanos by teaming up with allies, old and new. At first, it might look like too much to Cram all of these 50+ characters (yes, even the Stan Lee cameo) into one movie, but in all fairness, it's all been building up to this since the first Iron Man movie. And I'm pleased to say that it definitely lives up to expectations and like I said before, subvert those expectations in a way that doesn't alienate audiences. Whereas Iron Man 3's idea of subverting expectations is doing a live-action rehash of The Incredibles while at the same wasting the acting talents of Sir Ben Kingsley, Infinity War's version of it is a Marvel sequel influenced by films like Wrath of Khan, Empire Strikes Back, Aliens and even Apocalypse Now while telling a different story at the same time. Whereas The Last Jedi's idea of subverting expectations is a pointless side quest to Casino Royale, Infinity War's version is a side quest to meet a giant Peter Dinklage (YESSS!!) who actually does something that moves the plot. And whereas Justice League's idea of subverting expectations is 2 hours of Superman's CG Homer Simpson mouth and PS3 quality graphics topped off with a forgettable score from the always talented Danny Elfman, Infinity War's version is two and a half hours of amazing visual effects and impressive CGI work on Thanos and to top it all off,a beautiful orchestral score by Academy Award nominated composer Alan Silvestri who composed the scores to Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers (2012) and whose known for his collaborators with Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future trilogy, Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump & Contact) and Stephen Sommers (Mummy Returns & Van Helsing) and who also worked on films such as Predator 1 & 2, The Abyss & Ready Player One. But obviously the highlight of the film is obviously Josh Brolin as Thanos in what might be his best preformence in all of his career (tied with No Country For Old Men). The moment he is on screen from the cold open to the very end before the credits roll, I was impressed with Brolin's preformence, even considering the fact that Thanos is a character that could only be created through VFX,I felt like I was watching a preformence instead of another generic CGI baddie and I really sympathized with his motivations.And he's definitely the best villain the MCU has introduced thus far. All in all, it might be the most divisive film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the most divisive film of 2018, but it did live up to my own expectations and therefore it instantly became my favorite film of the MCU and my favorite film of 2018 overnight. I was completely silent by the film's final moments when I saw it in theaters on my first viewing and I'm still impressed with the film after multiple viewings. Also, stick around for the credits! 4/4 Stars (A+)