The biggest crossover in film

Rating: 8/10 (29 June 2018)

The Russo Brothers have showed that they can go beyond the comic book movie genre and they've done it again. Despite the great moments it has, Avengers: Infinity War isn't a perfect film, as much as I would like it to be.
The action was cool; it was a big showcase of all the different fighting styles throughout the battles. The fact that there are just so many characters in this film hinders the possibility of each character really showing off their skills. For example, Captain America was shown to have new shields in the trailers so I was looking forward to seeing him use them to fight off the alien army but it barely happens. There is always time spent to show off Tony Stark's new tech though, and seeing him fight with them was fun as they are always so inventive with Iron Man's abilities.
The MCU has always had trouble with creating and defining a villain along with their motives. So many of them are forgettable and seem dull and uninspired even though they come from their own source material. Thanos is the exception though, if there is one baddie in the MCU that anyone will remember, it's clearly going to be this guy. He had a lot more screen time than I was expecting. Much of the good that comes out of the Thanos character is also brought in by Josh Brolin, giving many great performances and having a great voice for a big villain. James Spader's motion capture in Avengers: Age of Ultron wasn't bad in my eyes but the way they did it for Brolin's Thanos in this film was much better. It seemed more natural; the facial expressions never looked weird and were actually pretty clear. I almost forgot Thanos wasn't alone though, as he also had The Black Order on his side. Unfortunately these allies were somewhat forgettable; the roles they play are very sparse and I don't actually remember their names ever being said at any point in the movie. I myself only knew who they were because I had done research on them a while ago so I can only imagine how the more casual enjoyers of the MCU films felt when they saw these secondary villains pop up seemingly out of nowhere.
Like many other people, I've seen the previous MCU films so I already know the main characters. In this case I was just anticipating some fun interactions with different characters and seeing them team up. One of my favorites came from the dynamic between Tony Stark and Stephen Strange. They're similar in various ways and seeing them finally be in each other's presences was interesting to watch. It also helps that RDJ and Benedict Cucumber are great actors themselves and help make the interactions as fun and/or serious as they are. I was saddened to see how little Steve Rogers and T'challa were used in this film, since they should be a part of the Avengers's frontline. I feel like the filmmakers didn't know just how successful 'Black Panther' was going to be or else we probably would have seen him more throughout Avengers: Infinity War. Sure, Wakanda is an important setting for the film's overall story but the major characters from there just aren't used as much. Tom Holland's Spider-Man is always a joy to watch, as well as Dave Bautista's Drax with his dry humor. As we've seen from Thor: Raganarok, Chris Hemsworth is more than capable in pulling off the humorous side in Thor but I was much more pleased seeing him in battle. I'm also a big fan of Elizabeth Olsen so I was happy to see she'd pretty much lost the Sokovian accent and also just looked great in and out of costume. I also want to mention that I did not like the way the filmmakers handled Gamora in this movie.
The music in Avengers: Infinity War is interesting, and not in a good way. There's a YouTube video entitled "The Marvel Symphonic Universe" that details the use of orchestral scores in MCU films. The point of the video was to say that a lot of the music put in to these movies can sound so generic and very forgettable. It's not so different in this case, I probably won't be dying to listen to the film's soundtrack anytime soon. Some people have mentioned that this along with the fact that a portion of Avengers: Infinity War takes place in space makes it feel like Star Wars, in terms of being a type of space opera. This aspect can take away a bit from the overall atmosphere for those people, especially if they're are very familiar with John Williams's scores.
I'm definitely a bit partial to the MCU films, as they provided me with a lot of fun moments in the past years. However, as fun as they are, their prolific nature in the film industry can be concerning. Disney and Marvel are constantly growing in size and stature with these movies and it has no doubt had an effect on Hollywood in its attempts to create more cinematic universes and big blockbusters. The culture of making entirely original and meaningful films that don't pander to the audience's expectations is not as prevalent anymore and that is due to companies such as Disney and Marvel.
It's hard to keep expectations reasonable for a movie like this; there is a lot on the line and so much has been done to achieve this state in the MCU. For the most part, Avengers: Infinity War delivers on many things especially in producing some cheers and gasps from the audience. I've never once cried during a movie but I felt a little something happening in my tear glands during the final 10 minutes. Was the six years worth the wait? Considering everything that happened and the fact that the dust hasn't even settled yet, I'd say it was.