Taking the genre to the next level

Rating: 8/10 (4 May 2018)

"Avengers: Infinity War" is the newest addition to the now already long-running Marvel superhero franchise and in my opinion this movie is a definite contender for best installment of all. These 2.5 hours were directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, who started with Community and then entered the Marvel world with Captain America and for this new Avengers movie, they reunited with writers Markus and McFeely. Let me start by saying that I was a bit critical about previous Marvel films, especially Avengers movies as they frequently united way too many characters without properly elaborating on most of them. And the stories about them failing on their own against the villains, but eventually managing to succeed as a team after overcoming their conflicts and differences was gently-speaking not too new or creative. But this one here is different. Almost all characters have their moment to shine really, well Black Widow could have had a little more than that Hulk moment, but she is the exception. Even those they added new now like the Guardians of the Galaxy and the characters from Black Panther add their fair share of material worth seeing. Peter Dinklage is pretty interesting and memorable as a dwarf (yep!), the stories on romance and male friendship are nice to watch too and even Benedict Cumberbatch is tolerable for once. I think that movies, especially superhero films, often stand and fall with their villain and here we have Thanos played by Josh Brolin as the main antagonist and he is just utterly great and memorable. Maybe you could say that his (self-perceived godly) ambition to erase half the planet is a bit too mathematical, but everything else about him is outstanding and I have virtually no doubt that he will end up as one of the most memorable villains of the movie year 2018. Even in his weaker story lines, like the part with his "daughter" that does not feel entirely convincing early on, he shines and elevates the material to a level where it really saves this entire part of the movie. So yes huge thumbs-up for Thanos. And another thumbs-up for virtually everybody else. Except Starlord unfortunately because honestly his grief may have been huge, but the how he basically destroyed the Avengers' effort that had them close to victory was just ridiculous, so to some extent you can blame him for billions of people dying eventually. Or are they really? I believe there will be a new Avengers movie in 2019 by the same team of writers and directors, so the ending may not be as finite as it seemed to be. You can almost call it a duology. Is all hope really lost? We have to wait a year and see. Honestly I doubt it because there will be a Black Panther 2 for sure at some point, so I guess they will find a way to get things right again for the good guys. It will also be interesting to see if they bring back those who died earlier too, not just those that vanished at the very end.
Anyway, this film we have here is one that will make a huge impact come awards season 2018/2019 in all technical categories, especially Visual Effects where it is maybe a lock for an Oscar nomination with a great chance to take home the win. Another thing I would like to say about this film is that it is also a triumph in terms of the comedy, which is not always a success in Marvel works. But here there are some really hilarious scenes and as many bad things as I said about Chris Pratt's character earlier, his banter with Thor is hilarious. And there is a lot more of course. Drax is also amazing in that one scene where he stands there doing nothing. You will recognize many other pretty funny moments when you see them. So what is it that made this film so amazing. I would say it is the script this time. It is bold, daring and not scared of anything while never becoming too absurd or unrealistic (and yes that is possible for superhero films *cough* Deadpool *cough* glad we did not see him in here). But the outcome here is the exact opposite of too many cooks spoiling the broth, both character- and writer-wise. You absolutely do not want to miss out on this one and good thing is you really don't need to have seen any other Avengers or Marvel movie to appreciate the quality we were given with this one. I am truly very curious about the sequel and cannot wait to check it out. This third Avengers movie is my favorite 2018 release at the point of April. And it has a huge chance to stay in the top5, probably top3 until the end of the year. It never dragged, which is always a success for this running time and it gets better by the minute the longer it goes. And the way things turn out eventually reminded me a bit of the last Wolverine film "Logan". Happy endings are no longer essential. Realism is what it is all about. Highly highly recommended.