By MARK
O’CALLAGHAN
Staff Writer
Ten years ago, “Iron Man” premiered and feature a post-credits scene with Nick Fury teasing the Avengers. That was the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and what a crazy ride since. It’s like each movie tries to push what they could do. We’ve had Avengers movies, Guardians of the Galaxy and even got a Spider-Man movie from Sony. Now the MCU is doing their most ambitious movie with “Avengers: Infinity War.”
Directed by Anthony and Joseph Russo, “Avengers: Infinity War” is about Thanos (Josh Brolin) seeking out the Infinity stones so he can wipe out half of the universe. The heroes of the MCU must unite in order to save the universe.
Honestly, the best part of the movie is Thanos himself. It’s surprising how well developed he is but also terrifying. We’ve known he’s coming as his previous appearances (more like cameos) in “The Avengers” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.” However, we get to know his motivations on why he wants to wipe out of the universe. Not to say I’ll agree with him but it’s a far better reason than he’s evil. Thanos is so determined by his goal that it makes him scarier as he’ll do anything to succeed. Josh Brolin delivers a lot of the credit as he conveys a haunted but determined villain. Also, the motion capture on him felt so real and you can really see Brolin’s performance.
Of course, seeing all of the MCU heroes interact with each other is a fanboy’s dream. The initial joy of getting different character combinations that we only dreamed about is only the start. Not only from the interactions but how they fight as well. It reminds me of playing a Marvel video game where you have to use different characters for combos. It’s definitely challenging to get all of these characters screen time and balance out story points but the Russo brothers pulled it off. While I would like some characters to receive a little screen time than what we got, I can’t complain that much.
With all of the different characters, it’s really good to see different themes getting mixed but not get too distracting. At times, the movie can be funny, dramatic, wacky, serious, somber, and even feels like a horror movie sometimes. Again, it’s the threat of Thanos that should make everyone terrified.
Credit has to go to Alan Silvestri for his work on the score. Previously, he only scored “The Avengers” but his score has been one of the most memorable as the Avengers motif is constantly used throughout the MCU. He takes all of the character themes and plays them at the right moment. Then adding new music to his collection makes me want to get the album.
“Avengers: Infinity War” feels like a grand season finale of a show like “Game of Thrones.” It rewards fans that have been there from the start. This film has the best parts of what makes the MCU the success it is today. Wonderful characters, humor, action, and drama are blended together to deliver this comic book masterpiece.
