Sunday, April 29, 2018

Avengers: Infinity War

        It's hard to avoid the marketing machine surrounding this film but I have to say, it lives up to the hype...and then some. This is the blockbuster Marvel fans have been waiting for. Almost every Marvel film for the past decade has led up to this point and directors Anthony & Joe Russo make sure no one leaves the theater disappointed.

             All your favorite heroes are back, from Iron Man to Spiderman and Doctor Strange to Captain America and Black Panther to take on the cosmic threat of Thanos, the Mad Titan. Thanos is searching for the six Infinity Stones that will give him ultimate power and it's up to almost every superhero in the Marvel universe to try to stop him. That's the basic plot. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely keep it simple and yet when you have to cram so many characters into the story, they remarkably keep it balanced as well. The screenplay splits the characters into mixed teams, protecting the stones and coming at Thanos and from different directions.  The story contains plenty of humor but also moments of shock and devastating surprise.

           The Russo Brothers make sure there is plenty of action and everyone gets their fair share of screen time. Credit the writers and directors for structuring the story in such a well balanced way that every scene counts and never feels gratuitously overstuffed. Every shift in the story works and it's never boring. Even the quiet moments are important and emotional.

          While it gets a little sloppy in some of the big battle sequences, the CGI is generally excellent. There is great attention to detail in creating Thanos. Josh Brolin's features and voice are married to CGI and motion capture work to create a living breathing villain. The same can be said of Rocket Raccoon, voiced again by Bradley Cooper and Groot, voice by Vin Diesel.

          As with all Marvel films, it's become standard to stay for the post credits scene or two. In this case, there is only one but it is very important to the story and true fans will recognize the clue of things to come.

         Marvel continues to raise the bar for comic to film adaptations. Keep them coming....

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