Review – Avengers: Infinity War is the darkest MCU entry yet

The latest phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has offered an exhilarating twist to what was becoming an increasingly dreary set of superhero flicks, from the triumphant afro-futurism of the smash Black Panther to the bonkers comedy stylings of Thor: Ragnarok. As each new film debuted, we learned a little bit more about the provenance and location of the six infinity stones, tiny, colorful gems of immense power with the capability of altering the very universe as we know it. At the same time, we’ve seen the mysterious blue-skinned Thanos (Josh Brolin) begin popping up in the most recent spate of MCU films, the “Mad Titan” who will stop at nothing in his quest to possess all six infinity stones in his immense gauntlet.

Avengers: Infinity War attempts to wrap up nearly 20 films worth of MCU storylines into one mammoth crossover (the story culminates with Avengers 4, due in 2019). Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (the team behind the last two Captain America entries), Infinity War teams up members of The Avengers, The Guardians of the Galaxy, along with affiliated characters like Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and Black Panther in their attempt to stop Thanos from acquiring the infinity stones and wrecking havoc on the galaxy.

About Thanos — villains in these superhero films are often interchangeable, scolded family members or alien beings in search of some MacGuffin that the heroes have to protect. It could be argued that Thanos is cut from the same cloth — he’s a villain in search of not one but six MacGuffins, but Brolin imbues him with the creepy and regal calmness of a true maniac, one totally at peace with his plan, no matter how violent or insane it might be. As far as supervillain plans go, Thanos’ is pretty cut-and-dry — he simply wants to randomly eliminate half of the population of the universe in order to cut down the drain on resources and bring about “harmony.” Without delving into spoilers, the opening minutes of the film show just how brutal Thanos can be, and set the stage for the massive planet-hopping series of battles that make up the bulk of the film’s nearly 3-hour running time.

Those opening minutes also prove that no one is safe in this movie. It’s very difficult to discuss much of what transpires in Infinity War without spoiling anything, but many people die in this movie, and not just CGI characters in the background of the now-compulsory NYC action sequences. The entire film is easily the darkest in the MCU to date, with even the fun-loving Guardians crew having to come to terms with Thanos’ destructive power.

Much of Infinity War feels like the first part of a larger film, with all the requisite “putting the band back together” sequences that bringing all these disparate characters together demands. The Russo brothers do an admirable job of roping in the huge cast of characters and trying to give everyone their moment, but the best segments are the unexpected team-ups as characters break off into their own small war parties to take on Thanos (Thor and Rocket Raccoon definitely need their own spin-off series now).

Like the best Marvel films, Infinity War has a number of laugh out-loud moments, notably from Tom Holland’s exuberant Spider-Man, along with the hilariously awkward ramblings of Drax (Dave Bautista), who manages to steal nearly every scene he’s in. Yet for all the attempts at levity, Infinity War is an inescapably heavy movie, filled with so much death and tragedy that you begin to wonder why you’re subjecting yourself to all of this in the first place.

Following the film’s greatest prolonged action sequence, a Braveheart-style battle that features most of the assembled heroes facing off against endless hordes of Thanos’ followers, the film ends with a WTF-moment that is so dark and insane that it’s hard to believe what we’ve just witnessed. Character deaths in comics (and subsequently in superhero films) don’t mean much, but it’s hard to see just how this can be turned around in the next film, or even if Marvel wants to go that route. Either way, it’s a beautifully shot and staggering ending that drastically shakes up the MCU as we’ve known it.

Infinity War is often too dour and unrelentingly dark for its own good, and at nearly 3-hours is much too long for a film with a cliffhanger ending. That said, seeing all of these characters assemble for one film is a comic fan’s dream come true, the sort of large-scale superhero team-up that was only hinted at in the first Avengers film. This might not be the sort of rousing experience fans were clamouring for after Black Panther, but Infinity War is sure to keep message boards alight with fan theories until everything (hopefully) wraps up when Avengers 4 drops next year.