IsAvengers: Infinity Warthe greatest film ever made? Maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement. ButInfinity Waris certainly one of the greatestsuperherofilms ever made, right? An astounding cinematic accomplishment on par with or surpassingChristopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knighteven.
Is this hyperbole? Maybe. But there’s a wide swath of fans who genuinely feel this way about Marvel Studios’ star-filled epic, which—along with the untitledAvengers 4—serves as the culmination event of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. In fact, the majority opinion is thatInfinity Waris great from beginning to end, and given the immense weight of the MCU on its back, dissent is not necessarily welcome. Begone ye nitpickers, wet blankets, and haters! Except, isn’t the point of art that not everyone sees or feels the same thing? Isn’t art subjective? In which case, well, I’d like to get something off my chest: My name is Adam Chitwood and I don’t really likeAvengers: Infinity War.
Merely typing that statement has no doubt put off a not-insubstantial number of readers who’ve already clicked away to something else. But hear me out—I promise to be as sincere as possible, and by the end of this I’ll have explained why, really, me dislikingInfinity Waris part of what makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe is so great.
The MCU began as an idea, but even after the tremendous success of 2008’sIron Man(a film I like, for the record), Phase 1 of the MCU still saw Marvel Studios feeling its way around. Producer and presidentKevin Feigehad ambitious notions in his head, but the actuality of the Marvel Cinematic Universe wouldn’t really come to fruition untilThe Avengers, in which writer/directorJoss Whedonassembled heroes and characters from the previous standalone films into one crossover event.
The Avengersisn’t a masterpiece, but it is a genuine miracle. While this kind of creative idea was commonplace in comics, it was a brand new notion for moviegoers, and there are a lot of ways this could have gone very, very wrong. It didn’t, though, andThe Avengersmade $1.5 billion while Marvel Studios forged ahead with a bevy of exciting new films ranging from the grounded and grittyCaptain America: The Winter Soldierto the hilarious space operaGuardians of the Galaxy.
Infinity Waris the 19th film in the MCU, and it carried with it an impossible burden. It was on directorsJoeandAnthony Russoto bring together all the major Marvel heroes to tackle the greatest villain yet, Thanos (Josh Brolin). The Russos and screenwritersChristopher MarkusandStephen McFeelymade the bold decision to essentially position Thanos as the protagonist ofInfinity War—he has the most dynamic arc of the film, largely because this movie had to both introduce audiences to Thanos and weaponize Thanos as the biggest bad to ever bad in the history of the universe, all while juggling 24-plus other characters.
And this is kind of one of my larger issues with the movie—it doesn’t feel like a movie. Shot back-to-back withAvengers 4, we knowInfinity Waris only half the story. But it doesn’t even really feel likehalfa movie. It feels like a series of scenes in which characters discuss exposition, move from place to place, and then CG versions of those characters punch each other. There are a few moments of solemnity here and there, as when Thor (Chris Hemsworth) laments the loss of his people when he meets up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but because this movie has to move so quickly (by its own nature), those moments rarely land. They just kind of…happen. Then you move on.
And then there’s Thanos, the film’s protagonist. He gets the most in-depth storyline of any of the characters, and there are multiple attempts to flesh him out with an emotional backstory and a tear-filled twist. But Thanos is no Caesar from theApesfranchise. The performance-capture technology is great, but there’s still a gulf of disconnect there, and I cannot bring myself to get invested in what’s going on in this guy’s head. The grand motivation for the MCU’s greatest threat is that he’s… very passionate about overpopulation? I mean, fine, most Marvel villains are lacking, but the ones that stick are rooted in pathos—Loki, Killmonger, even Bucky. There’s an attempt to root Thanos in pathos with regards to his relationship with Gamora (Zoe Saldana), but it doesn’t track. Thanos cansayhe loves Gamora, and can cry when faced with throwing her off a cliff, but it’s tough to buy it when you’ve seen him do such horrible things over the course of 19 films.
Infinity Warkind of just tumbles towards its shocking conclusion in fits and starts, with some genuinely compelling, funny, and/or thrilling moments sprouting up here and there (I’m lookin’ at you, Cap’s reveal and Thor/Groot/Rocket’s arrival). But the rest of the film…eh. The action sequences are largely boring and uninspired, filled mostly with animated characters fumbling about. And while the stakes are indeed the highest in the MCU’s history, the little side fights with Thanos’ Black Order feel like weightless detours. I mean, of course Black Widow’s going to defeat CG Alien Lady. Obviously Thor’s going to open the Iron Eye of Sauron and make a new weapon—why else would we spend so much time following him there? Predictability doesn’t inherently make a movie bad, but it’s this mix of inevitability with lifeless scenes that make the viewing experience a bit of a drag.
The one major aspect ofInfinity Warthat’s surprising is, of course, the ending. Fans gasped, cried, screamed at the screen as half the population was wiped out and major MCU characters like Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) dissolved into dust. Except this ending rang completely hollow for me.Black Pantheris one of the most successful films of the year (it has still made more money domestically thanInfinity War); aSpider-Man: Homecomingsequel is currently shooting; andGuardians of the Galaxyis one of Marvel’s most prized franchises. These characters aren’t going anywhere. They dissolved in dramatic fashion and the Very Serious Credits started rolling in the vein of an “In Memoriam” sequence. To which I say, “baloney.”
I get that the emotional impact should work regardless of your knowledge of future MCU films or the fact thatInfinity Waris Part 1 of an unfinished story. But still, for me it just didn’t work. Which is sacrilegious to say around these parts. You’re not supposed to dislike that ending, or this movie. You’re supposed to applaud the achievement, to hail Thanos as the greatest villain in MCU history, to weep at Spider-Man’s dusting scene. But I didn’t, so where does that leave me? Soulless? Sad? (Don’t answer that).
Art is subjective, and not everyone is going to see the same piece of art the same way.Citizen Kaneis hailed as the greatest film of all time, but there are undoubtedly folks who simply do not like that movie. Which is fine! If you can back up your argument withwhyyou don’t like something, it’s perfectly valid. I didn’t likeInfinity War, but I lovedBlack Panther. I thinkThor: Ragnarokis one of the best superhero movies ever made.Guardians of the Galaxyis a truly groundbreaking achievement. And I adore the unabashedShane Black-ness ofIron Man 3and the ambitious weirdness ofAvengers: Age of Ultron.
But that’s the thing.Infinity Waris the 19th film of the MCU (with more on the way), which means there are over a dozen other movies to take in and potentially enjoy. Marvel doesn’t have to be everything to everyone. The MCU as a whole is beautifully diverse, and while I stanIron Man 3, I also acknowledge that’s a film that really rocked some fans the wrong way. But it’s fine, because right around the corner came the fan-favoriteThe Winter Soldier. AfterThe Avengers, Marvel Studios got more ambitious with its storytelling choices, charting new genre territory under the umbrella of “superhero movie.”Captain America: Civil WarandGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2are technically both superhero movies, and technically both Marvel movies, but they could not be more different tonally, thematically, and visually. And that’s great!
PerhapsInfinity Waris the “most” Marvel movie ever made, and diehard fans of the franchise and the comicsreallysparked to what the Russo Brothers pulled off here. In that regard, it’s a smashing success (also in the regard of money, where it has earned $2 billion). It satisfied the fans most invested in this grand experiment, even if that doesn’t include me.
I dislikeInfinity War, but that’s okay. Even the most universally acclaimed Marvel movie is allowed to have its dissenters, not just because art is up for subjective interpretation, but also because there’s far more where that came from. If Marvel keeps making ambitious moves—especially like the ones they’ve made in the past year or so—there will be anotherBlack PantherorThor: Ragnarokright around the corner.
