MARVEL AT SUPER HERO SPECTACLE
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
WAR demands sacrifices – civility, morality, compassion, responsibility and, ultimately, flesh and blood. There are many heartbreaking sacrifices in this blockbuster battle royale, choreographed at dizzying speed by directors Joe and Anthony Russo to unite characters from across the sprawling and sinewy Marvel Comics franchises. The head-on collision of The Avengers with protagonists from Black Panther, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Thor promises an eye-popping spectacle. Special effects wizards conjure some jaw-dropping set pieces, razing New York, Edinburgh and otherworldly realms in the process. They bring to life a hulking supervillain in Thanos (Josh Brolin), who continues his quest to claim the six Infinity Stones, which will allow him to exterminate half of all living organisms in the universe.
Scriptwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely bolt together the outlandish action sequences with comical interludes peppered with snarky humour, pop culture references and an obligatory Stan Lee cameo to the thunderous beat of composer Alan Silvestri’s score.
Their method is crude but effective, propelling the linear narrative to a point of supposed no return. An additional scene, languishing at the end of the credits, teases the identity of one superhero who may shift the balance of power before the sun sets on the superhero dream team.
Avengers: Infinity War would be an exhausting assault on the eyes and ears without welcome pauses for pithy banter.
Brolin’s arch-nemesis could be truly formidable if he wasn’t fashioned almost entirely in computer hard drives. But the character’s lack of raw emotion diminishes the film’s most memorable sequence.
A spry script affords the biggest personalities sufficient room to scene-steal and relegates other characters to just a couple of lines of dialogue.
Perhaps their time to shine will dawn in the concluding chapter, due for release next April.