‘Avengers: Infinity War’ blends best of Marvel pictures
“Black Panther” threw down a powerful box office gauntlet this year as it became the top grossing superhero movie of all time with more than $681 million in ticket sales (and still rising as it remains in theaters).
Any film that would dare open in the wake of such monumental success would have to be larger in superhero content, grander in its battle sequences and be filled with so many twists and turns anyone who missed seeing it on opening day may not be able to avoid all the talk about what happens just to have a chance of challenging the record.
That’s what “Avengers: Infinity War” does.
It literally uses a massive universe-destroying gauntlet — the weapon of choice for the super evil Thanos (Josh Brolin) — as the driving element in this well-crafted and soundly entrenched in comic lore story that has been teased through other offerings in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise.
“Avengers: Infinity War” isn’t just another offering in the comic book film universe. It’s the combination of the best of what the Marvel Comics-inspired films have been giving viewers since “Iron Man” blasted its way into theaters a decade ago.
Talking about what makes “Avengers: Infinity War” so good is difficult because it would not be fair to have any spoilers diminish the pure pleasure of seeing this Marvel-ous production unfold. Speaking in general terms, the overall arc is Thanos is on a quest that, if successful, would give him the power to complete a galactic plan that only a madman would think makes sense. Standing in his way is a herd of heroes including all of the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, most of the Avengers, a large group of Black Panther’s team, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland).
It would have been very easy for the film to become top heavy with all the muscle-bound and costumed characters running around. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo — working from a script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely — manage to blend all the different