Film Review: Epic Comic Book Story in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’

Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 27, 2018 - 8:51am

CHICAGO – Coming off the multi-textured “Black Panther,” Marvel Studios now turns its assignment towards an Avengers movie, and man, everything is on the table. This overstuffed, somewhat overindulged journey of a tale never loses its flavor, and has surprises around every corner. Anticipate “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Rating: 3.5/5.0

One of the difficulties of doing the Avengers or Justice League or just any gathering of multiple heroes who need to be in a story is that it tends to dilute the coherence of the plot. The strength of this Avengers chapter is that it manages to balance all the costumed warriors – assuming that the audience has knowledge of them – and delivers a ripping comic book-type yarn. Unlike “Black Panther,” who took the symbolic elements of history/social consciousness within its confines, “Avengers: Infinity War” is a flashlight-under-the-covers type comic book page turner, committed to giving the heroes their due and taking the Marvel Universe to a another level.

Thanos (Josh Brolin) is the villain, having destroyed Asgard, the home planet of Thor (Chris Hemsworth). He is seeking the “Infinity Stones,” which possess the emotional and physical realm of the cosmos, and can control everything once put together. Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) holds the Stone of Time, for example, and he becomes a target. He reluctantly calls upon Tony “Iron Man” Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to help protect New York City as it is being attacked.

To protect the Earth, the split factions of the Avengers must come together, including Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Vision (Paul Bettany), who is embedded with the Mind Stone. The Guardians of the Galaxy (Chris Pratt, etc.) is teaming with Thor to prevent the Reality Stone from getting into Thanos’ collection, and Iron Man is paired with the Amazing Spider-Man (Tom Holland). It takes an infinity of superheroes to save this universe.

“Avengers: Infinity War” opens everywhere in IMAX, RPX and regular screenings on April 27th. See local listings for IMAX/RPX theaters and show times. Featuring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Olsen, Zoe Saldana and Josh Brolin. Screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. Rated “PG-13”