Fans Will Drool

by Sandra Olmsted

No doubt this latest installment of Marvel Universe’s multi-franchise is a fan pleaser, and the record-setting, opening-weekend box office has proven that. Unfortunately, I felt cheated by co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s Avengers: Infinity War. After two hours and twenty-nine minutes of the poorly paced battle-after-battle structure, I felt as cheated as I had after the second Matrix movie. Avengers: Infinity War, it turns out, is all a set up for the next installment. In this installment, the Infinity Stones, which have been extremely elusive in previous installments, are suddenly easy for Thanos (Josh Brolin) to locate and collect. (I’ll avoid spoilers as best I can.)

The film opens as Thanos collects the second one after destroying a world and murdering at least half the inhabitants. He also tangles with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and that’s just the beginning of the visual name dropping that this installment includes. Soon, Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who wears one Stone around his neck, joins forces with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who can’t getting his anger up to become The Hulk. Meanwhile, some other big stars play Thanos’ minions, including Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as the Ebony Maw. Another Stone resides in the head of Vision (Paul Bettany), so he and his lover, Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), join the battle. The Soul Stone, which, in Lord of the Rings fashion, will rule the other Stones, is carefully guarded on a distant planet.

The film repeats a pattern until all the Marvel Heroes are included. A big battle in which “everything is at stake” is followed by banter with exposition, another battle, and more banter which is at least funny when the Guardians of the Galaxy — Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, and Zoe Saldana as Gamora — team up with Iron Man and Spider-Man (Tom Holland). Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper provide the voices, respectively, for Groot and Rocket. Fans will see all their star-studded favorites and then some, including Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Heimdall (Idris Elba), Okoye (Danai Gurira), War Machine (Don Cheadle), et al. Using a tacked-on over-population theme, Thanos’ quest for the stones threatens the entire universe, and every Marvel Hero must join the “hopeless” fight.

When the repetitive plot finally reaches the climactic battle, fans will be shocked at the carnage. Fortunately, for this movie’s sequel and solo installments awaiting release, death means little for Marvel superheroes because Marvel has plans for these cash-cow superheroes. The plot of Avengers: Infinity War only provides a not-that-complicated backstory for what promises to be a more interesting next installment, but I adhere to a simple rule about installment films: “Fool me once, shame on you; try to fool me again, and you won’t see another dime from me.” In theaters now and probably for a while, Avengers: Infinity War, a Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release, runs a repetitive 149 minutes and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, language and some crude references.

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