Avengers: Infinity War has received almost universal praise, but I just don’t understand why?
I’ve never been a massive Marvel fan. I didn’t read comics as a kid, and I grew up watching animated series like Batman Beyond and Teen Titans. So when the first few Marvel films rolled around, I didn’t understand the hype. The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man were okay as far as generic action flicks go, and I personally thought Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger were just downright bad films. Avengers was fine, but like I say, I hadn’t grown up with a love for these characters, so seeing them all in the same movie didn’t elicit any excitement. However, over time this changed. Guardians of the Galaxy was a great film, and after Civil War I was hooked on the MCU just like countless others.
The injection of comedy into their films and the refinement of the action-packed hero’s journey formula led me to fall in love with Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, Thor: Ragnarok, and Spiderman: Homecoming. Despite being late to the party, I was just as hyped for Infinity War as every other comic book fan seemed to be, which is why I’ve been utterly astounded by the universally positive reaction the film received. I genuinely believe that besides the original Thor, this is the worst MCU film to date.
Infinity War had some incredibly funny moments, but too much humor was injected into the wrong places. The conversations between the Guardians and Thor worked well and fit the characters, but Banner’s ‘erectile dysfunction’ issues with the sulking Hulk were frankly cringe worthy. There is also a massive disregard for previous character development in Infinity War. After Taika Waititi spent Ragnarok evolving Thor past merely being the man with the hammer, he spends the entirety of Infinity War looking for a replacement.
This doesn’t just happen to Thor; besides Thanos, who is a fairly interesting and complex villain, many characters’ personal developments are tossed aside for no reason. Vision, one of the most uninteresting characters in the MCU, is thrust into the spotlight, and Star Lord, my favourite MCU character to date, is made absolutely hateable. The new additions to the MCU are also pointless. Peter Dinklage provides some of the worst acting I’ve seen in years, and Thanos’ henchmen, beings heralded as some of the most fearsome foes in the galaxy, are almost entirely eliminated in joke sequences.
The film’s biggest issue, however, is its plot. Much like Justice League, Infinity War tries to cram in far too much for the sake of fandom, yet still manages to tell a paper-thin story. I’ve heard many movie goers praise Infinity War for its courageous decision to kill off so many of its cast, yet these deaths are meaningless. Almost every character killed has already had an announced upcoming sequel in their own franchise, and they’ve even gone as far as saying that the Spiderman: Homecoming sequel will be set straight after Avengers 4, and will star Peter Parker…one of the characters killed off in this film. So it’s pretty obvious to me that there are no real stakes, and these characters will all be brought back.
I just don’t understand. A paper-thin plot, bad jokes, and pointless deaths; Infinity War doesn’t even come close to capturing the magic of the MCU’s latest outings, and instead feels like an episode of Dragon Ball Z with a bigger budget.
But it isn’t fair to say that my opinion alone is the only valid one. My friends at Goombastomp have also discussed their opinions on the film (some negative and some positive), I encourage you to check them out by clicking here.
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