The Avengers Infinity War Mega Review

The Infinity War and Endgame Mega Review

I considered writing a review on Infinity War last year, but kept putting it off until it was a bit to late. Now that Endgame has been out for roughly a month now I wanted to do a mega review of both movies and talk about what made them great as well what didn’t work for me. Spoiler warning, I will be covering Endgame later in this blog, but feel free to read the Infinity War portion of this review until the next spoiler warning comes up. Also if any one reading this hasn’t seen Endgame, please do yourself a favor and go see it, it’s a great movie. Side note, this is part one of the review, I had to split this review into two parts.

This review will also be different from my others, instead of doing a single review score, I’m going to do three scores. Each movie will get it’s own individual score as a stand alone movie, then I will give an overall score as the larger story that it is.

Dread it, run from it, but destiny arrives all the same.

There isn’t a whole lot I can say about Infinity War that hasn’t already been said. This movie was well worth the build of the other Marvel films that I had to see this movie three times. From the character interactions, to the plot, to the antagonist of the decade, Thanos, this movie has it all.

Avengers Infinity War has a simple plot; the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Guardians of the Galaxy must team up in order to stop the Mad Titan, Thanos, from acquiring the six powerful infinity stones and decimating half the universe with the snap of his fingers. The writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, along with directors Joe and Anthony Russo went through several drafts of Infinity War trying to find just the right balance to make the film a success. And I’d like to go ahead and take the time to say that these four men did a fantastic job with this story, they hadn’t been picked for the film yet, but they had already begun discussing how they would go about making a film of this magnitude as if they had been picked. And those are the kind of people that can make a film truly stand out like this one did.

After listening to various interviews, I found out that they had several drafts of the movie that served to help them keep as tight as story as they possibly could. Some of these drafts included going into the lore of Thano’s generals, The Black Order, but this was ultimately cut from the final script as it just made the film to long. Interesting note, there was also a draft of the script where the story was narrated by Thanos, but this was also changed in the final draft.

The final draft used for the film took some time to figure out, so much so that the directors and writers sat in a planning room for months on end going as far back as 2015. Jokingly the directors have said that when they were met with creative differences they would wrestle to find out which idea to use. The final Infinity War draft was born once the directors and writers realized that these movies, which were written as one coherent story, were two things; Thano’s Hero’s Journey, and a smash-and-grab heist film. This lead to them finding the perfect structure to use when putting the script together.

One of the best parts about this movie is how the tone, and everything else is set up in the opening scene. Normally audiences are shown a catchy tune while the Marvel logo is playing on screen, but not this time, before the opening credits even begin to roll a sinister score in the background sets the ominous tone that remains throughout the remainder of the opening sequence.

A big win for this movie is how the opening scene sets up more than just the tone, it also sets up several arcs that unfold through the rest of the movie. Let’s take a look at how much this scene alone sets up before the film cuts to the opening title sequence. For starters, when Thanos reveals his infinity gauntlet to the audience we are shown that he has the power stone in his grasp. This helps establish Thanos as a major threat, and also helps by not showing the audience another battle and retreading old ground, the filmmakers want to prolong the battle with Thanos until the end of film. And by showing us the power stone, we as the audience know that Thanos went to where it was housed at, on Xandar, and if he came back with it then we know he demolished the Nova Corps to acquire it.

Next, Thanos fights Hulk, and is shown that he can beat this hulking man without using the power stone, note that the stone never lights up throughout their fight. Now some people, like my father, found this troubling that Hulk couldn’t beat Thanos one on one, well there’s a reason for that. This scene and this specific moment help establish that Thanos cannot be beaten in a one on one confrontation, this is because he is the Genghis Khan of the universe. Thanos is dozens of years old, if not maybe a thousand, he has seen many battles, conquered many planets, has great battle instincts, and it makes sense that a well seasoned fighter like Thanos can beat an unpolished fighter like Hulk without much effort.

Scenes do more than one thing, this one also establishes Thanos’ arc, specifically when he takes off his armor. This signifies that when he is now a holy warrior on a mission and that we will not kill any one that doesn’t directly threaten his mission to cleanse the universe. Following this scene, Thanos puts the space stone inside of the gauntlet. Notice that throughout each stone collecting scene the audience is shown what each stone can do. Moments after getting the space stone, Thanos uses it to stop Loki from killing him and then uses the power stone to tear the ship apart, then uses the space stone to teleport away with his generals.

Another thing this scene does is set up Thor’s revenge arc, and I have to say it is done very well. Thor has lost a lot over the years without many victories in between, he’s lost his mother, he’s lost his father, his sister, all of Asgard, his best friend, and finally his brother. This scene shows the audience this is Thor’s chance to make up for failing as a king, and that he he can’t fail this time.

On a different note, when Hulk crashes into the New York sanctum, Wong’s line, “I wouldn’t say no to a tuna melt,” was in every single draft of Infinity War. I'd also like to point out that this scene mirrors the Infinity Gauntlet comic where Silver Surfer crashes into the sanctum.

The last thing this scene does is set up the pacing, which is very important to not just this film, but also Endgame. Note how fast Thanos is acquiring the stones, this isn’t an accident, this is to show that Thanos is moving to fast and that the plot moves with him whether our heroes like it or not. When we get to Tony Stark it doesn’t take long before the Black Order, more specifically Ebony Maw, and Cull Obsidian, are already taking a stand in the city. Thanos’ boot leaves a pretty big impact as well, considering that when he or his minions make a move, multiple characters, such as Spider Man, notice and take action. This is an excellent example of the plot helping move things forward versus the characters moving the plot forward. Also note how no character gets to rest during this movie, which I believe takes place over the course of about two days or so, because again, Thanos and the plot are moving to fast.

Instead of gushing about the plot, and re-telling the plot, like in my previous reviews, I’m going to try and stick to the more technical side, and will try to keep this review mostly about the storytelling aspect. That and when I hear people say things like, “It’s bad storytelling,” more often than not they can’t break down a movie into technical terms aside from a few basic terminology that can be learned in early high school. This is my way of showing how to break a movie down to find out if something is bad storytelling or not, and so far, this story isn’t disappointing. More on this when we get to Endgame though.

There’s a phrase that the writers and directors like to use, one that I’ve now adopted, and it’s called Strange Alchemy. And, no, this phrase isn’t referring to Dr. Strange, instead it is referring to how various characters interact with one another for the first time. In fact, it’s because of this motto that I found a writing technique that helps me match characters together that I might not have considered working together.

Now before we get to the acquisition of each stone, I’d like to point out two things, one, we live in a day and age where audiences have consumed so much media that when we as an audience are watching a movie our minds are already trying to piece things together before there is even enough information on screen to connect the dots. This means the filmmakers need to subvert expectations and sometimes even play into those expectations to flip them on their head.

Second, I’d like to highlight the characters! During the scene where Tony is learning about the stones, he says that Captain America might be able to find Vision, who is currently in possession of the mind stone. This is because it shows how smart and perceptive Tony is, he knows Vision has been leaving the Avenger’s HQ to see Wanda, and has probably started a relationship with her. That helps show that Tony isn’t actively seeking out Vision, Wanda, or the other Avengers that are currently considered criminals, plus it gives him a reason to stick-it to the jerk that Rhodey was talking to via hologram later in the film. And this is something I can appreciate, Tony is treated as a smart character and isn’t made dumb for the sake of the plot. There are examples of dumbing down characters in several TV shows and other various media that is feels somewhat insulting to not just the audience but also the characters.

Also going back to Strange Alchemy, notice how when you get Tony and Dr. Strange together, these two narcissists don’t play well together, often spitting one-liners back and forth at one another. This brings me to Hulk, during the fight in New York, Hulk decides he is no longer in the mood to deal with Bruce Banner’s business. Some people believe Hulk was scared of Thanos, but this isn’t the case because Hulk has played hero for Banner for many, many years and has grown tired of it. This leads to Banner having to fight on his own, and eventually sets up for his arc in Endgame, but more on that later.

Another note about characters, especially with comic characters, is that the Black Order is actually to powerful when directly brought from the comic pages to the silver screen. So the filmmakers had to water down the characters a bit to help not outshine the main antagonist, I’m sorry, the main protagonist of the film. I should have mentioned earlier, because this is Thanos’ hero's journey he gets the most screen time of any character as well as has the film being centered around him. Remember a protagonist is our main character whether they are good or bad. But this also helps teach writers that you never want a side character to overshadow the main bad guy.

Six Elemental Crystals

When acquiring each stone, it’s important to note that a writer should never try to repeat themselves. What I mean by this is simple, the audience will get bored seeing Thanos go to six different places and punch six different people in the face. I know this because it’s been done in anime before, and honestly, as a kid I got bored seeing the hero's get beat numerous times in a row by the same guy or group of people. Strategically using the Black Order and Thanos to get each stone helps avoid that repetition and keep things feeling fresh throughout the film.

Here’s a small guide for each stone and how each one is acquired:

Power Stone - taken off screen by Thanos from Xandar.
Space Stone- take from Loki after crushing the Asgardian ship.
Reality Stone- pried from the Collector’s hands.
Soul Stone- found on Vormir and sacrificed Gamora for its power.
Time Stone- given to Thanos from Dr. Strange in exchange for Tony Stark’s life.
Mind Stone- torn from Vision’s head.

Something I noticed throughout the interviews and comment sections was that some people didn’t understand why Vision got beat so easily despite having the power of the mind stone in his head. The answer is surprisingly simple and often overlooked, remember that Thanos and the Black Order are hunting infinity stones. This implies that they know what they are hunting and have weapons or strategies ready to tackle each stone. To help support this, we are shown that Dr. Strange tries to use the time stone earlier in the film, but Ebony Maw is a step ahead of him and incapacitates Strange before he can do anything. Again, not dumbing down the characters is a good thing, and a scene like this can fall apart when your bad guys don’t know a thing about what they are hunting.

To help build a better plot, sometimes it’s best to make a character have some emotional stakes attached to the plot. Two examples of this are Gamora and Wanda. Gamora is deliberately holding onto the knowledge of the soul stone and withholding it from Thanos. Wanda loves Vision and will do anything to keep him alive. This is playing into the audience’s expectations, we know Wanda and Vision will have a run in with Thanos, it’s inevitable and if that’s the case the stakes should revolve around that a bit, not just for Wanda but for Gamora as well. But keep in mind that not every character can be emotionally connected to the plot, but two or three characters in a film this size can have the connection to help move things forward a bit when Thanos isn’t around.

And while I’m talking about Gamora, I’ll take this time to note the importance of not dumbing down the characters as well as Strange Alchemy. Thor knows he can’t stop Thanos, and tells the Guardians where Thanos will go based on logic, this helps foreshadow Gamora’s secret as well as splitting up the Guardians. It’s important to split up characters, especially groups when they function as a unit. Also, back to my observation about building expectations, when Thor says he’s going to get the Thanos-killing-weapon, whether the audience is aware of it or not their minds are already ninety-minutes ahead knowing Thor will get that weapon. This is one of those moments where the filmmakers can subvert expectations and misdirect what the audience expects, which is needed in today’s story telling scene.

Speaking of storytelling, let's talk about Wanda and Vision again. Think about the scene where they crashland in the train station, the Black Order are shown to be a threat due to their knowledge of the stones. They are powerful, but this makes the audience believe that regular humans can’t take them on. This is not the case, see when you have a group like Cap’s criminal Avenger’s, they work well as a unit, because of this they can plan out a strategy and ambush to surprise Proxima and Corvus. In a situation like this, yes, humans would not stand a chance against these two bad guys in a one on one situation, however due to the element of surprise the power difference between the two groups is narrowed due to the Black Order not expecting a team to take them on. Remember the element of surprise can tip the scales into any character’s favor if used at the right time.

I’ll go ahead and take this time to explain a bit about Wanda’s powers. In the comics, Wanda is strong enough to rewrite reality, however this is blatantly overpowered and was watered down for the MCU. After her introduction in the second Avengers movie, we as the audience see that she is a powerful with telekinesis and that her emotions are what help power them. Notice how in the second Avengers movie that when her brother dies she decimates several robots at once while she is visibly upset. Then in the third Captain America movie she has difficulty reaching that level of power again when lifting the bomb at the beginning of the film. Also she is a child of an infinity stone, and by that I mean her powers were born from that of a stone, keep this in mind later, I’ll be coming back to it in the Weird Mathematics section of the Endgame review.

Okay now that we have that established, I want to bring this blog back to the Guardians of the Galaxy. After they arrive on Knowhere, the place is seemingly still intact, but at the end of the scene it’s revealed that Thanos has already gotten the reality stone, because again, the plot is moving to fast. Normally I’m not a fan of seeing characters do things off screen, however this is rare exception as Thanos acquires the reality stone without fighting anyone and uses it in cunning ways to avoid a real confrontation with the Guardians. Also in a very weird, albeit sick, twisted way this scene is essentially Gamora’s boyfriend meeting her father, and good news, he approves!

In all seriousness though let's focus on Gamora’s relationship with Thanos for a bit. A few years back,Thanos went to Gamora’s home planet and did what he does best, eliminate half of all life so the other half can thrive. One of the most interesting aspect of this abusive relationship that they have is that Thanos sees something in Gamora, and Gamora sees that he is a protector even though he is the one causing the danger. Thanos offers her a way forward, and take note that kid Gamora is actually put in between Thanos’ rule of law just before half of hre people are slaughtered. It also reinforces Thanos’ philosophy of balance.

When a fully grown Gamora meets up with Thanos again on Knowhere, she breaks down crying after she seemingly defeats him. She believes she is free of her abuser for good, only to have that moment stolen from her by the reality stone. Also take note of how many times Thanos steals key moments from characters. This moment specifically shows how Thanos, at least in his mind, thinks there is something wrong with their relationship and wants to fix it. But their relationship is a physically and emotionally abusive one, which is also interesting when they get to Vormir, because the universe deems Thanos’ love for Gamora as real love. So in a sick, twisted way he really does love her.

Back to my comment about stealing key moments from characters, in the reality stone scene on Knowwhere, Thanos offers Star Lord, Peter Quill, the chance to kill Gamora like he promised, but he rips that painful choice away from him.

A quick note about love, just after this scene, we are shown a small reunion between Bruce Banner and the Avengers at their base, more specifically Bruce sees Natasha Romanoff for the first time in years, but the story is moving to fast for that kind of love.

Now that the reality stone is in Thanos’ possession, it’s time this blog moves to the time stone. When the audience is taken back to Tony Stark, the directors and writers had a choice to make, have another drawn out battle with these exact same characters, or blast Ebony Maw out of the spaceship to not feel repetitive. Well I’m sure anyone reading this remembers what choice they made, Maw gets flung out of the ship and the characters are forced to make a tough decision. Our heroes can either go back to Earth, or they can fight Thanos on his home turf. One thing I forgot about when I first saw this movie was that for a brief moment in the first Avengers, Tony goes to space and sees the looming threat on the horizon, this in turn influences his decisions through out other movies like in the second Avengers film.

Once again Strange Alchemy plays an important role in this scene. Dr. Strange is influenced by the memory of losing the Ancient One in his intro film while Tony is motivated by the dream of losing all of his friends at Thanos’ mighty hands. Both of these are powerful motivators and brings two characters with goals that begin to conflict with one another at this time. And if the audience is invested in these characters this scene, as well as others, feels very unique and rich. This kind of story can’t be told without the other 18 films prior to this one building it up! Ultimately Tony and Strange decide it best to ambush Thanos while he isn’t aware of them being on his home planet.

I won’t spend to much time on this, but as a side note, there’s a reason Thanos waited so long to go after the stones. He didn’t know where the soul stone was, and without that knowledge it would be pointless going after the other stones because the forces of the universe would unite to stop him, kind of like what happens in this movie. This isn’t shown until the midpoint of the movie to help keep the audience off balance, plus the scene where we find Nebula being dismantled also serves to show how much of a quick turn Thanos’ personality can go through. It also helps establish the question of, “it’s easy for you to jump on the grenade but would you throw someone else on it?”

An everlasting exchange, a soul for a soul

I’m going to skip over Thor’s story arc for now, I’ll get to it in a bit, but right now I’d like to focus on something very important and a central point in the movie. We’re going to talk about; Cost. So a question that often gets asked is, if character X returns the soul stone, does the person get what they sacrificed back. The answer is no, but let's look into why. Red Skull meets Thanos and Gamora on the mountain top of Vormir, then tells them, “you must sacrifice that which you love most.” There is a price to pay for the power Thanos is seeking, and not just an emotional one, notice how every time Thanos adds a stone to his gauntlet his body takes a bit of a physical toll when adding that extra bit of power. The directors wanted the audience to realize that no one gets this power without it costing something.

I’ll get to the cost of using all the stones in a bit, but for now let me talk about this scene a bit longer. Getting the other stones isn’t easy, but they don’t come with an emotional cost to acquire them, this is because there is no such thing as a power that comes without a price. A real world example of this is the creator of the AK-47, who felt like all the deaths of his creation were his fault. See he created something of great power, but the cost of it was guilt. And this cost for the soul stone is to help the person understand just what kind of power they are getting into, because if someone acquires the stone without such a cost they won’t appreciate its value.

An interesting note about this scene is that while we as the audience don’t see Thanos’ actions as a selfless act of love, the universe deems him worth. This means that Thanos does indeed love Gamora, even if it is sick and twisted, he still loves her and gave her up for the power of the soul stone. This is also the worst thing that could happen to Thanos, losing the daughter he loves the most. And he can never get her back because that is the cost of the everlasting exchange.

Now let's talk about Thor, Rocket, and our good friend Groot. Strange alchemy is all over the place in these scene featuring these three stooges. This scene helps blend a few tones together, it blends absurdism with pathos. Look at Thor’s behavior, he’s in a place where he won’t acknowledge how terrible his situation is. Hemsworth performance here is just outstanding, he crushes it so well, he can go from comedic to tragic faster than most of the actors in both Infinity War and Endgame, which is a true gift as an actor. Also comedy, especially in Hemsworth’s case, is best when the person emotionally commits to it, not when the joke is played but when the person plays against the joke. The scene where they are on the ship, Thor is parading around with false bravado while crying on the inside and refusing to admit he’s gotten his ass kicked by Thanos.

Rocket’s snarky comments, especially when he’s talking with Etri are hilarious. This is where strange alchemy is at its best, because when Etri describes Stormbreaker than says its name, all Rocket can say is, “Eh, that’s a bit much.” Not to mention Rocket is a creation of science, that uses science, and can’t fathom Thor’s strength when they go to start the forge back up.

Speaking of Stormbreaker, there were a lot of drafts with how that weapon was to be forged. One draft specifically had Thor fight a dragon to obtain the axe, most of these cutscenes had one thing in common though. These scenes, especially the one we see in Infinity War, is that they serve as test for Thor. This scene is essentially what a modern day version of Hercules and the 12 Labors looks like, and it is fantastic. While everyone else is off on a stone mission, Thor is on a Thanos quest to get the kind of weapon needed to kill the Genghis Khan of the Universe. Notice I use the word “quest” instead of “mission” because in my mind a quest is on a much grander scale than that of a mission. This scene also shows what Thanos has wrought throughout the universe, it shows how Thanos tried to eliminate the only place in the universe that could forge a weapon that could stand in his way. And it’s essential that Thanos had something to do with this forge so that it could connect back to the main storyline, otherwise it is just a waste of time for the audience, which some movies have done.

This forge scene also uses sadness in a way to help subvert our expectations later down the road, remember we as an audience were already thinking that Thor was going to get the weapon to kill the guy and ultimately end the film. So the sadness shown by Etri the Dwarf, along with Loki’s death, help fuel this scene to make the audience believe Thor can win the battle once he gets his weapon.

I’d like to throw a shout out to the visual effects department that worked on this film, they had to design very specific drawings as well as use a variety of color pallets to help keep the movie from feeling stale. These guys are responsible for helping keep the tone right using the correct colors and lighting, most of which was done a year or so before shooting even began.

It’s a mold. A king’s weapon, meant to be the greatest in Asgard. In theory it could even summon the Bifrost. Stormbreaker.

To reiterate once again, every scene needs to do more than one thing. This scene with Thor, actually this entire scene with Thor at the forge is build up to his entrance in Wakanda. The whole thing about paying a cost for some great power is also highlighted in the forgery scene as well, Thor has to endure the truly awesome power of a blazing star to wield his mighty new weapon, which again emphasizes my point about his journey being a Thanos quest inspired by the Labors of Hercules.

There is a saying a mentor of mine used, I forget what it was called, but it was basically Planned Story versus As You Go Story. Some people like planning their story out before beginning the writing phase while others, especially here on Fim, will write stories as they go. For example, the author might just have the opening planned then ask for reader input down the line. There’s nothing wrong with doing that, however, the overall product isn’t going to be as good as it could have been. Even the amazing Fallout: Equestria isn’t without its faults as that story could have been trimmed down by about two hundred thousand words had the author written it out first then edited everything afterwards. There are plus and minuses to both sides, however Infinity War’s tight script, which is tighter than a usual script, helped move production along faster, as well as tell a tight paced story unlike anything we’ve seen before.

There was many test screenings for this movie alone that were just for helping the directors and writers figure out how the editing needed to go to help structure the film correctly for a better movie-going experience. The original few edits of Infinity War are said to have looked a lot different from the theatrical version. It also helped establish how long the audience can be away from a character before wondering where a certain character is at. So for all you writers and storytellers out there this is just some food for thought when crafting your epic tale.

Back to the whole cost aspect, again a weapon such as Stormbreaker requires a great deal of perseverance and willpower to help forge it. Thor will appreciate such a powerful weapon more having gone through a true endurance trial. This endurance trial also sets up for Groot to make the only decision he makes in the whole film, which is to help Thor and leave a piece of Groot behind for Thor’s weapon. And all of this leaves to one truly badass moment in cinematic history.

Warning: Anybody that listens to the link below should turn down their volume on their headsets, the video gets loud real quick.

But first, and this is to any and all people out there who say the Marvel Cinematic Universe is bad storytelling, or poor storytelling, or just flat out awful. First, you have seen no more movies then the average moviegoer has seen. Second, you probably haven’t written anything worthwhile since high school or college. Three, just because you can name great movies, such as James Cameron’s Titanic, or great TV shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender, or be able to use basic terminology picked up over a school semester does not give you the knowledge to say something is bad storytelling. And until you get a reaction like this in theaters:

BRING ME THANOS!

Can it, and shove your opinion back where it came from. This also goes for the people that say stand-alone movies are the best. You don’t get a reaction like this in theaters without a certain amount of build up, and so far I’ve yet to see a stand-alone film pull off a feat like this.

And to all the fans who were cheering, thank you, I saw this film three times and it was truly awesome being with crowds so invested in these characters that each viewing got a roaring reaction like these ones. And from what it sounds like the whole world had audiences cheering for these mighty heroes.

Also keep in mind the absurdity, and I say that in the best possible way, of this scene. The audience in that clip is cheering like they’re at a rock concert for a genetically modified racoon, a tree, and a Norse God. It’s also at this moment that all the scenes are starting to smash together, and notice that in the scenes leading up to the biggest cheer moment in the movie that the cuts between each scene were getting more noticeable, faster, and even the cinema score was blending more themes together to get to this epic moment right here. It’s been over a year since that scene played and I still get a smile on my face from how awesome it was.

The last stretch of the third act is incredible. When Thanos steps out of his portal, we as the audience can’t see behind him and are so caught up in the moment we believe he has shown up on Earth at that exact moment, but no, he makes a stop at Titan first.

The entire battle on Titan is a truly great spectacle and fantastically written. Strange knows he’s the bait, which is why he greets Thanos along with asking him about his plans, and this is where we as the audience finally see what motivates Thanos, we understand why he’s doing everything he can to balance out the universe one planet at a time. Now no one agrees with Thanos, but the audience sure does understand his point of view. Strange’s whole plan involves the team trying to rip the gauntlet away from Thanos, but he makes a great character decision before hand to hide the stone in the stars before the battle begins in case they don’t get that chance.

Some people might ask why Strange didn’t cut Thanos’ arm off, or this, or that, but most of those questions can be answered either by using the space stone to stop things like that from happening, or the more obvious one, most of those situations are just flat out boring. A movie is meant to entertain the audience, so it can’t answer every question a fan might have about using plans A through Y before ultimately seeing what is presented in the film. Now that’s not to say asking questions isn’t a good thing, asking questions is great, but when something as powerful as the infinity stones are involved most answers can be found through using them.

In the confrontation between Thanos and Strange, it’s important to note that The Snap is used at least two times in this film to prepare audiences for what happens later on in the movie. This is also the moment that we have been waiting for, Thanos avoided most physical confrontations until this point in the movie, which is great because now we get to see one big brawl take place rather than six smaller fights where Thanos punches everyone in the face. Also one of the most unnerving things about Thanos is the fact that, while his plan involves genocide on the biggest scale possible, there is this nobility in his tone of voice that isn’t coming from a sense of power, or ego, Thanos views himself as a servant to the greater good. That right there is what makes him such a compelling and complex character, it isn’t the power he wields, because if your story depends on how powerful a character is then it probably isn’t a good story, it lies in the fact that Thanos believes what he’s doing is a truly noble and heroic deed for the universe. And when he’s done with his act of servitude, Thanos rests.

I’d like to point out that the director of the first two Avengers movies even stated that it’s impossible to humanize Thanos, and the Russo brothers, as well as their badass writers, managed to pull of such a great feat.

Throughout this entire fight, every frame is carefully thought out because if it becomes to stylized or dense, or “look at me”, it not only detracts from the story but also complicaties how the story is received with all these characters and small incidents that occur over the remaining minutes of the movie. Also remember that Thanos is actually weaker in the MCU than he is in the comics, the gauntlet is given the restriction so that to use a stone the user has to close the gloved fist. The filmmakers wanted to have small physical rules that would allow other characters to hang in a fight with him due to how close to omnipotence Thanos currently is. Keep in mind Thanos closing his fist is the bare minimum that allowed this fight to happen.

The overall plan was very good, everyone contributed to capturing Thanos so that Mantis could put him into a stupor. And this is where good planning really pays off, no character feels out of place, each one of them uses their strengths to the overall plan and nothing comes off feeling forced or that one of them didn’t need to be on Titan.

I need to address the elephant in the room now. There were several people I knew in person, as well as tons of comments online, regarding how Star Lord messed up the whole plan. Truth is, he didn’t, he had a very human reaction to the situation. Peter Quill has spent a majority of his life in space, living with bandits and criminals, being raised by them, killed his birth father, watched his dad, Yondu, freeze to death in space, watched helplessly as his girlfriend, Gamora, was taken by the Mad Titan, and just recently had a meeting with humans for the first time in years. Peter is a very flawed and human character, who again has a very realistic reaction to this situation. Some people can claim they wouldn’t react that way, but they don’t realize that they aren’t Peter, most people are going to reacted emotionally to situations especially when enough stress and anxiety is put on them.

This is also the moment where all hope is lost, and Thanos has won the battle. After he wakes up, Thanos is mad, and he’s back on his mission. To help display this the filmmakers put Dr. Strange at his current highest potential against Thanos at his current highest potential as well. It was brief, but Thanos displays his knowledge of each stone very well in this scene, from smashing the mirror dimension Strange sent his way, to creating a black hole, Thanos is showing how well he knows each stone and how far he can push their capabilities.

I’d also like to point out that this scene holds one of the only uses of the soul stone. The gauntlet actually has two gems glowing during the final confrontation between Strange and Thanos, the soul stone is amplified through use of the power stone, allowing Thanos to wipe out each magic clone until it seemingly shocks Strange’s astral projection out of his physical self long enough for Thanos to rip the land, along with Strange, right to him. Also another win for not dumbing down a character because Thanos knew Strange didn’t have the stone on him, if he did Strange would have used it to combat Thanos.

If you throw another moon at me, I’m going to lose it!

This is perhaps my favorite fight in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, the invincible Iron Man versus the Mad Titan Thanos. The following lines from Thanos once again get a win, even after six years after the release of the first Avengers movie, Thanos still remembers that is was Stark who brought the nuke to his spaceship. In fact, re-watching this fight from start to finish, Thanos can be seen keeping Tony away from him throughout the fight. He turned the satellite into birds that carried Tony away, then absorbed the fire from the suit’s rockets to use a a fire blast that would throw Tony back again. It isn’t until now that the two have a true one on one fight.

I also appreciate just how far Tony Stark has pushed himself for this moment, ever since he saw Thanos on the horizon everything Tony has done up until this moment has been in preparation for the endgame he knew was coming. As a scientist, as a genius, the journey Stark has gone on is shown through the evolution of his armor. In this movie Tony is using the best cutting edge suit his mind can make, the all powerful, nanotech driven masterpiece that is the Bleeding Edge armor. And despite all of what this armor can do, its nearly limitless potential, it’s s not enough.

All that for a drop of blood.

In fact it barely keeps him in the fight. When I first saw this one on one fight, I was one of those audience members cheering when Tony managed to scratch Thanos for the first time in the fight. One really important aspect of this fight is the line Thanos mutters to Stark, “all that for a drop of blood.” This line doesn’t just apply to this fight, but Infinity War as a whole. The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and anyone else not associated with those two groups threw everything they had at Thanos and it was at this moment that all of their effort combined amounts to a single drop of blood, at least until Thor blindsides Thanos with Stormbreaker. This very moment is filled with ample amounts of Show Versus Tell.

For starters, Tony’s armor is made up of so many nanobots that it seems like he can endlessly repair it over and over again. It isn’t until this fight that we are shown that the suit’s seemingly endless capabilities can’t match the sheer raw power of the stones. So much so that Tony can only regenerate part of his helmet and a few repulsar blasters. Then in a list ditch effort, Tony tries to uses what’s left of the nanotech to stab Thanos, only to be stabbed instead. It’s at this moment the directors wanted to show us that Thanos has already won the battle before he has acquired all six stones.

This is also a fantastic use of subverting the audiences expectations. Since the directors know that some fans follow the actor’s contracts, they wanted to use that against the audience and show that this could be Tony Stark’s end. And the best part about this movie is that because the villain wins in the end, they very well could have axed Stark off in this movie and it would have felt like a proper ending to his character arc. Keep in mind that Tony Stark is a futurist, he foresaw death on the horizon and tried everything he could to prevent it, so if he truly did die at this moment then it would have been a fitting closure to his character.

Not to mention the line from Thanos was brilliantly delivered, “You have my respect, Stark, when I’m done half of Humanity will still be alive. I hope they remember you.” Something about getting respect from the villain just felt really cool when I heard that line, maybe because that was the moment that, at least for me, told me Thanos could actually win. And I won’t lie, I had a tear in my eye when it looked like this would be the end for Tony Stark, after all he is one of my favorite characters from any media source.

One to go.

I want to direct people’s attention to the image above. Okay, how cool is it that Dr. Strange hid the time stone in the stars? Think about it, even if Thanos got all the other stones it would have taken him a long time to find that small stone in the emptiness of space.

Back to the review though. When Thanos puts the time stone in the gauntlet, we are shown once again a massive power surge emanating from the gauntlet. This goes back to the whole “great power comes at a cost” theme that I’ve been mentioning.

When Thanos finally arrives in Wakanda it feels inevitable that Thanos will reach the last stone, even with a team of heroes standing between him and his goal. I want to point out that by this point in the movie, Thanos is swatting the heroes like flies, he has so much power he is deliberately choosing to prolong their defeat.

Speaking of the directors their thought process on how to write the ending of this portion of the longer story is nice to hear about. When they were going through their drafts and figured out that Infinity War was going to end on the snap, it became a simple problem of working backwards from there. What I mean by that is this, we as the audience know that Thanos will have to get Vision’s stone at some point, so the directors and writers arranged so that the story would fall to Vision and Wanda when Thanos collected the other stones. Then working backwards from there it’s cool to see that each stone was collected in order of which would be most useful. Just look back at my list of how each stone is collected in reverse, Thanos grabs the power and space stones first which make getting to each of the following stones far easier than it would be if he went in a different order.

The Russo brothers have also quoted another directors whose name escapes me at the moment, but the quote is, “Give the audience what they want, but not in the way they expect.” This is not to be confused with what some people call predictable story telling, as some stories’ endings can be seen from the start, but it’s how the characters get there that’s the important part. In order to do that, the filmmakers set up a very tragic Romeo and Juliet type of ending at this point, they wanted Wanda to have to bear the burden of killing Vision to save half the universe. She is also the only person who can do this because her powers come from the stone the Vision has in his head. Now take a moment and think about the journey that stone has been on, it was originally in Loki’s staff, that then went on to bestow Wanda Maximoff with her’s and her brother’s powers, that then helped create Vision, which is now about to be destroyed by Wanda because she is the only person who can do it, because she is the only person with the ability do get the job done. And this is the kind of storytelling that cannot be accomplished by a stand alone movie, I know some people prefer those over the serialized storytelling Marvel has created in movie form, but the tragedy that takes place here help create emotions that just don’t come from a single movie.

Also that moment between Wanda and Vision was wonderfully performed by their actors. Seriously the guy that voiced Jarvis can act really well, not to mention Miss Olsen does so well I’d go out and see a Scarlet Witch movie tomorrow if it was released in theaters.

Remember that this scene where Wanda destroys the mind stone is played in slow motion, so when Captain America holds off Thanos he does so only for a brief second. And this was the moment that made Captain America one of my favorite heroes, the fact that he embodied what it meant to persevere until the end. I’d like to point out that Steve Rogers is the only person to get a round two with Thanos during this scene.

The moment Wanda blows the mind stone to bits is where Infinity War could have ended, and in a traditional commercial ending this is where the movie should have ended, but it doesn’t. The filmmakers pack a few more twists into the story to keep the audience guessing as to what happens next. Thanos approaches Wanda after the stone is destroyed, and he acknowledges her sacrifice, which is a moment I love because Thanos knows what it means to sacrifice that which he loves most. Also for any comic book writers out there, I think if Thanos was still taking children from the planets he conquered he might have taken either Steve or Wanda. There’s some What-If comic book fuel for you guys, get after it comic book writers!

To help tie the movies together, the directors wanted Thanos to use the time stone in the same way Doctor Strange did. Thanos then reverses the action and makes Wanda’s sacrifice meaningless, which I have to say that this use of the time stone was well done. Remember that with MacGuffin’s that are this powerful it’s a big challenge to keep them in check and know when to use them and when not to, and also how to use them in fresh, but also devastating, ways. I’d also like to add that while I wasn’t a big fan of how powerful Vision was it was hard watching him die twice, also not many characters can say they got a death scene twice in a movie.

Did you do it...what did it cost?

There is a lot to cover in the ending, so let's get started. I’d like to talk about Thor here for a moment. A few people will say this was a bad ending because Thor could have won, but it’s the could have part that makes it a great twist to the actual ending. This is the moment we as the audience think that Thor, with his problem solving weapon we knew he’d get at the beginning of the film, come in and impale Thanos with our badass weapon. The explanation for Thor not going for the head right away is the same reason Star Lord messed up the plan, they are both experiencing human emotions. Thor wants to take a moment for himself, a moment of revenge, and enjoy just a few second of Thanos’ suffering. Again this is a very human thing to do and very understandable. This is what inevitably leads to the snap.

Look at the image of the gauntlet, see how it’s ruined almost beyond recognition, well this is because the filmmakers wanted there to be a physical toll for having so much power. All those stones together, all that power coursing through the user, comes at a price. Why though, why should it come at a price? Well the answer to that is that the filmmakers don’t want to see a villain kackling after they won, they want to know what it cost to achieve that goal. And I agree with them, I’ve never really cared much for an antagonist or protagonist that doesn’t have to go something to get their power. Personally I’ve always liked looking at what kind of psychological toll a person takes when they reach their goal. Also keep in mind that most people when they set out to achieve something, usually lose things along the way, this is true in storytelling and real life. Very few people can reach a long time goal, one that spans years, and come out at the end having sacrificed nothing.

Keep in mind that using the power of each stone at once, is so great that after it’s done being used the gauntlet along with part of Thanos’ arm are damaged. The reason why Thanos can even still use his arm after this use of power is because the gauntlet is made of a special material that more than likely took the blow the user would have received if it had been anyone else. But even if the gauntlet is a type of shock absorber for the stones it still wasn’t strong enough to keep Thanos for being harmed. I’d like to also point out that the thought process behind Thor’s axe being able to hurt Thanos is for a few reasons. The first being that the gauntlet and axe were made by the same person, and it takes the person making the gauntlet to make a weapon that can beat the gauntlet. Second, Thor blindsided Thanos while he wasn’t paying attention to what was going on, so it stands to reason Thanos just didn’t put enough power behind his blast to stop the axe. Also it could be a possibility that if he did put enough power behind his blast to stop Thor’s attack, Thanos might not have been able to do the snap.

Spoiler Warning: The following clip contains spoilers from Avengers: Endgame, if you have not seen the movie, please do not watch this clip.

One of the feelings I don’t think a movie will be able to replicate for a long time will be that feeling of disbelief and emptiness that struck me just after the snap had been done. However, Antman and the Wasp’s ending managed to get me to feel those same emotions again when I saw the post-credits ending. So then I started thinking about what the snap looked like in real time and found a good version to show that. Honestly it’s shocking to see all these characters go in real time, it was one thing seeing them slowly go in each following scene, but this video took it to another level.

The Russo’s knew they wanted to play the movie past the snap, because ending on the snap is ending on a plot trick. Having the movie play past the snap is ending the film on emotion, turning a hero film into a horror film as we all watch our favorite heroes either turn to dust or live through the disaster that is unfolding right before their eyes.

My friend, Meme Lord, wasn’t a fan of this ending, he said to me that audiences wouldn’t like an ending like this. And I disagree with him, this is a great ending, and certainly not one that audiences are used to. The only movie that come to mind when I think about a villain winning are Empire Strikes Back and one of the Batman movies made by Christopher Nolan. Remember that this is Thanos’ hero's journey and the movie ends when he achieves his goal.

I’d like to point out that Okoye’s actress did a fantastic job with her performance when Black Panther was dusted. It was her look that had the feeling of dread sink in for me, not mention that seeing Black Panther turn to dust just after his franchise blew up in the best possible way was heartbreaking to see. Notice that the people that get dusted are a mix of secondary characters and primary characters used in bigger picture that is the MCU. One of the directors said it best in that he doesn’t get sad when sad things happen, he gets sad watching other people react to sad things. I have to admit that seeing Spider-man’s reaction to being dusted almost got a few tears out of me, after all he’s just a kid in the MCU doing everything he can to do the right thing, and he gets dusted. Also what’s even more heartbreaking is that Tony Stark starts the movie off by talking about having a child, and then loses one by the end of the movie.

And as the directors and writers put it, “Well, there’s your kick in the nuts.”

One thing I loved about this film was the symmetry of the beginning to the end. Loki says to Thanos that he will never be a god, and then Steve’s last line of the film is, “Oh, god.” When the scene opens up to Thanos’ porch his armor can be seen just off to the right as a scarecrow. The last appreciation I have for this film is that I never felt cheated by the end, when Thanos sits down to watch the sunrise, I thought that he had done a good job, he did what he said he was going to do and then rested.

My final rating for this film as a standalone movie is: 10 out of 10 stars.
As far as movies go this was a fantastic one, and I’m willing to bet that Thanos will influence future writers, movie makers, and storytellers that are out there.