The long awaited Marvel Studios film “Avengers: Infinity War” is finally here after bumping it a up a week from its original release date. Marvel and movie fans all over were ready for this 10-year journey. I know for one this is probably one of the few times I’ve gone to a movie theater and it was actually sold out. I mean I heard some people say the theaters were sold out all weekend. I should’ve went to the Thursday night showing, but I felt everyone and their momma would be there and it would probably be sold out. I mean the craze for this movie was unbelievable, but one thing that stuck out to me was everyone’s reactions. Like every other person who was waiting to see the movie, I was checking for people’s reactions. I saw all over the internet people were crying, they laughed during the film, shouted out “NO” at some of the unsuspected things that happened. But one thing I saw that many people said after they saw the movie was they were “speechless” and they needed time to process the whole film.
I mean even before the movie came out, the Russo Brothers sent out a letter with the hashtag #ThanosDemandsYourSilence asking fans and movie goers to not spoil this movie for the rest of the people. I don’t want to give my review on the film since there’s about a million reviews, but I do want to talk about what is making people so speechless.
I think this is the one movie where fans actually tried to respect the simple fact that there was so much going on and that everyone needed to see this film before they spoiled it for someone else. Of course you had a few people who didn’t care and said what they needed to say about the film, but majority of people tried to keep it under wraps.
Trauma: So why is everyone speechless, I have to say we have never seen our heroes in this much despair and trauma before. Of course we saw them lose fights, but by the end of the movie, they win and we get an end credit scene at the end of the film. I think the one movie that came close to having trauma was “Age of Ultron“. We saw that the Avengers were trying so hard to save this town and this country and the people, and in the end Quicksilver died in the mix. Then with Civil War we see the ideals of Cap and Tony are changing because of how they view the world. Every character has faced some sort of trauma that led them to where they are in this film, but throughout every film, we see Tony gets more and more paranoid since that first attack on New York. From the jump, Tony understood that something like Thanos was coming — he just didn’t know when.
After New York, we see how long it took Tony to actually feel like himself and snap out of the reality that the Iron Man suit isn’t just a toy he fixed up to help save people, but that there’s something bigger out there. It’s not only Tony though. We see every character has faced something; from Thor losing both his parents and then losing his home world, and The Guardians with Starlord finding out the truth about his dad, and even with Bruce who is tired fighting for a specific cause and being controlled.
Thanos: First off, I would like to say Josh Brolin did a great job as Thanos. I’ve been a fan of Thanos for these last few years, waiting for Marvel to really show up and show out, and he did great. The way Thanos smacked up Hulk was just crazy, and I’m a fan of Hulk. The crazy thing is, Hulk is cocky because he knows he’s stronger than most, and he likes friendly competition. But once Thanos smacked him up, I was in the theater like, “Damn, Thanos.” But aside from that, we have never seen our heroes face a villain quite like this dude. You have Loki, Hela, Killmonger, Vulture, Zemo and all these others, but Thanos brought a threat to the team that none of us have really seen before. He was ruthless but in a way where he wanted to see what would make the heroes tick. Like, “Do you really believe you can beat me and save this planet? I’m already stronger than any of you.”
I think what made Thanos so great is that we knew right when he stepped on the scene (and also with the help of the trailers) that this would be a battle to the end for The Avengers. That he wasn’t playing for anything except those infinity stones, and if you got in his way, he eliminated you or he made you into a sacrifice to show off his crude view of mercy. Can’t wait to see more of him in the second movie.
End of an Era: For a lot of people, this movie and the second movie felt like the end of an era. Marvel has said, it but this is a movie that has been 10 years in the making. All the way from the first Iron Man movie until now. To the fans, it’s kind of like, “Oh no! No more comic books movies?!” That’s what it almost feels like. In a way I think Marvel knew a lot of fans would feel this way even though we are getting Ant-Man and The Wasp later this summer. Also, Captain Marvel is making her way onto the big screen soon. But the major characters we’ve loved from the beginning such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, their movies are soon coming to a close. This movie is like a landmark. I’ve been a Marvel fan for 10 years and some of us have been Marvel fans forever; since we were say, 11 or even 8 or 9 years old.
I guess Marvel said if we’re going to go out with a bang, then lets do it. I don’t think Marvel will ever stop making movies. Infinity War brought so many people together. People who have been fans for generations all the way up to people who have only seen the Black Panther movie. Infinity War found a way to unite all parties under one roof. A few days ago was just the 10th anniversary of the first Iron Man movie. I honestly didn’t realize it’s been that long since the movie came out, but at the same time I remember when they first announced Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and I rarely watched any of his movies. But I remember when I saw his picture and was like “He’s perfect for Tony.” It’s so great to see the evolution of these films and the different CGI, the stunts, the actors who have almost made it their mission to be part of the MCU or even just be in a comic book movie. They know these kind of movies broaden the spectrum for them and their fan base.
Final Thoughts: I believe this movie is definitely a landmark. Not just for Marvel, but also for movies in general. The movie made people, laugh, cry, feel angry, feel surprised and even speechless to the point where they wanted to see the movie again to understand what they just saw. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and can’t wait to see what Part Two is going to be like. Whether you were speechless or already knew the outcome from reading the comics, Infinity War brought joy to a lot of people. It was well executed from the standpoint of a lot of readers and movie goers out there. In the words of Thanos, “I hope they remember you” as we move on to Part Two.
RiceBall 