Avengers: Infinity War Movie Review + Thoughts

I’m a little late to the party here, but I have a lot of feelings about it.

I’m still not really sure about Infinity War. I know that it was a great movie, and probably one of the best Marvel films I’ve seen. But it also kinda ruined my emotions in a way I can’t forgive yet.

(spoilers ahead)

I’m going to start with some of the lighter bits first, because there are a lot of things I loved about the movie. Despite maybe feeling a bit rushed — a lot of stuff had to happen within two hours and forty minutes — the film somehow balanced its ginormous cast without ever compromising the feel of each movie. Every scene with a Guardian in it felt like a Guardians of the Galaxy film. Wakanda still felt exactly like the Wakanda I saw last February. Doctor Strange was still Doctor Strange and Tony was still Tony and Peter — Peter — was still my favourite friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, so excitable and kind and earnest. I wasn’t entirely sure how Marvel would balance all of its characters, but it did it, and it did it so well.

And for a movie that turned out as dark as it was — one that held so much death — it also held a surprising amount of humor, often when you’d least expect it. Thor was hilarious in almost every scene — him continuously calling Rocket ‘Rabbit’ was a great ongoing gag — and almost any other scene with the Guardians in it was pretty great, too. (The scene between Gamora and Peter that slowly pans out to Drax eating chips and watching them. Stark’s 100%-on brand one-liners — “get lost, Squidward” chief among them, as well as his many jibes at Doctor Strange — and the two Peters’ interactions with each other (god, I loved the Footloose scene) added a necessary lightness to the movie. (Also, the callback to Peter’s pop-culture inspired attack plans from Civil War was pretty great, too.)

Despite being a movie with such large, looming characters, it also left room for some of the smaller moments, too. Bucky and Steve reuniting after their time apart, Bucky finally comfortable with who he is. Ned immediately creating a distraction for Peter because he trusts him. Okoye and T’Challa’s scene together as they walk toward the helicarrier, bantering about Starbucks and the Olympics. M’Baku and T’Challa, who had a tense relationship in Black Panther, calling each other brothers. Wanda and Vision in their own little world. Steve Rogers earnestly saying “I am Steve Rogers” in response to Groot. These little, touching moments were what grounded a movie with such high stakes.

Some more things I liked, in no particular order:

• The many powerwalks the characters had, all of which were glorious
• Shuri schooling Bruce and Tony
• Bucky and Rocket fighting together (and Rocket wanting to steal his arm)
• Wanda, Nat and Okoye fighting together like the strong, badass and powerful women they are
• “We kick names and take asses!”
• “Why is Gamora?”
• Steve’s new look
• Bruce’s frustration with not being able to Hulk out
• Thor saying he speaks Groot because it was an elective on Asgard

As for Thanos, I don’t really know how to feel about him. I’ve heard some people say he’s sympathetic, but I couldn’t see him that way. While it was nice that he was shown to have a softer side — I’ve mentioned it before, but I prefer villains who aren’t wholly evil (and vice versa for good guys) — the fact that he killed Gamora ruined any chance of me being sympathetic. He’s a different kind of villain than we’re used to from the MCU, and yet somewhat familiar; unlike Hydra, unlike Zemo and unlike Hela, Thanos is doing what he’s doing because he thinks it is what’s right. It’s a shift that’s been a long time coming in the MCU, first with Ultron, then with Toomes, and finally with Erik Killmonger (who, incidentally, will probably always be my favourite Marvel villain). All of these characters honest to god think they’re doing what’s right; in their minds, they’re the good guys. It’s a whole different breed of villain from the Egos and Red Skulls of previous movies, and honestly, that’s what makes them scary.

And the ending — look, I knew most of my favourite characters were going to die, and it still hurt like hell. As soon as Thanos snapped his fingers, my heart sank (I think this was around the time my friend and I started clinging to each other). Yet it hurt. Watching the characters I’d grown to love so over the last however many years crumble to dust was awful. Loki was awful, but probably would’ve been worse if I’d seen Thor: Ragnarok by then, so there’s that. Gamora was awful because I saw it coming. Wanda and Vision were awful because they’d just found each other. Starlord and Groot and Sam and T’Challa were awful. Bucky, who’d just found himself again and now crumbled to ash in front of his best friend, was even worse.

Then there’s Peter.

It’s no secret that Peter Parker is probably my favourite Marvel superhero, and has been ever since Spider-Man: Homecoming came out (Bucky is a fairly close second). I fell in love with his earnest enthusiasm, his nerdiness, and his heart. Maybe I saw a little bit of myself in the boy who was just trying to prove to everyone — including himself — that he could be just as good as them. And a part of me knew his death was coming. But it didn’t fully sink in until he said “I don’t feel so good, Mr. Stark,” and I just knew. It was awful because for one moment you thought he was safe, and it was even worse because he was given the chance to speak. Because his last words to Tony were a teary “I’m sorry”, because he was scared he’d failed Tony. Those were his last words. An apology.

Peter Parker deserved better. Hell, they all deserved better. Instead, we watch Steve struggle for breath and Thanos standing triumphant and at peace, because apparently we need to rub salt in the wound.

I don’t know how I feel, still.

How did you feel about Avengers: Infinity War?