7 Reasons Why 'Infinity War' is the Best Avengers Movie
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The Avengers franchise is one of the most popular on the planet. Marvel Studios crafted a cinematic universe and proved it was possible and could work in 2012 with The Avengers. Since then, these films have become some of the greatest superhero movies out there. One of them, Avengers: Endgame, is even consistently fighting for being the highest-grossing movie ever made. But that doesn't make it the best in the franchise. That title goes to none other than Avengers: Infinity War.
The 2018 "part one" to the finale of the Infinity Saga is one that, on paper, should have been terrible. When looking at the number of characters, the action scenes, and how large the spectacle is, one would initially think that this movie should be impossible to make well. However, the likes of directors Joe Russo and Anthony Russo managed to pull it off and make this project into the best The Avengers movie.
7 Every Character is Important
Almost the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is present here in some way, shape, or form. While not every Marvel character is a "main player" in this production, they're present and important to the plot somehow. There are characters like Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) who are very small but have important roles in the action sequences.
There are few characters in Avengers: Infinity War who could not exist and have the movie operate the same as it does now. For a movie with so many heroes within it that each are someone's favorite, it's important that even the most minor of heroes have at least a couple of good moments that give them a little time to shine. This is especially true when it comes to their entrances. A plethora of characters have epic, cheer-worthy entrances that are incredibly memorable.
6 Performances
The MCU has some incredible performers behind its characters, and all of the major players in Avengers: Infinity War bring their A-game. Actors like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and more do great. This is partially because, due to Avengers: Infinity War being a culmination of all that came before, these people have been playing the roles they've been cast in for years.
This allows almost every single performance in this fourth The Avengers movie to be top-notch, which helps bring each character to life perfectly. Not to mention, since a lot of these people have yet to interact in the MCU, there are brand-new dynamics that come forth and become fan-favorite duos—Iron Man and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) being a hilarious example.
5 Spectacle
The action of the MCU is one of the major highlights—highlights of superhero movies in general, too, honestly. With how large the stakes in Avengers: Infinity War are, the fight sequences have some amazing spectacle. These fights definitely put the "war" in Avengers: Infinity War. Pretty much every fight scene in this movie is exciting, well-paced, and hard-hitting.
Action sequences like the ones in Wakanda and on Titan are phenomenal and define the entire third act. Every character within them, as previously stated, is important in even the smallest of ways. Every hero and villain gets time to shine in these fights, with combo moves, ultimate attacks, and more. The way these heroes work together—even those who have never met before—is really well done and helps amplify these fights to all-new levels.
4 Thanos is the Protagonist
Despite this being a The Avengers franchise entry, none of the Avengers themselves are necessarily Avengers themselves. The true protagonist of Avengers: Infinity War is none other than the villain, the Mad Titan, Thanos (Josh Brolin). While he may be the villain, he's the character that pushes the story forward, making him the protagonist of the story. This is because, at the end of the day, Avengers: Infinity War is his story—gathering the Infinity Stones and "saving" the universe.
The use of Thanos as the protagonist gives audiences a clear goal to follow. Sure, all of the Marvel heroes have goals in their own way, but they're all in opposition to Thanos, making them antagonists. Antagonists aren't always villains, but they're simply characters that oppose the protagonist's goals. Thanos as the protagonist means that there's one goal to follow, and not multiple across all of the main Marvel heroes, which helps the screenplay be simple and straightforward in the best ways.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which MCU Villain Do You Align With? Killmonger · Namor · Zemo · Thanos
Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what you do about something unfair, how long you will wait for what you want, who you are really loyal to, how easily you let a thing go. Answer them and we will tell you which one of these four you have more in common with than you would like. Every one of them thinks they are the reasonable person in the room.
🐆Killmonger(Black Panther)
🔱Namor(Wakanda Forever)
🎭Zemo(Civil War)
🧤Thanos(Infinity War)
01
How do you react to something you think is unfair? All four of these men started here.
02
How long will you wait for something you want? Patience separates these four more than anything else.
03
Who are you actually loyal to? Answer for the real one, not the polite one.
04
How do you win an argument? Everybody has one method and uses it every time.
05
How easily do you let something go? This is the question that makes villains out of people.
06
What do you think about breaking the rules? Nobody on this list has ever felt guilty about it.
07
What do people say about you behind your back? You already know which one it is.
08
What would you do with real power? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your villain.
The Case Is Made You Align With…
Four villains, and four arguments the films were honest enough to actually let them make. Here is the one you lean towards, the part of it that holds up, and the exact point where it stops holding up.
Erik Killmonger
You align with the one who was right about the problem and wrong about the solution. Killmonger is the most persuasive villain Marvel has produced because the film never pretends his anger came from nowhere.
- You notice who was abandoned and you cannot let it go, which is a moral instinct before it is anything else.
- His argument lands because Wakanda really did watch and do nothing, and the film makes T'Challa admit it out loud.
- Where it breaks is the method, since a man who was failed by power decided the answer was to hold more of it.
- Michael B. Jordan plays him as somebody performing certainty over grief, which is why the last scene of that film still works.
Namor
You align with the protector, which is the most understandable and most dangerous position on this list. Namor is not chasing power or revenge, he is doing whatever keeps his people hidden, and he has been doing it for centuries.
- Your loyalty has a hard border around it, and everything inside that border matters far more to you than anything outside it.
- Talokan is the best realised world Marvel has built since Wakanda, and the film makes you understand exactly what he is guarding.
- His logic is airtight right up until it requires somebody else's people to pay for his people's safety.
- He would rather be feared by the surface world forever than trust it once, and history has given him reasons.
Helmut Zemo
You align with the patient one, the only man on this list with no powers, no army and no hurry. Zemo lost his family in Sokovia and then spent years working out that you do not fight the Avengers, you introduce them to each other's secrets.
- You go quiet when you are hurt, and the quiet is where the thinking happens.
- Zemo is the only MCU villain who completely won, and he did it with a notebook, a plan and a great deal of self control.
- His grief is real, and the film is careful never to let you forget that he started as an ordinary man with a family.
- Where it fails is the cost, since taking apart the people who hurt him meant hurting a great many people who did not.
Thanos
You align with the one who decided the answer was arithmetic. Thanos is not angry and not grieving in any way he will admit to, he simply reached a conclusion and never once revisited it, which is precisely what makes him frightening.
- You are capable of holding a position that costs you everything, and you would call that conviction rather than stubbornness.
- Infinity War works because it is structured as his film, with a goal, a journey and a sacrifice, and the heroes are the obstacle.
- The flaw in the plan is not the cruelty, it is that he never seriously considered a single alternative to it.
- Josh Brolin plays him tired rather than triumphant, which is the choice that turned a purple giant into a real character.
3 The Screenplay
Speaking of the screenplay, it's very well done, written by the likes of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Aside from them making Thanos the protagonist, the character arcs all across the board are well-executed. Thanos' arc is great, but all the big MCU heroes get arcs, too, and are all compelling and act as great continuations of their stories from before. Iron Man especially has a wonderful arc, being the beginning of the natural conclusion to his trauma and fear that began in The Avengers—which spurred a lot of the conflict in all of his major appearances to come after.
Thanos, the Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy are scattered across the universe in Avengers: Infinity War, meaning the audience is following a lot of characters and subplots—serving the main one of Thanos seeking the Infinity Stones, of course. Juggling this many characters, arcs, and plots could not have been easy, but Markus and McFeely do a great job of doing so, giving the actors a lot of great content to base their performances off of, as well.
2 The Pacing and Momentum
Being a project with this much going on, this flick has a lot to do in its 2-hour and 29-minute runtime. There are lots of plots to cover, many character arcs to adventure through, and plenty of places to go. With so much to execute, Avengers: Infinity War needed excellent pacing from the get-go and, thankfully, it does. This The Avengers movie is consistently moving at a decent speed, but without feeling rushed or too fast, though. It jumps from plot point to plot point quickly, but in the best way they possibly could have.
This doesn't mean that it is constantly moving fast, however. Avengers: Infinity War still takes some time to slow down when it needs to and spend important time with its characters to intimately develop them. The directors and writers alike use these slower, more personal moments to connect the larger fast-paced segments together. Just when it could potentially become too fast of a film, it takes a moment to breathe, which is greatly appreciated.
1 Massive Stakes and Consequences
With this being the beginning of the end of the Infinity Saga, the stakes had to be high, and the consequences of the actions taken within the plot needed to be truly felt. Thanos is literally trying to end life for half of the universe and, while the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy are very capable, Avengers: Infinity War uses its first scene to set the stakes that Thanos is a borderline impossible foe to beat, even with minimal Infinity Stones—with how split apart the Avengers are, that is.
Every failure or success that occurs in this movie is followed up by great consequence—both bad and good. Choices in Avengers: Infinity War truly matter. The biggest consequence comes in the form of the film's climax, in which Thor fails to kill Thanos in the final hour, and because of this, the Mad Titan proceeds to wipe out half of all life in the universe.
Avengers: Infinity War
- Release Date
- April 27, 2018
- Runtime
- 149 minutes
- Director
- Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
- Writers
- Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
-
Robert Downey Jr.
Tony Stark / Iron Man
-
Chris Evans
Steve Rogers / Captain America
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