It's a lot of numbers to crunch. The first half of the two-part finale to the central trilogy that serves as the culmination to the third phase of an ever-expanding 22-movie 'universe', Avengers: Infinity War gathers 45 principle characters, 20 super-heroes — seven of whom lead their own standalone movies — and one uber-villain wielding six infinity stones into a 149-minute, $400mil multiplex monstrosity. It's the year's hugest film, both in box office returns and ridiculous epic-ness; a grand, chaotic cluster-flick of unabashed cinematic cramming.
Throughout, writers (Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely) and directors (the Russo Brothers) stuff evermore things into an already overstuffed picture. More movie-stars, more superheroes, more banter, more drama, more wry pop-cultural references, more evocations of past Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, more emotional declarations of love and sacrifice, more swelling strings, more battle sequences, more nano-tech mecha-suits, more alien spaceships, more distant planets, more mass destruction, more plotlines for future films. These are laid on so thick and so fast that you may just get a headache. The noisiness of the narrative is matched to artless images obviously shot on some digital backlot in an Atlanta industrial park, pixels to be assembled by a global army of unseen digital technicians.
It's filmmaking on such grand scale that there's barely any art to it; Infinity Wars an endless parade of entrenched brands (Avengers + Guardians Of The Galaxy + Black Panther + Spider-Man + Doctor Strange) brought together to thwart a world-razing super-villain, Thanos. The Big Bad verily lords over the film, serving as its narrative engine, its sole ideologue, and, unexpectedly, its emotional centre. This is the episode where the villain gets the upper hand, where things get darkest before the dawn. But there's no gravity to it: another Avengers is coming in a year, the Marvel movie-club an ongoing entertainment instalment plan. Things end with a grand 'To Be Continued', Captain Marvel teaser coming post-credits. Infinity War's tagline asks "Where will you be, when it all ends?". To which you can only wonder: will this ever end?
