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I’ve enjoyed every Marvel film release since Iron man. Granted some have been slightly lower on the scale than others but all have been great and enjoyable films and Infinity War is no exception.The question is does Infinity War reach or surpass the lofty heights of the first Avengers film or even Winter Soldier? Does it dethrone these kings of films? Well yes and no and I’ll explain.

So first off before i start picking at it and everyone starts hating me, Avengers: Infinity War is a top film, truly one of the greater ones. Action packed, emotional, funny, but not over the top like Thor: Ragnarok , and nerve wracking; you will literally find yourself on the edge of your seat and getting somewhat anxious on numerous occasions.

On top of this every character is given time to proverbially shine, with a good balance of screen time to let them impact the story line without focusing too much on just one. Coupled with Josh Brolin’s Thanos and the apparent impending doom that the film portends and you have a recipe for the greatest Marvel film to date….if it wasn’t for the fact that the end sorta ruins it.

WHAT?! YOU TAKE THAT BACK MATT GEARY.. NERD RAGE, NERD RAGE!

ok, ok calm down there brothers and sisters, let me explain…

First he positive: 

Great CGI and measured laughs aside, Thanos and the way he is played by Brolin is a Master class on how such a powerful being should be portrayed and what made him such a threat. Calm, slightly amused by lesser beings, rational, even… fair… but always with a goal to be achieved and at any cost.

Now this may sound quite like any of our heroes with, in my mind, a lot of similarities to Thor: a knowledge of how powerful he is, a cocky demeanour and self assurance, a facade of strength and invulnerability but with a well of emotion that percolates to the top now and again. But where as Thor wants to save the universe by protecting as many people as possible, Thanos, in a mirror image of this, is willing to destroy half of it to achieve the same goal and in lies the genius of the character ( Comic and film). You actually find yourself understanding him and, in some ways, sympathising with him too; it is very odd.

On 2 occasion he gives instances where the people’s of planets pushed themselves and their societies to near failure but where as on Titan no one listened and it’s Death came ( to his lament) Thanos was able to prevent an extinction event on Gamora’s planet, Zen-Whoberi, by killing half the people and so freeing up resources for the other half. He basically saved the planet and this, knowing how humanoid creatures are, he has done across the galaxy. The tough call to save people from themselves and bring balance to the universe ( allegedly )

This leads to some interesting questions in your own mind; if you could save your planet from death would you sacrifice half of your population? Is a great evil acceptable if it in turn brings about a greater good? A tough call  and one that throws up a lot of moral dilemmas; something that really plays to the strength of Thanos as a character and makes Infinity War, very deep indeed and Thanos a multi layered adversary.

The thing is, logical as it is in the context and with all other factors aside, genocide and the death of innocents, at random ( as is the case) is never going to be the right way or even the hard way.. in fact it’s the easy way because you don’t have to fight and live you just have to kill and let people die.

Where Thanos and the Avengers differ is their views. Both are trying to save the universe but where as Thanos has it in his head that there is only one way, the Avengers will try everything else before the tough call has to be made; Scarlet Witch having to kill Vision at the end being a prime example of this… all other options were exhausted and the life of the many out weighed the life of the singular hero; even if this hero was the man you love.

But where as Thanos is able to shield himself from most of the emotional and moral shackles of his actions, the Avengers are not and this is where the fine line between being a hero and a villain is and where Infinity War really hits home… is humanoid life worth the price to be paid?

In the mind of the Avengers it is too great of a price and all dying in honour and together is better than half surviving in misery and shame where as Thanos epitomises the overly logical, cold and unfeeling where the answer is a simple one when he can detach himself from it.. ish.

Now, at this point I am sure you are somewhat confused, where is my beef? Why the issue? Well I don’t have an issue with the film as a whole, I honestly think it deserves to be up there with the First Avengers Film and Winter Soldier… BUT, my issue is how Infinity War could have topped them all had it not shied off towards the end and softened a rather dark and edgy film and therefore slightly undermining the aforementioned points.

Now for the negative:

As heroes, and characters we like, go, we’re had a pretty easy ride of it, with Quick Silver being the only main permadead character I can think of in 10 years of films. Infinity War takes this safety net and nearly immediately destroys it with the death of two characters in quick succession, Heimdall and sadly Loki, it then carries on where it started and adds Gamora to the list and starts pushing towards the apparent inevitable demise of Ironman and the Cap.. not since the massacre at the start of the Transformers animated film have we Geeks been assailed with the death of so many beloved characters.

These deaths, and the nearly inevitable deaths of Avenger alums, Rodgers and or Stark, would, in my personal opinion, make this one of the best and emotionally charged Marvel films to date and that’s not even after taking into account everything else. This film was building towards something truly epic, truly unheard of, truly different BUT then something strange happens…

On two occasions, on Titan and in Wakanda, Thanos faces off against our two main heroes but despite nearly dying, they live… interesting. Ok not a twist I was expecting but I guess that’s the point. The Russo brothers wanted to keep us guessing. hmmm ok, I understand that but who else is going to get knocked off to bring me my Game of Thrones esq, WTF just happened?! OMG, why would they do that? I’m never going to stop talking about this.. ever.. moment?

With a click of his fingers and after a great line “you should have aimed for my head “ Thanos, after everything, wins and people start to disappear as he wipes out half of the universe and fulfils his balance and the culmination of his plan. This in itself isn’t an issue, far from it; it is very dark having a film where the bad guy wins at the end.. I love it. The problem is who died and their connection with up coming films.

This is it! He won, hes done it! Thanos clicks his fingers and we get an cascading evaporation of heroes…ouw we may be getting a bit of a double bluff here Russo Brothers you crafty foxes you, and we thought they were safe.. huh.. what?

Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Star Lord, Groot, Drax, Buckey, Dr Strange, Nick Fury, ( after credit scene) Black Panther and even Spider-Man. Um ok. Now for many this might be devastating end to a film with some of the universe’s favourite characters disintegrating before our very eyes  buuuuuuuuut look at the deaths and especially Spider Man, Black Panther and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

We’ve gone from a story that was making us feel like certain characters had no chance of returning, we had a genuine and concerning threat, this could have been one of the greatest films to date but at the very end, with specific deaths we are told… “aww you guys, its ok, they may be “dead” but we all know they will have more films coming up soon so there is no way we’ve permakilled them. Leave the cinema comforted in the know that everything will be reversed in the next film.” WTF GUYS!? how lame is that?!

I don’t want to be consoled, I don’t want to know whats going to happen in the next film.. I want uncertainty and questions, something to look forward to.

Had Cap or Ironman died, with say Black Widow, Bucky, Scarlet Witch, Mantis, Falcon and maybe a few other tertiary characters ( a shot of Hawkeye maybe with his family eating dinner and turning to dust) then you would have had little or no option but to think this was permanent and so giving Thanos’s victory a more definitive and potentially unchangeable end.. instead of shock you would have been devastated and like a Game of Thrones book / episode it would have burned into your mind for ever as the greatest and saddest super hero film of all time.It would have also really challenged you for the next film and not sign posted how it was going to end.

As it is, the Russo brothers have basically got rid of all the new characters / franchises and are leaving us with the old Avengers team, ready to do battle and go all Quantum Leap, “putting right what once went wrong” . Thing is, i feel it is very likely we will get a few permadeaths in End Game (I think that’s what they are calling it) but even if Cap and or Ironman snuff it then I’m not sure if i’ll care as much. Sure i’ll be upset because i love them as heroes but End Game will just be about putting right a wrong, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain, unlike Infinity War where it was more desperate and where they had everything to lose; deaths therefore would have more gravitas and meaning.

I loved the film, truly did, up until the end which just made me feel, well, slightly cheated and disappointed. I’m not mad at you Russo brothers, i’m disappointed. You had something amazing, something unique, something that could have gone down in history as the all time greatest Superhero film, but to save a few peoples feelings you chickened out and gave us an ending we knew wouldn’t stick.. shame.. shame…shame.

oh and on a random note

Where the hell is Valkyrie? And Why the Feck has the hulk turned into a stroppy teenager?!

So there it is ladies and gents, my view on the matter.. an amazing film that was tainted by a end it didn’t deserve.

If you agree, disagree, bit of both, or have other views and feelings about it then please comment below and make sure to share, like and get involved!