Review of Avengers: Infinity War (2018) by Dann M — 03 Oct 2018

Watching this a second time didn't alter my feelings about it. I like it. I don't think it's amazing, but it does what it should do. What I think is interesting about it is that it highlights very clearly what the current Marvel films do well and why they tend to be divisive.

What Disney has done, partly through acquiring the license to so many characters, but also through a lot of diligence, is really capture on film a lot of what is enjoyable about comic books ... the large world full of interrelated characters who appear in each other stories and build up a shared lore over the years.

This is the kind of thing you expect TV to do well, but not movies given the expense and long time frames, so it's fascinating to see this form of serial storytelling really working. This film in particular feels more like a big even series of comics than a film.

It tells a big story full of characters in a more episodic structure and just assumes you know who all the characters are and understand the backstory that has accumulated over the last few years. I think this is fascinating and points towards the potential of telling different kinds of stories on film.

It's also a film that is bound to frustrate anyone expecting it to have a normal act structure and character development.