Glad to have several authors on this movie review as we review Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War” with Sarah Katz and P.J. Reed and Rosemary A Johns. “Infinity War” is the latest in Marvels Avengers franchise which is a finale of sorts to the years long story of the “Avengers” movie which started in 2012.
As you can imagine I am very very happy to have these talented and hand picked authors here with me on this movie review. All of these authors not only have awesome books which you should check out but I asked for their input based on both their approachability and upcoming and rising talent in the science fiction and fantasy genres. Just take a look at each of their book covers just to start out with. Each one is a work of art in itself and I am flattered that these authors have contributed to this fun review of Marvels Infinite War review.
Spoilers!!! Warning!!! Spoilers!!!!
William: I loved all the Avengers movies and in this “Infinity War” it was so packed full of great scenes I don’t know where exactly to start. The plot centers around Thanos attempting to gain all of what are called Infinity Stones to wear on a special gauntlet which will allow him to control many aspects of our universe such as time, space, soul, reality, and mind I believe…anyone correct me if I am wrong on this, but he goes so far as to do the unthinkable to gain one of the stones.
You get to see all of our favorite Marvel superheroes, including of course..Iron Man, Captain American, Black Panther and others in this action filled movie.
The good: I thought the movie was so full of good stuff I don’t even know where to begin. The action was good, the humor was great, and we have a surprise which will be sure to excite fans of “Game of Thrones”.
Favorite Scenes: I really felt the emotional impact of Thanos gaining one of his stones was quite emotional and a bit unexpected. He does gain the stone but at such a great cost that you really have to wonder about his choices and if gaining the stone was worth the sacrifice. This does highlight how the film explores the lines between good and evil. Thanos himself believes that he is the good guy and everyone is trying to stop him from doing what he believes, however misplaced, overall good for the universe.
I loved the ending battles, and afterward the end was quite unexpected. You don’t really expect to have it end the way it did with so many characters “fading into the wind” as I see it. So that being said all of the big battle scenes were well done and enjoyable to see. I loved them, and especially seeing Iron Man and Spider man in the same scenes and fighting together was a good choice for them to make with this.
I enjoyed seeing Dr Strange and Tony Stark interact as well, that was very entertaining to see them try to match wits with each other and these two very intelligent heroes was a good match and pair.
Not so good: For me, the only downside was not so much a bad thing as it is understandable with the time constraint they had with so many characters to deal with they had to cram so much into just about two hours and I felt the film jumped around slightly a bit too much for me, it didn’t get much time to follow all of the characters which of course is understandable given the constraints but the other downside was you felt like at times you were trying to follow more than a few story lines, but otherwise they alleviated this problem with the overall good plot and good pairing of the characters.
Final Thoughts: Go see it!!
About William: William runs the website Celthric and enjoys running Celthric.com.
Sarah:
Good: This was the first Marvel film to actually make me cry. Furthermore, it is the only piece of cinematic or televised media to actually make me fear a character. The motives behind Thanos’s desire to ‘fix’ the universe for purposes of population control and decreased resource depletion actually makes a disturbing amount of sense. Simply stated, the Mad Titan is a villain who makes “The Walking Dead”’s famed Negan look like a preschooler.
Moving beyond the simultaneously relatable, infuriating and petrifying villain, “Infinity War” sports a strong cast of characters, each with impressive acting abilities that evoke audience sympathies for different reasons. All with various distinct powers, the performances given range from tragic to invigorating, and all relationship dynamics are wholly believable.
Finally, seeing the culmination in arcs of many of the characters whom we have grown to love individually is wholly rewarding.
Favorite Scenes: My hands-down favorite scene would have to be Thor’s attempt to vanquish Thanos with his new hammer, Stormbreaker. The rage and might in this scene is absolutely exhilarating. Perhaps bizarrely, my other two favorite scenes are wholly upsetting – Peter Parker’s death as she succumb’s to Thanos’s will in Tony Stark’s arms; Wanda’s sacrifice of Vision only for it to be fruitless when Thanos reverses time; and finally, Nebula’s torture at the hands of Thanos, resulting in Gamora revealing a secret to the Titan. All of these character dynamics make these scenes incredible to watch.
Not so Good: I have to agree with William on the ‘too many characters’ front. All of these separate storylines combined with the crossover of “Avengers” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” makes it difficult for viewers of either fandom or the other to keep track of all on-screen events. Even for folks who have viewed all of the backstory films for each of these characters, the web of story arcs – while woven as well as can be expected for one film – does grow rather dizzying.
Final Thoughts: I died three times during this film. Once with Loki, once with T’Challa and the third time with Peter Parker. As always though, Nebula remains my favorite Marvel character and the object of my vigorous affection. Her heartbreaking backstory and relentless rage never cease to enthrall, and I cannot wait for her revenge on Thanos.
About Sarah: Sarah is a fiction writer and author of the sci-fi novel, “Apex Five”. Outside of writing, she works in cyber security, enjoys traveling and occasionally gets lost out in nature or on Wikipedia.
P.J. Reed
Review: I am a huge fan of Stan Lee – his wit and imagination are phenomenal. The characters he creates are fascinating, each one seemingly gifted with a superhuman power but each harbours a tragedy which makes them very human. My family and I were very excited when ‘Infinity Wars’ came to the cinema. The majority of our favourite Marvel characters all in one movie was too good to be true.
The question on my mind was – could the film do justice to all the characters and still deliver an exciting plotline.
The Good: I am delighted to report I found the plot fun, a super charged Thanos planning to decimate the world population was enough of a plot to hold everyone’s attention. The highlight of the film for me however, was the interactions between the characters. The struggle for dominance between the two alpha male’s of Thor and Star Lord was hilarious as was Drax’s infatuation with the Thor. Drax is one of my favourite Marvel characters and every scene he was in was simply hilarious. Dr Strange and Ironman also had an intriguing relationship with some great dialogue.
The SFX were very good. The different worlds were believable, interesting, and well-constructed. I particularly liked the dark ending – sometimes bad people do win.
Favourite Scene: Was when the crew of meet Thor and are overwhelmed by Thor’s manliness and godlike physique.
A Word of Caution: The only word of caution I have is that this is a multi-character/ multi-world story so younger children might not follow some of the plot changes but for adults the plot jumps make the story go faster and is a lot more interesting than most films
About P.J. Reed: Who am I? I am a dark fantasy and horror writer from Devon, England. The first book in my warlock series, ‘The Torcian Chronicles’ is available on Amazon. I am now working on a twisted paranormal horror called ‘Welcome To Witherleigh’ which will be published in 2019.
Rosemary
Good: I’m a massive Marvel fan! I both write and love the anti-hero, and most of these heroes skirt the line of villain as closely as Loki does hero. Plus, I love comedy in with the mix and these scripts are the sharpest being put out in superhero moviedom.
Thor:Ragnarok and the Guardians of the Galaxy films are edgy, dark, and hit me right in the funny bone: it’s like someone looked right into my freaky brain and then wrote my worlds.
So, I was excited to see Avengers: Infinity War include my favourite characters from across Marvel: I don’t use epic loosely with this film.
But the reason it truly works? The unexpected interactions between the characters. No one phones in their performance; no one steals the scene. It’s a rare film where the large cast bounces off each other. And although it must have been hell to direct, it was heaven to watch.
Favourite Scenes: I hold my hands up, as a lover of all things rebel, I’m a Loki fan. So (SPOILER ALERT!), his last minute ‘redemption’ and death (*sniffle*) was beautifully done…and at the same time the worst thing in the film.
BUT it sets up some of the best scenes for Thor. My favourite (and hats off to the writers for always going with the unexpected), pairing in the film was Thor and Peter Quill (Star-Lord). Their attempts to ‘out hero’ each other were so perfect, the actors deserve self-deprecation brownie points!
Not So Good: My not so popular opinion…? The films attempt to turn round Thanos, rather than making him the typical villain was clever, but almost too clever. The parallels were obvious…and almost so thickly laid on that the ending lost some of its shock value (because that’s what genocidal dictators do). Although, here’s my favourite meme: Dr Strange has seen the ending of Infinity Wars 14 million times and never spoiled anything… Be Dr Strange.
Yeah, funny if you’ve SEEN the end of Infinity Wars…
Final Thoughts: I didn’t fall in love as I did with other recent Marvel films because Infinity War had a far more serious intent than strokes my inner rebel anti-hero. It didn’t reach the crazy inventive heights of Thor:Ragnarok but then it also broke my heart. So, that’s something…? I’ve never left a cinema and had it feel more like a wake. So, that’s also something too. And something else? I’ll be watching Avengers: Infinity Wars II just to see who’s really survived…
About Rosemary A Johns: ROSEMARY A JOHNS is an award-winning, #1 Amazon bestselling fantasy author of the REBEL ANGELS and REBEL VAMPIRES series. She’s also a music fanatic and paranormal anti-hero addict. She writes snarky angels, savage vampires, and epic battles.
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