Avengers - Infinity War (2018)

After the events of 'Captain America - Civil War', superheroes Iron Man and Captain America are irrevocably at odds - the Avengers, led by Tony Stark, are now officially working for the United Nations under the Sokovia Accords, and Captain America is also leading a team of superheroes from the underground. Suddenly, however, they find themselves facing the greatest threat they have ever faced. They have to take on the titan Thanos, who wants to subjugate the entire galaxy with the help of the Infinity Stones. But not only the Avengers, the wizard Doctor Strange and the King of Wakanda, the Black Panther, see the villain Thanos as an enemy and a threat to Earth. The god of thunder Thor and also Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon and the other Guardians of the Galaxy want to put a stop to the villain.

»Oh, God.« These are the last words uttered by one of the surviving Avengers at the end of this movie. The battle is fought - and lost. Whether the remaining Avengers will ultimately succeed in winning the 'Infinity War' against the omnipotent Thanos will only be revealed in the second part of this saga, which will be released in cinemas in May 2019.

When Marvel Studios announced that 'Avengers - Infinity War' would be told in two parts, it already hinted that the first part of the saga would end with a cliffhanger... And what a cliffhanger it is! Not since the second part of the space opera 'Star Wars', 'The Empire Strikes Back', has there been such a brilliant, heart-wrenching and shocking ending to a mega-franchise. And by that I include the Lord of the Rings films and the Harry Potter adaptations.

It's unbelievable, but true. The film's directors, brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have successfully pulled off the seemingly impossible feat: a 149-minute film featuring over 40 (in words: forty!) characters from the Marvel movie universe and following five to six storylines in between, feels neither overstuffed nor crammed, but like the epic midseason finale in the third (season) phase of the epic meta-movie narrative surrounding Marvel's superheroes.

»Avengers - Infinity War« is the 19th film in the seemingly endless film series of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It is the fourth reunion of the Avengers. It was preceded by the first 'Avengers' film, followed by 'Avengers - Age Of Ultron' and finally 'Captain America - Civil War'. The latter film left the superhero squad torn and divided. Since then, the heroes around Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) have been under the control of the United Nations, while the heroes around Captain America (Chris Evans) lead an underground life as vigilantes.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a fugitive without a home since the events of 'Thor - Judgment Day', is the first to encounter Thanos and his followers of the so-called 'Black Brotherhood', the 'Black Order'.

And it's no different for the viewer. The Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) has only appeared in a few scenes so far. These brief appearances meant that a movie in which Thanos would play the leading role was considered to have little chance of success. But it is precisely this Thanos who is one of the film's greatest assets. Thanos is a space fascist who uses inhuman logic to give the banality of evil a computer-animated face. The dangerous and brutal thing about Thanos is his conviction to do the 'right thing'. His goal is the final solution for the universe, which he truly believes is necessary.

In view of current developments in Europe and the USA, even a superhero spectacle like 'Avengers - Infinty War' has thus become a political film. The filmmakers' answer to fascism is diversity. Only by including all parts of a society (i.e. all superheroes) can the national and fascist thinking of Thanos be combated.

And what the cruel consequences are when you let an egomaniacal despot have his way, the movie shows only too clearly at the end: millions and millions of people throughout the universe are reduced to ashes.

This movie spectacle, which only seems to be about a few 'superheroes' at first glance, almost performs the function of political education.

'Infinity War' is more than the sum of its parts. Especially for those who have seen several of the previous films.

The successful series of the Marvel Universe remains unbroken in episode 19. And the message to other movie studios trying to knit their own meta-narratives should be: Tell interesting stories about interesting characters (who happen to be superheroes) that deal with interesting socially relevant issues and critics and audiences will approve. I can only think of 'Wonder Woman', 'Logan' and 'Deadpool' that have successfully pulled off this formula outside of the Marvel movie universe.

And this day and age would really be worth having a Justice League again, a 'Justice League' that represents and defends the free democratic basic order. Even if only in the movies.