The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been delighting fans of the comics and thrilling moviegoers since 2008 when Iron Man steamrolled itself onto the big screen in an epic fashion. From the special effects to the casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, it was the complete package.
Since then Marvel hasn’t really had a blip, ignoring Thor: The Dark World and to a lesser extent, Avengers: Age of Ultron. Each film has been well worth of a rating of at least 7/10 here on The Lincolnite.
The culmination of all those films through Phase One, Phase Two and Three has come to a head in this, Avengers: Infinity War. It promises to be the biggest, baddest and most epic Marvel movie to date, but is it actually any good?
Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and the rest of the Avengers unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet – the evil and monstrous Thanos (Josh Brolin). On a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artefacts to inflict his twisted will on reality. The fate of the planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment.
Directed by Antony and Joe Russo, the masterminds behind the fantastic Captain America sequels, Infinity War picks up just after the end of Thor: Ragnarok. This starting place seems fitting and not jumping too far ahead of the finale of that film is perfect to reintroduce our beloved heroes.
And it’s befitting of mentioning Captain America: Civil War in particular as if you enjoyed the airport scene of that film, Avengers: Infinity War is definitely the movie for you. Filled to the brim with stunning action scenes, Infinity War plays out like a highlights reel of some of Marvel’s best bits.
The cast form one of the best ensembles ever put to screen, though from each of their solo outings, this is really no surprise. Seeing Black Panther, Black Widow, Captain America et al come back together is frankly, a joy and the film works best when there are as many heroes on-screen together as possible.
A highlight in this instance is Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr. Strange – prepare to jump on the Steven Strange bandwagon. After a relatively lacklustre solo outing, his character pops on the screen and really benefits from the Russo brothers zingy direction.
As is the case with many films involving such a large cast, much of the 149 minute runtime is spent following a few of them at once, each going about their own mission in relation to stopping Thanos and his possession of the Infinity stones. If I count correctly, there are 3 quests going on at once, but only two are really successful.
The third, which I’m not going to spoil here involves Thor and despite Chris Hemsworth’s usual charisma, it’s a disappointing side quest that has a whiff of the Casino planet saga in Star Wars: The Last Jedi about it.
Special effects wise, this is a $400 million movie, so you know what to expect. For the most part, the CGI from Industrial Light & Magic is seamless and really rather beautiful. The motion capture work done on Josh Brolin to turn him into Thanos is exquisite and the end result is a truly menacing villain. Elsewhere however, there are a few corners cut if you look closely enough, but I’ll leave it down to you to try to spot them.
Focusing on Thanos himself, he proves to be a fitting villain for a film this gargantuan in scale. His towering presence and almost demonic sense of entitlement completely does away with the stereotypical Marvel bad-guy problem that the MCU has been suffering with. Obviously helped massively by Brolin’s incredible performance, Thanos is up there with Loki in terms of sheer entertainment value.
Nevertheless, Avengers: Infinity War is not a perfect film and it would be wrong of me to pretend it was. Despite its massive length, elements do feel rushed from time-to-time and cramming 20+ characters into a film was never going to be a slam dunk. Some moments that should have deep resonance really don’t reach the emotion they were clearly intended to do, and that’s because of the film’s need to tie up as much of the plot as possible. Thankfully, from a tonal perspective, the Russo brothers manage to keep the balance almost perfect and it’s a vast improvement over Joss Whedon’s disjointed Age of Ultron.
My biggest issue with the film however, is the ending. Avengers: Infinity War is not a film you come to the end of and applaud. In fact, the main response from the entire screening of the film I was watching was a collective groan as the end credits begin to roll. Despite the promise that Infinity War would work as a standalone movie; it just doesn’t. It’s very much a starting chapter for what comes next in Avengers 4. But we need to wait just over a year for the concluding chapter to arrive in UK cinemas, and that is incredibly infuriating.
Overall, Avengers: Infinity War is a culmination of everything Marvel has been working towards for a decade. In its favour are an incredible cast, that trademark MCU humour and some stunning action sequences, but these are offset by an infuriating ending and a lack of emotional heft to the film’s inevitable darker moments.
This may definitely be the biggest movie in the MCU and it’s definitely the 2nd best Avengers movie, but it’s not quite up there with the very best.
Avengers: Infinity War rating: 7.5/10
Spotted an error? Please notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
An avid lover of all things film, Adam Brannon has grown up with a huge passion for cinema that can be traced right back to his favourite childhood movie, Steven Spielberg's smash hit, Jurassic Park.
After graduating from the University of Lincoln with a degree in journalism, he now writes film reviews for his own website, Movie Metropolis and for the Press Association.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
A burglar with six previous convictions, who smashed his way into a house and stole hundreds of pounds worth of property, was jailed for 45 months at Lincoln Crown Court on Monday.
Andrew Seward, who has six previous convictions for house burglary, climbed over a neighbour’s fence before smashing his way through the doors at the back of his victim’s home in St Mary’s Road, Skegness.
Stephen Gosnell, prosecuting, told the court: “An untidy search of the property was conducted by the defendant.
“Everything was strewn around the bedroom and he had also searched the living room.”
Seward escaped with two boxes of jewellery, clothing, perfume and food but was traced because he cut himself on the glass of the French doors as he entered the house.
DNA tests were carried out on blood found at the scene and he was arrested at his home nine days later.
The burglary took place when the occupiers were out for just 90 minutes.
Mr Gosnell said: “The loss of these items is described as irreplaceable by the victim.
“The estimate of the value of the items stolen was £1,500. Shoring up the property cost a further £210 and a new door cost £165.”
Seward, 37, of Morris Gardens, Skegness, admitted a charge of burglary of the property on December 7, 2020.
Neil Sands, in mitigation, said: “He apologises unreservedly for this.
“He had been making real progress. He was released halfway through his last sentence and had been out for over two years.”
Mr Sands said that Seward struggled to cope after learning that his nephew had cancer and he then turned to drugs and alcohol.
“He had just started a relationship with a young lady. She has indicated that when he comes out they have a future together and he will have a settled home. It is his intention to use his time during this sentence to learn a trade.”
Judge John Pini QC, passing sentence, told Seward: “You have a bad record with six previous convictions for dwelling house burglary.
“I hope that you are able to learn a trade and that when you are released from custody you can earn an honest living.”
A group of urban explorers who travelled from three different counties to look around derelict buildings were caught and fined in Grantham for breaching lockdown rules.
The group, which consisted of six people from three different counties across the country, travelled to Grantham on Saturday, January 16 to look around an abandoned hospital on Manthorpe Road.
Police were made aware of the group trying to gain access to the derelict building at around 11pm over the weekend.
All six people were caught by Lincolnshire Police and issued with £200 fines for breaking lockdown guidelines.
All were first time offenders, hence the £200 fine, but it will be reduced to £100 if the fine is paid within 14 days.
Sgt Dan McCormack of the Lincolnshire force put out a tweet on Sunday saying it’s “not on” and “not essential”.
6 Covid fines issued to group of ‘urban explorers’ who have travelled from 3 different counties to have a look around the derelict parts of the hospital at #Grantham. Not on. Not essential and simply a breach of the lockdown. #Covid#Lockdown#Fines
Kerrin Wilson, assistant chief constable at Lincolnshire Police, called the group “COVIDIOTS” in a tweet and slammed their antics.
She said: “These people are dangerous, they are putting people’s lives at risk.
“Lincolnshire Police will continue to do all we can to tackle this and support the public health ethos.
But it is also my colleagues who are at risk because of these behaviours!”
These people are not just #COVIDIOTS they are dangerous. They are putting peoples lives at risk 😡@LincsPolice will continue to do all we can to tackle this & support the public health ethos. But it is also my colleagues who are at risk because of these behaviours! #selfishhttps://t.co/ENrPSlj2jb
— Kerrin Wilson QPM #KeepYourDistance (@Kerrinwilson999) January 17, 2021
A West Lindsey District Councillor will call on the authority to express “extreme concerns” over a potential withdrawal of health services from Gainsborough’s John Coupland Hospital.
In a motion before full council next Monday (January 25), Liberal Democrat Councillor Matt Boles will say: “Following the removal of various services over several years at John Coupland Hospital, there is now speculation that consultant led outpatient services are also to be withdrawn.”
He will call for the leader of the authority to write to United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust chiefs “explaining [West Lindsey] is extremely concerned to protect services at John Coupland Hospital,” and seeking confirmation of the move.
“We all appreciate that the COVID-19 pandemic is stretching NHS services, but the impact of such a withdrawal of services from Gainsborough would have similar far-reaching consequences to both the physical and mental well-being of town residents as the short-term impact of COVID,” he said.
He called for details of a recovery plan to be released to help manage the long-term impact on Gainsborough residents.
Director of Finance and Digital for ULHT, Paul Matthew, confirmed the trust was considering changing how it delivered “some outpatient services at some peripheral sites,” but said details are yet to be decided.
“We will be undertaking a comprehensive public engagement exercise in the near future to help in shaping the future service arrangements,” he said.
“Some colleagues on our peripheral sites were put on notice for redeployment, however this process has now been stopped.”
Whatsapp
