Director: Russo Brothers
When Civil War came, I was one of the few to not be impressed by the outcome, not just because of my over expectations, but also because the Russo brothers went for a subaltern formula compared to the one employed in the best Marvel movie, Winter Soldier which they helmed. With Infinity War, they are back to their best formula, viz. episodic thriller.
Let’s just digress to understand what an episodic thriller is. An episodic film is one where each block of the film is treated as an episode with an ending that pushes the stakes up for the next episode. When a thriller element is added to this type of screenplay, besides upping the ante through a singular goal tying all the episodes together, it makes the audience focus on what’s next rather than nitpicking any shortcomings.
In Infinity War, this format solves a perennial problem of star-studded films (DC please take note). It takes the focus out of the individual stars and puts the spotlight on the goal, thus avoiding fans’ disappointments that their favourite superhero didn’t get enough screen time. The spotlight here is Thanos and his mission to get all 6 Infinity stones. The movie starts and ends with him. Every one of the Avenger travels around him. Would this have been enough to make Infinity War good? Possibly. But the Russo brothers clearly weren’t aiming for just good. Take for example how they have used a logistical decision to their advantage. Anyone writing a film of this scale would have said let’s divide the teams into small manageable groups. The brothers imbibe this operational decision and fit it perfectly with the episodic format of the film by making each group take anchor in an episode. This not just avoids clutter on the screen, but also strengthens the emotional arc of the individual episodes. In crux, the movie is all about the spotlight moving towards individual anchor groups and vice-versa, like a ballet, with the mission of Infinity stones at the back of the hand, literally. To quote Thanos, the movie is thus perfectly balanced.
So if one follows the film through the journey of Thanos, and not through the Avengers, one wouldn’t nitpick that the girls didn’t get a better deal on screen, or that Black Panther ends up as a glorified background. It would possibly also mean you would understand why Dr. Strange did what he did and walk out of the movie hall in anticipation of Captain Marvel.
PS: As I came out of the movie hall seeing the shock on each person's face, my mind went back to the universe-altering cliffhanger that DC's Flashpoint Paradox provides. It's sad that DC couldn't succeed in that vision. Hopefully, something happens in the next decade.
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