'Avengers: Infinity War' review: Only the Marvel Cinematic Universe can go to infinity and beyond

"Avengers: Infinity War" (Photo provided to MLive.com by Disney/Marvel)

This is it. The end. Nothing is greater than infinity - except the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is the only realm capable of venturing beyond battle for oh, you know, everything, ever.

"Avengers: Infinity War" is the 19th movie in a franchise launched a decade ago, on a wing and a prayer and a lot of wise marketing expenditures, with "Iron Man." It began a revolutionary cinematic serial that all leads up to a battle to end all battles, at least until the next one to end all, etc., comes along. And here I set aside my cynicism to confirm that, yes, indeed, it's successful in achieving the type of grandiose scale we haven't seen in movies yet. When it seems as if we've seen infinity comic book films, this one truly is a landmark.

Of course, it's not as pure and lovable as 2012's "The Avengers," or as thematically relevant as this year's other smash, "Black Panther," or as concise and impactful as 2014's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Perhaps the bar is set low when a movie attempts to balance 30 or so familiar heroic visages - each played by stars capable of headlining their own pictures, comic-book or not - and does so adequately. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo ("Winter Soldier," "Captain America: Civil War") do most of them justice, partly because they've been previously established, and are now primed and ready to engage in massive conflict for life, the universe and everything.

"Infinity War" begins en medias res, that Shakespearean technique wherein the narrative opens amidst significant dramatic action. Of course, in a sense, every MCU movie opens this way, considering the nature of the franchise, but never mind. It picks up shortly after 2017's "Thor: Ragnarok,"which left the survivors of Asgardian apocalypse aboard a ship helmed by Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston), with Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) in tow.

The evil galactic purple-skinned giant-humanoid force known as Thanos - who had limited screen time in a few other preceding films, and is played by Josh Brolin - has boarded the Asgardian ship. Loki has one of the six Infinity Stones, and Thanos wants them all, because when arranged on his Infinity Gauntlet, he'll have the power to enact genocide on a universal scale, no hyperbole.

Don't Edit

"Avengers: Infinity War" (Photo provided to MLive.com by Disney/Marvel)

These type of plots always focus on a thing of great power created by some amoral egomaniac - but in this case, the Infinity Stones were forged at the Big Bang, so who's to blame except some god or universal force or whatever? And that's where the film's modest rumination on destiny rears itself, in the Thanos character. He believes his fate is to cull the herd, because he claims the universe is out of balance, above its finite capacity to support life. So he's going to eliminate half of it. All life, that is. If a series of stars melted down simultaneously in a universal cataclysm, we'd accept it as the cold cruelty of nature, but such power, shouldn't be governed by a conscious force.

As advertised, the film sprawls and sprawls, but finds narrative focus in Thanos, who enjoys the film's primary dramatic arc. Those who have been paying attention know he's "Guardians of the Galaxy" character Gamora's (Zoe Saldana) adopted father. There's a flashback to the adoption scene, which involves Thanos tenderly taking a little green-skinned girl's hand, while her people are massacred in the background. The other sibling, Nebula (Karen Gillan) is also involved, solidifying the familial melodrama that lends Thanos something of an emotional arc, and renders him not just an intimidating physical presence, but also a psychological manipulator. I'm not sure it's entirely convincing, but it is refreshing within the context of a franchise that's been excellent in many avenues, but developing interesting villains isn't always one of them.

Anyway, back to the opening scene: Loki fights Thanos. Hulk fights Thanos. Thor fights Thanos. Thanos has a counter-maneuver for all significant points of power. He's almost untouchable. He can absorb a Hulk power blow, but later, there's the implication that he's vulnerable to sharp things. I never quite understood the capacity of his endurance, although as he gathers the stones, his ability to manipulate matter and distort space-time grows.

Don't Edit

"Avengers: Infinity War" (Photo provided to MLive.com by Disney/Marvel)

Much of the rest of the incondensable plot goes as follows: Hulk/Bruce Banner crash lands in Dr. Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) sanctum. The Guardians of the Galaxy catch a distress signal and meet Thor. A space goblin and a space wizard attack New York City, adjacent to Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). Dr. Strange arrives on the scene to help Iron Man. Spider-Man (Tom Holland) hops off a school bus and swings to their aid. Hulk calls Captain America (Chris Evans) on a flip phone. Vision (Paul Bettany) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) are attacked by a space pro-wrestler and a space lady warrior, possibly the space pro-wrestler's girlfriend, if only in my fan fiction. Captain America, Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) arrive to help Vision and Scarlet Witch, just in the nick.

War Machine (Don Cheadle) gets a chance to explain that Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) won't be making an appearance. Meanwhile, on Wakanda, Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) re-arms Bucky/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and prepares his warrior-general Okoye (Danai Gurira) to aid in Earth's defense. Thor and new Guardian colleagues Rocket Raccoon (voice of Bradley Cooper, motion capture by Sean Gunn) and Teenage Groot (voice of Vin Diesel) split from the rest of the Guardians, who eventually end up on the same planet as Iron Man, Spider-Man and Dr. Strange.

It goes on like this for more than an hour. Which is fine, because even though the characters exchange a fair amount of exposition, it's very witty exposition - and it's funny enough that one-liners inspire laughter drowning out other one-liners. I'm convinced this deft and tricky storytelling strategy is an exquisite balance of artistic creativity and marketing savvy, because it inspires repeat business so we can hear the witticisms we missed.

I'll stop summarizing here, because revealing more means risking being shot into outer space myself. For a while, it's a terrific collection of moments and set pieces, which, I'm happy to report, eventually cohere in a reasonably satisfying manner. Of course, we'd be foolhardy to expect total salvation of the universe to occur in two-and-a-half hours of screen time. Don't anticipate full catharsis until a couple billion dollars more end up in the Marvel-Disney coffers: most likely after "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (release date: July, 2018), and "Captain Marvel" (March, 2019), so mark your calendars for the next still-untitled "Avengers" epic (May, 2019).

And yet, much is at stake in "Infinity War," as the title implies. It's thrilling and scary, inspiring goosebumps in elevating moments of great dramatic heroism and grandiose comic-book operatics, reminding us why we love going to the movies so much. Sure, this is the end, but it isn't the end. Maybe it's a new beginning.

This is the final film review by John Serba, after 20 years at MLive.com and its affiliates. He may be reached at me@johnserbaatlarge.com.

Don't Edit