Avengers: Infinity War review: Spectacular action but hard to follow for casual fans

Hollywood used to make films. Now they create universes. Avengers: Infinity War is the 19th film in the multi-strand odyssey and if you’re fully invested in the superheroes, sidekicks and subplots you should have a great time with this surprisingly nippy 149-minute adventure.

But casual viewers may find themselves feeling uncomfortably sympathetic with the film’s big baddie.

Villains have often been the weakest link in the series but Josh Brolin’s Thanos is no one-note space Nazi.

Intriguingly, this purple warlord actually wants to save the universe. It’s his methods that pit him against the superhero team: he wants to save it by culling half its population.

As Infinity War throws the major and minor characters from Guardians Of The Galaxy, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Black Panther and Doctor Strange into the mix, you can see his point. 

Overcrowding is now a big threat to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If they want to keep older viewers onside, they need to hand out crib sheets or kill off a few heroes. Directing siblings the Russo Brothers don’t help matters by scattering their army of superheroes across the galaxy.

A bewildering (if you didn’t stay for the last mid-credit teaser) opening scene in deep space sets Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a revenge mission with Thanos and flunkeys.

Meanwhile in New York, Iron Man (Downey Jr) is reunited with the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and starts exchanging wisecracks with Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange.

I was racking my ailing memory for the whereabouts of Captain America (Chris Evans) and his allies, when a caption popped up to inform me I was now in “Scotland” to watch Paul Bettany’s The Vision whisper sweet nothings to Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch with whom he probably paired up with in a previous film.

As Thanos is seeking to reunite the magical “Infinity Stones” (a standard comic book movie plot device), Bettany seemed most at danger in any forthcoming cull. He had, as he helpfully reminded me, one of them embedded in his bonce in a pivotal moment in 2015’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

As Thanos closes in on Earth we jump across various planets with increasingly funny names, while more familiar faces come back into play. When Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord meets Thor there’s some funny back and forth as he tries to ape Thor’s deep voice and dreadful English accent.

And there’s more fun when Spider-Man swings into action. Tom Holland’s webslinger once again provides some youthful enthusiasm to this ageing superhero supergroup.

Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), perhaps because he was the star of the previous instalment, has to be content with a smattering of lines but at least the big finale takes place in his kingdom of Wakanda.

As the story will only be concluded in next year’s Avengers 4, it felt more like half a box set rather than an actual movie. But the spectacular action scenes, the quip-heavy dialogue and Brolin’s surprisingly soulful villain kept things ticking over.