Should you watch Avengers: Doomsday in Infinity Vision? Here are my thoughts after Avengers Endgame: Encore…
IMAX vs Infinity Vision is the latest format war
by Daniel Furn · What Hi-Fi?
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Even if you’re not a Marvel fan, you are probably aware that a little film called Avengers: Doomsday is coming out later this year.
The mega superhero team-up has made headlines for the return of Robert Downey Jr. and several classic X-Men characters, as well as its shared release date with sci-fi epic Dune: Part Three (on ‘Dunesday’, as the internet has dubbed it).
But for AV fans, this isn’t the only rivalry occurring that weekend. After Dune secured IMAX exclusivity for a whopping three weeks, Disney responded by making its very own premium cinema format: Infinity Vision.
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Infinity Vision only made its debut with the Avengers Endgame: Encore release, and is being heavily marketed by Disney as the way to see Doomsday. But is it worth going out of your way to see this format? And will it really be enough to compete with the established big-screen benefits of IMAX? Let’s see…
What is Infinity Vision?
Infinity Vision is Disney’s new cinema certification, which calls for screens to meet certain specifications. Infinity Vision-approved cinemas must have a screen width of at least 45 feet (around 14 metres), a Dolby Atmos or 7.1 sound system, and brightness levels reaching either 14 footlamberts in 2D or 6 footlamberts in 3D.
Unlike IMAX, which uses proprietary custom-built cameras and projection systems, Infinity Vision does not feature new technology. It is, instead, a certification programme, meaning that many screens around the world qualify for Infinity Vision without having to make any changes to their set-up.
You would be forgiven for thinking otherwise, however, given Disney’s aggressive marketing and tying it to one of its biggest releases of the decade. Our concern is, given how much Disney is hyping Infinity Vision, that cinema-goers may end up expecting a more transformative experience than what is essentially a rather nice screen and sound system.
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Infinity Vision screens should be clearly labelled when booking, though we found that wasn’t always the case. Both I and senior staff writer Lewis Empson went to see Avengers Endgame: Encore on a Vue EPIC screen. Despite being the chain’s premium screen, it was not clear when booking whether this was an Infinity Vision screening or not; Lewis’s cinema wasn’t even listed on the Infinity Vision website.
How was Avengers Endgame: Encore in Infinity Vision?
Not all Infinity Vision screens will be the same – but first impressions for me were promising.
I saw Avengers Endgame: Encore on a Vue EPIC screen, which is handily the biggest non-IMAX screen I have had the pleasure of viewing. It’s not quite the all-encompassing, wall-covering scale of IMAX, but it’s safe to say the size impressed.
And the picture? Also a step up from your average screen. The enhanced brightness and, in this instance, HDR, made the previously somewhat drab Avengers: Endgame pop. The climactic battle is great for this in particular, with shimmering portals, colourful costumes and the many glowing superpowers, Arc Reactors and Infinity Stones all standing out nicely off the screen.
Detail is impressive too: when a shrunken Ant-Man clings onto Tony Stark’s beard, we can clearly pick out individual hairs and shorter stubble, as well as the lining of his shirt.
A welcome surprise was also that Infinity Vision did not cost extra. The Vue EPIC showing did cost more than one of its regular screens, but it was the same price I paid for a non-Infinity Vision viewing of Pressure a few weeks earlier, and I spied several regular Infinity Vision showings at no extra cost. This will, of course, depend on your local cinema.
So could an Infinity Vision screening rival an experience like IMAX? Not in our books.
Infinity Vision did offer a top-tier cinema experience, but it was never going to top the specialist IMAX cinema screens that have been in development for decades. Nowhere was this more evident than the sound. The audio in Avengers Endgame: Encore was clear, bombastic and nicely immersive. But after experiencing The Odyssey and its thunderous, visceral audio in IMAX earlier this year, the Infinity Vision sound felt much more run-of-the-mill.
Should you watch Avengers: Doomsday in Infinity Vision?
It all comes down to expectations. Disney is perhaps overselling the benefits of Infinity Vision, in our opinion, and if you’re expecting a night-and-day difference similar to the likes of IMAX or other premium formats, you might come away disappointed.
But, given that Avengers: Doomsday is not releasing in IMAX, it might be your best option. What Infinity Vision does do is highlight the best screens in your local cinema. It removes the potluck element from cinema booking (I am still heartbroken from watching the visual feast Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on a tiny screen) and this way guarantees a big screen with top-notch picture and sound credentials.
Infinity Vision may also encourage cinema chains to upgrade their screens – Disney told IndieWire that at least two exhibitors were looking to upgrade to 7.1 sound to get the certification.
With 52 per cent of the gross of Avengers Endgame: Encore’s opening weekend coming from Infinity Vision screens, this may well be a format that is here to stay. It may have lost the AV battle to IMAX, but it certainly has its uses – we’ll see which the public backs come Dunesday…
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