Avengers: Infinity War is a 2018 superhero action movie directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, starring an ensemble including Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwich Boseman, Chris Hemsworth, Don Cheadle, Josh Brolin, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, and Chris Pratt.  It is the nineteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the sequel to 2012’s The Avengers and 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.  The film follows the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy who attempt to stop Thanos from collecting the Infinity Stones.

Plot:  The story picks up after the events of Thor: Ragnarok in which Thanos has decided to stop  hiring underlings and retrieve the Infinity Stones himself.  In the face of universal genocide the combined forces of The Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers, Doctor Strange, and the forces of Wakanda team up in order to stop him.  The story is really deep with an emotional weight to it and a complexity with its various characters. The movie is presented from several storylines that it does a great job of balancing really well.  These storylines shift among the characters adding further complexity to it.

The film does pick up several plot points from the previous films such as the relationship between Wanda and Vision, the re-connection of Natasha and Bruce, the fallout of the Avengers,  The Wanda/Vision subplot served as a strong point of the story.  I loved the exposition of Thanos and Gamora’s relationship and backstory.  It really shows us why Gamora hates him so much but also reveals a lot about Thanos’ motivations.

Perhaps what stands out most about the story is how much it’s about the evolution of Thanos.  The plot gives us a lot about the character; his motivations, what drives his journey, what the character sacrifices to make what can be considered the biggest genocide in the history of the fictional universe.

The film just builds and builds until it explodes during the final act with the forces of Earth taking on Thanos and his forces.  And boy is this an extremely exciting sequence.  Yes, the movie is gripping from start to finish but its final act is on epic level.  And yes, the film leaves off on a strong cliffhanger.  Now, I know a lot of people didn’t like the ending but I personally thought it was warranted.  How many movies do we see the bad guy actually win.

I loved the story Infinity War and can’t hold back how much I enjoyed this movie.  (5 out of 5)

Characters:  This is probably the biggest ensemble of superheroes every put on the big screen.  Nearly every hero from the previous films make an appearance including: Steve Rogers/Captain America, Thor Odinson, Tony Stark/Iron Man, Sam Wilson/Falcon, Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Gamora, Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange, T’Challa/Black Panther, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Rocket, Groot, James Rhodes/War Machine, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Vision, Drax the Destroyer, Bruce Banner/Hulk, Mantis, and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier.

Really liked the Black Order consisting of Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, and Cull Obsidian.  It was one thing for them to be badass but they actually had personality as well.  But let’s take a look at the star of the movie.  Thanos is probably the best villain of the entire MCU.  As a character he’s complex,  well-written, and has a certain charisma that most other villains have lacked.  As a villain, he’s completely badass.  The guy has motivation, is extremely powerful, and has a lot of personality.  He easily steals all of his scenes.

The characters are just awesome. (5 out of 5)

Cast: The cast do a fantastic job, everyone bringing their A-game.  The cast includes Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Falcon), Benedict Cumberbatch (Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange), Chadwich Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther), Chris Hemsworth (Thor Odinson), Don Cheadle (James Rhodes/War Machine), Robert Downey Jr.(Tony Stark/Iron Man), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk), Paul Bettany (Vision), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord), Vin Diesel (Groot), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Bradley Cooper (Rocket Raccoon).

My hats off to whoever signed Josh Brolin as Thanos.  He was perfectly cast for the role.  Brolin brought a certain charisma and a lot of depth to the character, while also making him menacing. Terry Notary (Cull Obsidian), Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Ebony Maw), Carrie Coon (Proxima Midnight), and Michael James Shaw (Corvus Glaive) are just as awesome.

The supporting cast is just a joy to behold.  Hell, Stan Lee even manages to make an appearance in the film.  The supporting cast includes performances by Benedict Wong (Wong), Benicio del Toro (The Collector), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), William Hurt (Thaddeus Ross), Kerry Condon (F.R.I.D.A.Y.), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Florence Kasumba (Ayo), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Peter Dinklage (Eitri), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Jacob Batalon (Ned), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), and Ross Marquand (Johann Schmidt/Red Skull).

Casting and performances all around are golden.  (5 out of 5)

Visuals:  Loved the look and feel of the movie. The special effects of the film, the camera angles, the wide shots; everything about this movie looks exceptional.

We revisit several locations such as Wakanda (Black Panther) and Knowhere (Guardians of the Galaxy) while seeing new ones like Vormir and Titan, Thanos’ homeworld.  The way the movie itself looks extremely good.  Look at all of the locations in the movie.  The presentation, the design, the wide shots all make for a great setting.

The character designs look great.  The motion capture and design for Thanos was freakin’ awesome.  Really liked him without his armor which somehow makes him look even more intimidating. The motion capture for the other characters is great as well (mainly the Black Order).  Loved the new Iron Man armor.  I didn’t think I’d like the whole nanite idea but the movie actually sold me on the concept.  I really liked the Scarlett Spider armor and the use of the mechanical arms.

Didn’t really care much for the hair color change for Black Widow (each movie seems to think that everyone has to change something to show that time has passed).

The action sequences are really fast paced and intense. One of the best fights is the Thanos fight at the end with Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis, and Nebula are taking on the Titan.  Every battle felt extremely important.

Visually, this is just a stunning film.  (5 out of 5)

Score/Music:  The score is just beautifully done bringing with it many of the MCU’s strongest themes.  Alan Silvestri is a multiple award winning composer who’s done several Marvel films and his skill in his practice really pays off.  The action is intense, the slower moments are meaningful, and the tone he sets for more of the sad moments are just touching.  Even when it comes to the sound design, it’s just brilliant.  (5 out of 5)

Writing:  Thumbs up to the writing and the direction by the Russo brothers, Anthony and Joe.  As with previous films, these two have a great idea of how to make a great character driven story.  The writing does a great job of balancing humor while maintaining a pretty serious and emotionally impactful story.  Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely did a fantastic job with the screenplay.

For fans of the comics who can’t see their favorite heroes beaten or killed, they’ll be devastated.  A lot of people die in this movie and I mean a lot.  But it is in these moments we see some pretty emotionally powerful scenes. And let’s just state it, people die and I like that because it gives edge to the story and constantly raises the stakes.

Thanos’ scenes were really good and any of the scenes with the other characters feel meaningful. There is this scene between Thanos and Wanda where he admits to knowing how she feels about killing someone you love acknowledging loss.  Scenes with Gamora show him as a father figure.  Scenes with both Doctor Strange and Tony Stark show respect.

The dialogue is rich and just as humorous and deep as previous films.  I love the back-and-forth between Stark and Strange in their initial meeting.  Thanos’ dialogue was really good.  Everything the guy said sounded meaningful.

Didn’t like that Hulk didn’t get more screentime, especially during the battle at Wakanda and possibly against Cull Obsidian.  Also, there was the romance between Bruce and Natasha that is never really touched on or resolved.

The action sequences are the bomb.  Smaller scale fights like the fight between the Hulk and Thanos have intensity just like the bigger scale ones like the battle between the Avengers and Wakandans against Thanos’ forces.

Loved the strong characterization, despite the large roster of characters.  The characters feel really important and that their decisions contribute to the overall story.  With a project of this caliber it’s very important to make the characterization pretty strong.  Marvel has done a great job of establishing its characters over the years so them sharing the spotlight didn’t feel unbalanced.  Plus, Anthony and Joe Russo have shown that they can balance a pretty big cast.  The writing and direction are just topnotch and hard to look down upon. (5 out of 5)

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The Verdict:  In the end, Avengers: Infinity War is just one of those films that deserves credit where credit is due.  This is probably the best and most significant MCU movie and it isn’t really hard to see what the hype is all about.  There are some nitpicks but they are far and few between.  The casting and performances are topnotch, the characters are memorable, the visuals are awesome, humor is great, the action intense, the score is deep, the direction and writing is topnotch.  Avengers: Infinity War gets 5 out of 5.