Directors: Anthony & Joe Russo
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Chadwick Boseman, Tom Holland, Mark Ruffalo, Sebastian Stan, Dave Bautista, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Karen Gillan, Josh Brolin
Plot: The Avengers, the Guardians Of The Galaxy and Wakanda's finest join forces to stop Thanos, who is on a quest to collect all six Infinity Stones which will allow him to destroy half the universe.
Review: Ten years and eighteen films have all boiled down to this: a movie with an all star cast and nearly every superhero in the MCU involved. To call this an epic would be an understatement. Indeed, Avengers: Infinity War is the epic of epics.
So how does one consolidate all these heroes in one movie and make sure everyone gets their time to shine? Directors Anthony and Joe Russo, working again with writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, divide the story into separate arcs, with each arc containing a certain number of heroes. All these arcs then converge into one finale, and I have to say, the Russos make it pretty seamless as they move from one arc to another, and because the action is ever present and the story keeps moving along, there is never a dull moment, not one. The 150 minute running time is barely felt, honestly.
But what of the heroes? Will some of them perish? Well, sadly yes. But it is to be expected, since this is a universal level threat, and certain deaths must take place. Thanos, the big baddie, and his children, the Black Order, do a tremendous amount of damage that poor Loki would be envious of. The good news is that the Russos make those deaths mean something, a fact sorely missing from Thor Ragnarok. Another good thing about this film is Thor's sudden penchant for humor kept to a bare minimum (thank you Russos).
Action wise, there is plenty, as mentioned. But unlike say, Michael Bay's last Transformers film, the CGI doesn't overwhelm the senses. Every sequence is fast paced yet clearly shot, even scenes of mass destruction look excellent. The Russos needed to make this film outdo every Marvel film that has come before it and to that end, they have succeeded.
The entire cast is on point, with some of them having more screen time than the rest. I can say that Chris Hemsworth's Thor, Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man and Zoe Saldana's Gamora have more time than the others, with Benedict Cumberbatch's Dr. Strange, Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany's Vision and Chris Pratt's Star-Lord coming in a close second. Chris Evans wins the best entrance award as Steve Rogers (I so wanted to mark out in that moment), but the show stealer would have to be Josh Brolin as Thanos. Thanos is basically someone who wants to solve the problem of overpopulation, but does not care about the value of life, hence the "destruction of the universe" quest. He isn't just a formidable opponent, he actually makes good arguments for his case. Brolin successfully rises above his CGI/motion capture character and gives a performance to be proud of. Oh, there were also a few cameos to behold, some unexpected, and some unwanted (a certain girlfriend of a certain billionaire comes to mind).
Are there any downsides? Well, sorta. A few heroes do get minimal screen time, I won't mention who. Other than that, I honestly can't think of any.
Needless to say, if you've been following the MCU all these years, you'd be crazy not to watch this. It's Marvel's version of Lord Of The Rings, and just like that franchise, there's more to come, as this isn't simply the end of all things, it's also a new beginning. Highly recommended. (9.5/10)
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