Just a short way off of being epic or a masterpiece but lives up to all expectations

Rating: 9/10 (30 April 2018)

First of all before my review of the film, I think we all need to say a huge thanks to Marvel Studios/Kevin Feige for the last 10 years of hugely entertaining films that they have gave to the whole world, if your a fan or not, what Marvel Studios has achieved will likely never be replicated or done again by any other film studio and you have to congratulate them on their huge success, so thank you Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige for releasing in my view, the most fun, most entertaining movies anyone will ever watch in their entire lives. I personally think Marvel Studios could bring out a movie about a garden fence or a broom and it would still be a box office hit and be the most entertaining thing you'll ever watch. Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige simply have a Midas touch, everything they do literally does turn to gold, albeit box-office gold, long may they dominate and be as successful as possible.
This was always going to be a hugely ambitious project, squeezing every major character into this movie from the first 10 years of films was always going to be a difficult thing to do, but I believe they did fantastic in giving each character screen time, others have more screen time such as Thor, Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Thanos, I would have liked to have seen more of Captain America, Black Panther and Scarlet Witch but I realise not every character could have as equal screen time as other characters simply because characters like Doctor Strange etc are more key to the films plot/story. You do have to wonder if maybe some minor characters were needed or not, as there are a few who really have no lines such as Black Widow, Bucky, Falcon and some others, it did feel as though these characters are there just for the sake of it of it although in theory they didn't need to be. But kudos to the Russo Brothers for managing to give each character their own part to play. I think the run time was just about right clocking in at 2 hours and 40 minutes, this never dragged as there was so much going on and it really does keep you glued to your seat not knowing what is coming next.
Thanos, I do confess I had a feeling that Thanos wasn't going to be portrayed the right way, I actually thought that he would be just a similar villain just like Loki and other weaker villains in the MCU. But this is the Russo Brothers we are talking about, no way were they going to get Thanos wrong. In the first opening scene you will fear him in an instant as he takes out The Hulk, literally decimates him, from this moment the audience know that Thanos isn't one you wan't to mess with and you will know that the Avengers etc are going to have to do something remarkable to defeat him. This is a villain who wants to wipe out half of humanity and you will clearly understand his motivations for doing so, maybe the world needs a Thanos as currently with the world population in real life getting bigger and bigger each year, there might be a time when we all can't live on this earth, back to my review and not politics/climate change lol. Anyway, Thanos is done close to perfection, the CGI does not look out of place once and you would think it is Josh Brolin in a suit or costume, he looks that real, speaking of which, Josh Brolin absolutely nails the part, the voice, emotion and for looking menacing, perfectly cast again from Marvel Studios, you will simply wan't to see much more of Thanos, unfortunately in next years Part 2/Avengers 4 he will obviously be defeated which is a shame. Even Thanos collecting all Infinity Stones is done perfectly, I won't spoil for anyone who is yet to watch the film but what he does with some of the Infinity Stones is great to see.
There is so much action in this film, one of the best battles is when Iron Man, Star Lord, Drax, Mantis, Spiderman and Doctor Strange are battling Thanos and the Avengers actually look as though they have defeated him by removing the Infinity Gauntlet which has all the Infinity Stones on, this is a stand out scene as you have a team up seen for the first time, it is great seeing the Guardians interact with Stark, Doctor Strange interacting with Spiderman, for me the best one had to be Thor meeting the Guardians on their ship, Star Lord getting a bit jealous of Thor's muscles. Another highlight is the clash of egos between Strange and Stark, all new team ups are done perfectly also and fingers crossed in next part we will see more. Action scenes are thrilling, especially when battling Thanos.
The end was a bit of a strange one for me, and for many others and it won't be to everyone's liking, again I don't spoil for anyone yet to see this, but it is probably not the best ending as everyone knows it will be reversed in the next part. I guess it is a slight criticism of Marvel Studios in that they announce their schedule for the next five years or so, so you know who will survive and who will be brought back via the Time Stone. Other than the ending and not much screen time for fan favourites such as Cap, Black Widow, Hulk and others, there isn't much more to fault about the film, I did leave the cinema thinking where was that epic battle scene? whereas they are more in small doses rather than on a large Lord of the Rings scale, there is a battle in Wakanda but the action cuts away from there some times to another battle, it was best to cut to different battles as all groups are in different places during the movie, it would have been hard to have all the Avengers, Guardians etc in the same place and have that epic Avengers moment with all the characters standing side by side.
I think every actor is great in this, Chris Hemsworth literally can do anything, laugh out loud one minute then crying the next due to losing pretty much everyone, Downey Jr is great again and delves into sadness and in fear of what potentially bad things are going to happen, Chris Pratt is just as funny as Hemsworth and you see the chemistry between the two actors, Benedict Cumberbatch gives a fine performance as always as Strange, everything from his accent to the look of that character is done to a tea and with ease, Josh Brolin is perfect, hard to imagine that is Brand from The Goonies, Brolin has created a villain you can sympathise with, feel for and someone you fear, the voice he gave him is done to perfection, all the cast are great, and I really do believe that no other actors can play these roles. I really do hope that Evans, Hemsworth, Downey Jr, Ruffalo etc continue to play these roles, perfectly cast and I can't imagine the Avengers being played by anyone else.
If you are thinking of giving this one a miss DON'T, because of the characters, action galore, team ups, the villain, the infinity stones, characters get killed off, the comedy and lastly for the stakes which are big, Infinity war has it all and then some. I will go and watch it for a 2nd time and maybe a 3rd because it is a cinematic event ten years in the making, and lives up to the hype.
Here's to next April when we get the real end with Part 2. Congratulations to the Russo Brothers for making another phenomenal film, congratulations to the cast also for playing their roles perfectly. and lastly congratulations to Marvel Studios for 10 years of truly great great films, here's to another 10, hopefully the Marvel Cinematic Universe don't change too much after next April, with a plethora of characters they can introduce and what with the characters they already have, hopefully Marvel Studios can continue to be even more successful.
Forget there being any kind of Superhero fatigue, Infinity War is currently breaking every record imaginable and looks set to be the highest grossing movie of all time, and that's only in it's opening weekend, simply phenomenal. To all the superhero haters, these amazing/great/immensely entertaining films are here to stay. Takes these Marvel Studios and DC/Warner Bros movies away and the Hollywood box office would suffer in a big way.