Believe the Hype

Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2018)

I tried my best to not raise expectations with the combination of the 10 year buildup of movies and the audience anticipation of this movie, but I failed. My expectations were higher than some people will be on their fourth viewing of this movie trying to experience some new colours. While I failed in controlling my expectations, Avengers: Infinity War exceeded every one of them.
The characters of 18 different movies with very different styles and tones were brought together with no property being sacrificed. Characters were combined in a number of creative ways, but they didn't waste every option in the first movie. Several Characters were left on the bench so we can have some fresh blood in part 2.
We all expected that not every character would make it out of this movie, but the who and the when were always up in the air. Those whose numbers came up, they were (for the most part) completely unexpected and came at times when I wasn't ready. Some are gone for good and will be missed moving forward into the next phase of the MCU. Others? Well, without giving anything away, I'm sure we will see some again.
Can we all just remember that the Russo Brothers came up doing Sitcoms? These men wrote and directed some of the most creative (and fiercely underappreciated) TV comedy in Arrested Development and Community, among other things and they were brought up to take on some of the meatiest films in the MCU. I thought Marvel was crazy, and they were. Crazy like a Fox (which Disney also now owns). These men have set a bar that is going to be tough to surpass.
I advise everyone to go see this movie. Go and leave your comic book expectations at the door. A certain faction of comic fans are chomping at the bit to hate these movies because a different character says a line in the movie vs. the book and it is a tragedy. To the people who hated Lord of the Rings for the lack of Tom Bombadil, the people who hated the Last Jedi because Luke Skywalker had more tricks up his sleeve than when we last saw him in Episode VI (which by the way were all a part of the old Legends Material that they so wanted to be Canon), try hoping for the best and not combing the movie in search of the worst and you may just accidentally have a good time. Although, I expect that some of you would still be blown away.
I thank Marvel for the 18 movies that brought us to this point and for bringing them together in a way that I can only describe as a symphony. I look forward to what you plan on doing when this stage of the franchise's life has passed.