A breath of fresh air for the MCU

Rating: 9/10 (29 April 2018)

Over the last 10 years, Marvel Studios has built their own cinematic universe through various movies, each one getting bigger and bigger and leading up to this very movie, "Avengers: Infinity War". It's a movie that was essentially 10 years in the making, and with all the buildup and hype through the years, the question remains: Does it live up to the hype and meet expectations? Not only does Infinity War do both, it also manages to be a breath of fresh air into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
What Marvel has done with their cinematic universe over the past decade is nothing short of astounding. To be able to produce as many movies as they have and still keep the attention of the fans is a true example of good storytelling. The culmination of this good storytelling comes in the form of Infinity War, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, which takes place after the events of 2016's "Captain America: Civil War", also directed by the Russo's. After their big fight with each other in that movie, the Avengers became a fractured, divided group. Some have even gone into hiding. However, they must put their differences aside for the sake of the universe when they learn of Thanos (Josh Brolin), who is seeking to collect the six infinity stones to have the power to wipe out half the universe, which he claims will bring balance to the universe. On the surface it seems like the typical Marvel superhero story, but there's something different here. This is darker and more bleak than pretty much any other Marvel movie. It goes places you wouldn't expect a Marvel movie to go to, and by doing so it feels unlike any other Marvel story before it. It also does a good job with keeping the viewer guessing what's coming next, and there are some twists and turns that leave the viewer always anticipating the next turn of events. In short, it's unpredictable, even all the way to its shocking ending. It's certainly a breath of fresh air when compared to the more traditional and predictable stories they have done recently. Kudos to Marvel for pulling all of this off.
What's interesting about Infinity War is that while it is the biggest Marvel movie ever in terms of the amount of characters and its sheer scale, its story is a more personal one that also has its fair share of emotional moments. Many of the more personal and emotional moments involve the villain, Thanos, which was a smart move because it gives the viewer insight on why he does what he does and the sacrifices he has to make to accomplish what he sets out to do. It establishes him as more of a complex, fleshed-out character instead of just some big, dumb bad guy that's in it to cause havoc. It's what makes Thanos easily the best MCU villain yet. The writing team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely deserve major props for this.
Although the story is dark, the movie has its fair share of humor that helps lighten the mood. While it's good to have humor, it can be a bad thing when there's too much of it at the wrong times, which tends to happen in Infinity War. There are a good amount of scenes, especially in the first half of the movie, where the humor would get in the way of the drama, which ended up getting a bit annoying because it would take away from the dramatic tension. The comedic scenes also tended to last a bit too long and drag on, especially during one scene involving the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor. It was an issue early on, but fortunately got better as the movie went on.
As usual, the cast is great, with basically everyone returning from the previous movies. Whether it's Evans, Downey, Johansson, Hemsworth, Ruffalo, etc., it's always a joy to see these actors having fun with one another, and it helps that they have great chemistry with each other. Josh Brolin is also very good as Thanos through motion capture and voice over, and he helps make Thanos not only an intimidating villain, but just an all around good villain.
In short, Avengers: Infinity War is a thrilling and unpredictable journey that not only adds to Marvel's continuing success at the movies, but also raises the bar for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If Infinity War is any sign of what's to come from Marvel in the future, then I can't wait to see what they have in store for us. Bring it on!