Extravagant clash of the titans

Rating: 9/10 (2 May 2018)

Have found myself liking or loving a lot of Marvel's previous work, while finding a few faults with most. It is very easy on the most part to see why they are highly regarded critically, though those more critical of their work have raised criticisms that can be agreed with by me.
Loved the first 'Avengers' film, while 'Age of Ultron' was more problematic and generally a lesser Marvel effort though still having a good deal to admire. 'Infinity War' for me was the best one, or the one enjoyed most. Would also go far to say it's one of Marvel's overall best, and a perfect example of how to do a superhero film and how to balance a large cast of characters and a lot going on. Can totally see why it has been so positively reviewed and it deserves the positive hype from personal opinion, though would hesitate in calling it flawless or one of the best films ever.
More could have been done with the very end, which felt like it ended a little too suddenly without resolving everything to full effect. It may very well have been leaving room for a follow-up, but to me it's always been dangerous somewhat to do that just in case a follow-up doesn't happen.
Scarlett Johansson also has far too little to do, with too short screen-time. Black Widow is the only character to me who felt underdeveloped and Johansson struggles to do much with it.
However, the rest of the cast are spot on. A big shout out goes to Josh Brolin, who makes for a menacing and melancholic Thanos. Speaking of Thanos, Marvel have tended to underwhelm with their villains, underwriting them and giving them vague or inconsistent motivations. Thanos is easily one of the best Marvel villains along with Hela, one of the most interesting and of surprising complexity where he is a threat but one can see his point of view.
Robert Downey Jnr, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth are also standouts of a near-uniformly great all-star cast. There are a lot of characters here, but somehow on the most part it didn't feel like there were too many (a big danger with films with many characters and a trap fallen into quite a lot). They hold a lot of intrigue and manage not to be too sided and true to character.
Likewise, the story is very eventful with a busy main story and several subplots. Yet it didn't feel sprawling and managed to make sense and never lose engagement. Basically it's a non-stop thrill-ride and tautly paced, with some reveals that leaves one gasping, twists that genuinely shock, rousing entrances and some of the finest action sequences of any Marvel film or any film recently, that are truly exciting and big in scale without being too noisy or exhausting. The climax is truly epic, in scale, spectacle, thrills and emotion.
'Avengers: Infinity War' hugely impresses in the script too, with snappy banter, hilarious quips (along with 'Thor: Ragnarok' this is one of the funniest Marvel films, Thor has the best of it), tension and an emotional poignancy not seen to this extent or as strongly in Marvel films. It's all intelligently handled and the humour didn't feel misplaced or inappropriate to me, this is a Marvel film that delivers on the spectacle and thrills while also having brains and heart.
Marvel never disappoints when it comes to the production values. 'Avengers: Infinity War' is not an exception. It's beautifully and atmospherically designed, slickly filmed and edited and the special effects, not overused or abused, are some of the most extravagant and spectacular for any film seen recently. It's tightly directed and dynamically and rousingly scored.
Overall, an excellent film and one of my standout viewings of all the films seen so far from the first half, and overall, of 2018. 9/10 Bethany Cox