Epic, exciting, and Loaded

Rating: 9/10 (13 May 2018)

Infinity War was just about as hyped as a movie can get. It had the most viewed online trailer ever, was #3 all time in pre-sales, and was first teased back in 2012 with The Avengers, and most of the MCU movies since then have all been building up to this. Ever since the Infinity Stones were first introduced in the first Thor movie, people have believed that we would see Thanos' quest to collect the all on the big screen. Perhaps most impressive is that it had the biggest opening weekend ever, beating Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the U.S. with $257,000,000, and beating Fate of the Furious globally with $640,000,000.
Now, it's impossible to talk about this movie without spoilers, so be warned.
Given the sheer number of characters and plotlines in this movie, there's quite a bit to take in. It alternates between sets of characters such as Team Cap+Vision, the Thor/Rocket/Groot combo, the Guardians/Iron Man/Strange/Spidey combo, and, of course, Thanos himself. It's definitely true that there isn't enough screen time to go around, which for casual viewers, may be a problem. However, for fans of the MCU, it's fine. It doesn't introduce any new major heroes, so most of the character development already happened in the previous films in the franchise. It also has some good humor and several memorable lines (Get lost, Squidward!) There is some development to be had. Thor does deal with Loki's death and the aftermath of Ragnarok. There are new things happening with the Guardians. However, some characters, notably Captain America, Black Panther, and Bucky don't get enough screen time.
If there was one thing this movie absolutely needed to get right, it was that Thanos had to be a great villain. And he was. On the outside, he was everything he needed to be; threatening, serious, cruel, intimidating, and still really believes that what he does is right. But yet on the inside, he does have some heart. Right after he kills Gamora, it really does seem like he's really heartbroken by it. Part of why the movie works is because Thanos is the central character. He gets the most screen time. It's called "Avengers: Infinity War," but the Avengers aren't the central focus. This is really Thanos' story. The Black Order isn't really the best set of villains. But they are side villains, so it's fine that they don't get as much screen time. Ebony Maw was pretty cool. Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glave felt like glorified minions. Cull Obsidian was lame.
Another part of why this movie works is because the stakes feel real. It subverts the tropes of heroes always winning, killing Loki and Heimdall in the first 10 minutes. Not only are the stakes there, but the situations where characters have to kill each other to prevent Thanos from getting a stone have a great amount of tension to them. (Star-Lord and Gamora, Doctor Strange and Iron Man, Vision and Scarlet Witch) You know they're not afraid to kill off their heroes. Whenever there's an action scene, there's the uncertainty angle. You don't know who's going to die, and it could very well be anyone.
The action scenes were absolutely spectacular. There are several of them, and they last for quite a while. The New York fight, which is Doctor Strange and Wong vs Ebony Maw and Iron Man and Spider-Man vs Cull Obsidian, was the first real fight, and a great, exciting action scene. The Battle of Wakanda wasn't as cool as we hoped, given how much it showed up in the trailers. Still, it was very fun to watch, very extensive, and has the same high stakes. Heck, it even delivers somewhat of a sword fight, between Okoye, Black Widow, and Proxima Midnight. Coming off Black Panther, though, it feels kind of rehashed, given that we saw this three months ago. The battle on Titan was probably the best. We saw a new Iron Man suit, new Doctor Strange powers, some Spider-Man one liners, and even Mantis gets in on the fun. And, of course, there's the part where Iron Man gets impaled. He lives, but it's shocking nonetheless.
Then, of course, there's the elephant in the room - the ending. Holy crap. The shock factor was definitely there. I knew going in that there was a shocking ending. I thought it was either the Snap, or that Iron Man dies. The snap was absolutely devastating, taking out by my count, 6 Avengers, 4 Guardians, and others like Nick Fury and Maria Hill. I'd say the most shocking death was Black Panther. I thought he was untouchable given the popularity. But then again, by the time that came out, this movie was probably in post-production, so what can you do? Spidey's was really painful to watch. Doctor Strange hit hard personally. But it just felt cheap. Those of us who know the comics know that the snap got undone. You know they're coming back. There's no way in hell they'd kill off Spidey or Black Panther for real. But there's no other way to end it. Thanos was unbeatable with 5 stones, you can't have the whole movie be about #6. Plus, everyone who doesn't know the comics (which is the vast majority of the MCU audience) didn't expect it. The biggest spoiler they expected was that either Cap or Iron Man was going to die. But with the resurrections, it feels like anyone who died could come back. Except Heimdall. He's dead. Loki has "died" before. Gamora is in the Soul Stone. Vision could be rebuilt. But how else could this end? Like Doctor Strange said, this is the only way.
Infinity War is quite the film. It's a lot to take in, but it's a very exciting, well paced film that delivers on most of the hype it's been building up to. Fans of the MCU will definitely enjoy it more than casual moviegoers, and some may find the ending leaves a bad taste. However, it's clearly a Part 1, and it will be interesting to see how it unfolds in Part 2.