"Part 1"

Rating: Null/10 (1 May 2018)

There are two group of audiences: (a) those whose background knowledge comes entirely from watching some (perhaps all) of the previous 18 "related" movies and (b) those who have read (some even grew up with) these Marvel comics. This makes a big difference because the second group have a pretty good idea where things are going with "Part 2", subject to how closely the moviemakers follow the comics. It is also interesting to note that some critics in the first group spill a lot of nonsense that reflect their ignorance, using only their guesses to predict where things are going. I belong to the first group but unlike these critics, I am fully aware of my ignorance.
Just like the "Harry Potter" or "Twilight" franchise, the grand finale of The Avengers, "Infinity War", could be entitled with the informative notation of "Part 1" and "Part 2". Indeed, that was the initial intention, although I wouldn't try to second-guess why this idea was abandoned. A majority of the world's population know, of course, that one final movie is scheduled for release next year. Many would like to believe that, like the two other aforementioned movies, the gloom the audience take home from the dark tone on which Part 1 ended will be expelled by a glorious finale in Part 2. Will it? I guess we will have to make sure we stay alive in the next 12 months to find out. The consolation is that the wait would still be shorter than that for Game of Thrones or Star Wars.
The one-week spoiler ban for the critics has passed and I am not a critic anyway and have dutifully included my IMDb user review spoiler warning. Among the 76 characters in this movie, the single most important one is the villain Thanos (well-casted Josh Brolin) who, for the first time ever for any villain in a scifi-fantasy, arguably has a "noble" agenda - the humankind in entirety. The logic is so simple that it may sound farcical: just eliminate half of it and the remaining will live happily ever after with adequate resources. I said farcical but if you think about it, it is so realistic that it will send a shudder down your spine.
To give Thanos's ultimate, mind-boggling power is a set of six "infinity stones". He is already in possession of a couple of those at the start of the movie, which is about his acquiring the remainder. The last one, bringing the movie to an emotional climax, is implanted in Vision's forehead.
To stop him, the superheroes from the two main groups (Avengers and Guardians of the Universe) plus a handful of independent movies (making a total of the abovementioned 18) are sort of regrouped. I'll mention only the key ones here and I won't attach the name of the actors.
The odd couple of Iron Man and Spider-Man teams up with Doctor Strange. I said I won't mention the actors but if you think about the ones in this grouping, you will be amused at the idea of Sherlock Holmes bantering with himself (the movie-screen version vs the TV-screen version).
Vision and Scarlet Witch, you will perhaps be delighted to find, have now a sweet romantic relationship. Under attack (resulting in Vision being badly injured), they are rescued by Captain America, Black Widow and Falcon, and together forms a group joined by The Hulk who stubbornly hides inside Bruce Banner, refusing to come out when he is needed.
Thor, with a somewhat different persona, joins the "Guardians" and just imagining the bantering between a serious Thor and a flippant Star-lord will make you smile. But he soon spins off with the two animated characters Groot and Rocket on a special mission and, oh joy, encounters a new character, a dwarf played by Peter Dinklage. Gamora, who is a critical role in this movie, set off with Drax and Mantis for another mission.
Black Panther and company have the dubious fortune of having their homeland as the final battlefield. There are many other characters that I skip mentioning here, the presence of quite a few of those are barely registered. Entirely absent are Hawkeye and Ant-man. Nick Fury and Agent Maria Hill appear in the teaser at the end of the credit roll if you care to wait, and wait, and wait. The background material and theories surrounding the grand finale next year can fill a few volumes of an encyclopedia.
At time of this writing, Infinite War ranks #9 in the IMDb top 250 with an IMDb user rating of 9.0.