A perfect Blockbuster.

Rating: 8/10 (28 April 2018)

Avengers: Infinity War is not only the 3rd Avengers film or 19th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but also marks the 10 year anniversary since the start of everything MCU with the first Iron Man film. A lot of expectations are put onto this film, this is the film that unites the Avengers with the Guardians of the Galaxy to take down the greatest threat yet, Thanos (Josh Brolin). I will not go too much in depth with the story, only referring to what we saw in the trailers. The cast in this film is absolutely ridiculous, Robert Downey jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Tom Hiddleston, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Idris Elba, Peter Dinklage, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin and Chris Pratt. With such a huge cast it will be naturally difficult for the writers and directors to successfully balance all of these characters, giving them enough to do. In most cases it works, in others however I felt that more development was required. A good choice by the filmmakers was the idea to split up these characters all over the universe. They were paired up in smaller groups, this gives the opportunity to bring in some of the classic dynamics that we have come to love and also set up some new conflicts. However what was done with one relatively small group in the first Avengers is done here with multiple groups. This causes some characters to lose their strength in development that made them so interesting in their previous films. This is why I recommend to have seen some of the Marvel films beforehand, otherwise this film won't emotionally move you as you aren't familiar with most of the storylines and characters. One of my biggest worries about Infinity War was Thanos, most other villains in the MCU were boring uninteresting entities that the heroes simply had to face and punch their way out. They were never interesting and there was never a sense where the audience could understand them. Luckily Thanos breaks that tradition, Josh Brolin gives a very conflicted performance of a creature that wants balance in the universe, which is why he wants to collect the infinity stones. The audience receives a motivation, (which I will not spoil) that makes this character understandable and to a degree even relatable. You never root for Thanos but you understand him at the same time. Brolin easily gives us the best MCU villain and one of the strongest comic book villains in years, easily exceeding Tom Hiddleston and Michael B. Jordan. The same thing can unfortunately not be said about the hero characters. Some receive extra material that allows them to shine as the great actors they are, notably Robert Downey jr, who adds the typical eccentric charisma of Tony Stark but there also seems to be sense of terror and panic within his portrayal. Downey jr has now played the genius, playboy, philanthropist for 10 years, it's still awesome to see that this Academy Award nominee puts this amount of effort into a role he has now played for a decade. Zoe Saldana also has some key scenes to really shine, especially when she comes to realize who the attacker is. Gamora has never been my favorite Guardian of the Galaxy. However this is the first time where I find her character interesting. Overall Infinity War is a popcorn spectacle with a great villain and some terrific performances, however the different tones can be jarring sometimes and most other hero characters receive very little development.