A great, epic comic book hero movie that does things few others have...

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2018)

Avengers: Infinity War left a lot of unexpected impressions on me as I watched it. It achieved some cinematic "firsts" for this long-time movie fan. Possible spoilers ahead.
I can't believe that after watching this movie, I can name all six Infinity Stones, and the order in which Thanos got them, and who he got them from (at least the ones he got in this movie). That is a crazy level of trivial detail but the movie left that much of an impression on me and the plot was so organically developed. It's like remembering every city that Indy traveled to in search of the Ark and in what order. Maybe I could do that after 35 years of viewing, but not after the first watch!
I didn't have a lot of interest going into this movie because I wasn't a huge fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy (at least not Vol 1; I started out liking Vol 2 much better but it got kind of uber violent and I never finished it). I didn't really want to see the GotG interact with my favorite Marvel heroes like Captain America or Spider-Man.
But the GotG's interactions with Thor, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Dr. Strange were awesome. The GotG were great in this movie. Mad respect to Gamora, Drax, Mantis, Quinn, Groot, and the rabbit.
Speaking of Thor and Dr. Strange... Avengers: Infinity War made me want to go back and catch up on some of their backstories that I missed. I missed Ragnarok and The Dark World and now I need to see them. I didn't like Dr. Strange's origin movie but I didn't really pay attention to it - kind of slept through it and now I want to watch it again, given Dr. Strange's pivotal role in this film. For the 19th film in a series to somehow retroactively make earlier entries more relevant and interesting is an amazing feat!
Just when I was wondering how they were going to work Black Panther into the plot - Boom! They go to Wakanda. Yes, the big battle in Wakanda was a bit reminiscent of the battle in The Phantom Menace, but it was still exciting. Normally I don't like Thor and his godlike mega weapons, but he dang sure needed that "dwarf"-forged Stormbreaker axe this time. And still it wasn't enough.
This was the quietest I've ever heard a movie theater. I went late at night on its 2nd weekend out but still there was a mix of families, couples, children, older people, etc. and everyone was quiet the entire film (except for some laughs at the clever humor). The audience was completely engrossed in the movie.
The humor and wit worked well. As others have noted, it seemed much more organic and less forced than in other MCU movies, and helped balance the more serious scenes.
OK, 3D is kind of unnecessary. Not enough occurs in 3D to make it worth the extra price. Also, there is a lot of quick editing in some of the fight scenes, but that's kind of typical for these films now. It's been done worse before and doesn't detract from the film too much.
I didn't even recognize Steve Rogers with the beard and all-black suit. I was like "Oh, that's not Hawkeye... Who is this guy? Did I miss an origin movie?" I liked that it took me a few minutes to figure it out.
Nice homage to the "Ming the Merciless tribute scene" from 1980's Flash Gordon at the start of A:IW. Too bad Loki got the Prince Thun treatment.
Thank you, Hulk, for getting your ass whupped at the start and then refusing to show up for the rest of the movie. I'm sure it was a better movie for it since you're kind of overplayed.
I wonder how many people will watch this movie and sit there and think "Is Thanos right?" That's scary - especially 'cause I was one of them. Of course, nobody wants to be in the wiped-out half of the universe.
Speaking of that, a lot of quality heroes got dusted in the end of that movie. Way more than half. That's scary, I can't wait to see how they come back.
The after-credits scene is mandatory viewing, but now I gotta research to see whose logo was on Nick Fury's pager. Too bad it wasn't the Fantastic 4. They could use a serious reboot.
Final thought: GIANT DINKLAGE!! 'Nuff Said!!