Is 'Avengers: Infinity War' the Beginning of the End for the MCU?

Rating: 7/10 (27 April 2018)

Like every other geek in the world, I was stoked to see 'Avengers: Infinity War.' I bought my tickets in advance. I got a soda that was way too large to drink in two and a half hours. I argued with some teenager who tried to steal my seat. I sat in jittery anticipation once the lights went down... And I was left wanting once the credits ran.
'Avengers: Infinity War' was the equivalent of Marvel's money shot. It's been building to this since the first 'Avengers' movie showed Thanos peeking over his shoulder with a cocky smile on his face. Since then, they've been hinting at the inevitable confrontation that was bound to happen between Earth's mightiest heroes and some big purple spaceman. With Avengers: Infinity War, we see Thanos actually get off his ass and do something, and he does a lot and yet nothing at the same time.
The biggest problem that 'Avengers: infinity War' suffers from is that it tries to do so much in so little time. Fans of the MCU are well aware that there are more heroes than you can shake a stick at and 'Infinity War' stuffs all of them in, in one way or another. Of course, the big three (Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and Robert Downey Jr.) get their share of screen time, everyone else thought has minimal roles to play throughout the film. Tom Holland is Marvel's newest plaything, so he gets plenty of time, but the rest of the big heroes are shoehorned in
such a way that screams "contractual obligation." Then again, I don't think any fan is something to be upset about seeing their favorite heroes finally meet on the big screen (especially when it comes to Robert and Benedict Cumberbatch). The problem is that none of them really get a chance to stretch their legs.
I have to admit 'Avengers: Infinity War' definitely has some feels in it. Oddly enough, most of these feels come from Thanos himself (Josh Brolin). He's supposed to be the big bad of the MCU, but it seems like his heart is in the right place, even if he's a pretty extreme pragmatist. Still, his character isn't laughing evilly in the wings as he commits acts on par with the worst war crime I can think of. Instead, he struggles. He sees the cost and even admits that achieving his goal costs him everything in the end. So, is it all worth it?
Who knows! The damn thing basically ends in a "to be continued."
'Avengers: Infinity War' suffers from trying to do so much that the editing can't possibly keep up with it. There's no downtime between the action sequences, which doesn't mean that they aren't any less spectacular. It just means that there's no time to let anything sink in before the movie is rushing off to the next sequence. That being said, the heroes all achieve a new level of badass-dom, especially Chris Evans as Captain America. The guy is a beast this time around. Unfortunately, there is so much going on that it can be hard to figure out what's going on mid-flight.
This brings me to another point when it comes to 'Avengers: Infinity War.' The damn thing is so busy when it comes to its visuals, that I honestly don't think it's worth seeing in 3D. For the first few minutes of the movie, I couldn't understand what was happening. Apparently, though there was quite a beatdown when it came to Thanos and Hulk. Enough so that Hulk gets performance anxiety. Something I find odd since Thanos actively avoids the Hulk in the comics. I'm not going to knick pick about this though, because I'm not a neckbeard nerd.
Look, here's the bottom line, 'Avenger: Infinity War' is a fun movie. It's competently made by the Russo Brothers, who are Marvel's golden boys. Is it everything that fan might want? No. Does it live up to what it promises? No. Is it still something fanboys should throw money at and be happy they get it? Probably.
You're not going to be disappointed in 'Avengers: Infinity War,' but Marvel does not have the right to act all high and mighty after this. I'm sure 2019 will bring a "sequel" that will make it all worthwhile. As of right now though, 'Avengers: Infinity War' is kind of a disappointment. It's a letdown. There have been so many good movies this past year from Thor: Ragnarok to Black Panther that Marvel ended up raised the bar. It had to stumble at some point, it's just lucky that it only stumbled and didn't fall flat on its face with 'Avengers: Infinity War.'