Review – Avengers: Infinity War

This is a 100% SPOILER FREE review, so if the length is a little short, it’s for you as a reader to not be spoiled.

The 2018 cinematic event is finally here!  After eighteen movies over the past ten years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come to this point, where the heroes that we have grown to love over the last decade face their biggest challenge yet: Thanos, an intergalactic being who wants to become the most powerful being in the galaxy.

Was the movie worth the wait?  For the most part, yes.  Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have made a film that is so incredibly epic, action-packed, and awe-inspiring.  However, the movie isn’t perfect, especially in the film’s finale.

With so many characters and so many big names in this movie, this is a movie that really could have gone off the rails.  But with the Russo Brothers, it doesn’t.  With them being veterans of the franchise, they know the characters and know how to use them correctly.  They highlight what we love about the characters and make them shine.  They also take characters that they haven’t worked with and show them in a new light.  Zoe Saldana is incredible as Gamora, a role that never really shined in Guardians of the Galaxy, and Chris Hemsworth is at his absolute best as Thor.  And the way they dealt with Thanos (Josh Brolin) was perfect.  From the opening sequence, we see the presence that is Thanos.  We see how powerful he is and get to know his motivations and watch as they grow and fester until the very end.  It hooks you from the beginning and you have no idea how our heroes are going to defeat him.

The action in the film is the strongest in any MCU movie.  The film is relentless in giving us heart-racing action.  Your eyes are glued to the screen as Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, and the Guardians fight against Thanos.  You love seeing Captain America, Black Panther, Black Widow, and Bruce Banner go at Thanos’s cronies on Wakanda.  The final thirty minutes is some truly great action, as our heroes are pushed to the absolute limit to not let Thanos collect all of the Infinity Stones.

Be warned, people die in this movie.  I’m not going to say who, but be ready for some of your favorites to go.  However, in terms of how emotional the deaths are may depend on how attached you are to our heroes.  The deaths early on in the movie set the tone for what we are in for and there is one death in particular that really heightened the stakes and emotional weight of the movie.  But the end of the movie really pulls the emotional rug from underneath us.  They had an opportunity to hit a new emotional peak, something the MCU has been criticized for in the past, and they missed it.  It was hard to come back from this miss and when the actual final deaths happen, it didn’t land.

Avengers: Infinity War is as big and ambitious as movies get.  It’s ten years of movies coming together to give us an epic showdown.  The Russo Brothers delivered on the action front and in balancing all of the unique characters.  However, the film misses the much needed emotional punch to elevate it from good film to comic book classic.

Did you see Avengers: Infinity War?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.