Avengers: Infinity War (Russo & Russo) 2018

After ten years and twenty films, Thanos (Josh Brolin) finally arrives on the main stage in this addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Despite the indication from the title that this is an Avengers film, Infinity War is truly Thanos's film. He dominates the narrative and is constantly on the mind of all the Avengers we know and love. Add the Guardians of the Galaxy into the mix along with newcomers Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), and you've got a whole crew to populate the story this time around.

The story starts on the ship that evacuated Asgard at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. Thanos and his "children" kill most of the refugees before taking on Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Heimdall (Idris Elba). Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) shows up in full Hulk form to take on Thanos before being sent back to Earth where he informs Doctor Strange and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) of the impending arrival of Thanos.

The film adeptly continues throughout various points of the universe as we are reintroduced to the characters we've come to know and love throughout the films. The Guardians meet up with Thor before splitting into two groups. Bruce reaches out to Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) to enlist the help of Captain America and his friends who were cast out of The Avengers in Captain America: Civil War.

The biggest struggle with this film is keeping track of the variety of storylines going on at the same time. At one point in the narrative, we are tracking different characters on at least five or six planets or locations throughout the universe. I don't think even Star Trek or Star Wars have tried such a daunting task in the past, but Infinity War does it with apparent ease.

The amount of attention paid to the details in this film is tremendous and my hat goes off to the Russo brothers for their achievement. While it's beneficial to watch the films that came before Infinity War, if you came into this film with no backstory, you wouldn't be completely lost. There are plenty of applause moments for the classic characters like Stark, Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), allowing just enough time for the audience to smile at the familiar face before jumping back into the action.

Avengers: Infinity War was nominated for one Oscar for Best Visual Effects losing out to the Apollo 11 film First Man.

No longer looking at films as required viewing prior to Infinity Way, but this film is absolutely required before checking out Endgame. I also feel like this needs to be watched before Captain Marvel and is a great piece to check out immediately following Black Panther.

​​9 out of 10

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