Review: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

So, part 1 of the big Marvel Universe Cinematic Event has finished, and damn does it give you a sucker punch.  No one is safe, the stakes have never been higher, and the ever-present threat of Thanos keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the experience.

Credit to the entire team for this movie, it is beautiful to look at, even when going to worlds that are not 'pretty,' there is enormous amounts of care and detail put into each location, and it really makes it feel like a cinematic universe rather than a movie franchise.

Performances across the board are great, and special mention must be given to Josh Brolin as Thanos, joining the very short list of good Marvel villains (the others being Loki, Killmonger, and Zemo) - and part of what makes him work so well is that he thinks he is the hero.  There is a tendency to make the villains Evil rather than characters with legitimate motivations - though they have used the revenge angle many times - so having this understated performance for a genocidal alien was a change of pace that the movies desperately needed.

There are quite a few cameos scattered throughout the film (one in particular surprised the Hell out of me) and no part of the story feels rushed - just urgent.  No scene is wasted, and it's the rare 2+ hour movie that I wish was longer.

Not much more to go into - not without going into spoilers - but I am very anxious to see the next part of this series.

2026 Addition:  This very much ended up being the better half of the two-part conclusion to the Infinity saga.  More rewatchable, a tighter script, better acting (though Endgame doesn't slouch too much in that department), and much better action sequences.  Pretty much the only thing this movie lacks that Part 2 does is a scene as iconic as the final battle.  The battle in Wakanda is great, mind you, but it doesn't have a sequence on par with Captain America (Chris Evans) wielding Mjolnir or the (wrongly maligned) Women Avengers Assemble moment.  However, while I love those moments, it not only takes a long time to get there but you feel every minute of Endgame's runtime whereas this one never stops going once it starts.

I stand behind Brolin as best in show from this one, but I have failed to mention Paul Bettany's Vision performance that was absolutely stellar and deserved more of my praise.  I also wish I had gone into the other performances more than I did originally, along with the script.  Which, the writing for this is much better than I initially thought, and even certain Star Lord-shaped scenes make more sense than I think many thought at the time.

I still think it was a mistake to just sideline the Hulk, but at this point I've made peace with him being a supporting character only.

8.5 out of 10

Published April 29, 2018