<Review by: Daylynn DeSouza>

Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. Starring ‘Way too many actors to list here’ so here’s the IMDB link to Cast & Crew

Running time: 2 hours 36 minutes

In 2008 we were introduced to Iron Man and The Hulk. In 2012 we saw the Avengers come together and learned that Thanos was behind the Chitauri attack on New York. Subsequent movies expanded the universe, introduced new characters and the infinity stones. Avengers: Infinity War is where all of that was leading up to and it is worth every second.

In my review for Avengers: Age of Ultron, I said that it was unlikely that anything could ever compete with the experience of watching the first Avengers movie. I stand corrected.

Avengers: Infinity War captures that excitement and so much more. Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Heimdall (Idris Elba), Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Drax (Dave Bautista), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Vision (Paul Bettany), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), White Wolf (Sebastian Stan), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Thanos (Josh Brolin) are all part of this movie. There are even more characters I haven’t mentioned for fear for spoiling their reveal in the movie. It’s the most packed (not just in terms of its roster, but in terms of its story as well) superhero movie we’ll see until Avengers 4 which should release next year.

The story is quite straight forward and it picks up directly after the events at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. Thanos is collecting the Infinity Gems in order to balance the universe (by which he means erase half the life in it) so that life can go on. The Avengers, The Guardians of the Galaxy and a plethora of other enhanced individuals are trying to stop him.

You could say that Thanos is the protagonist of the story because while he’s technically the baddie, the movie revolves around him, his past and what led him to the path that he is on. He’s lost his race and in this movie he has to sacrifice even more to accomplish his goal. You almost feel for him and you definitely understand his point of view even if you disagree with it. He risks everything; and that is what makes him an excellent villain. Probably one of the top 3 villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the other two being Loki and Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) from Black Panther. The first five minutes of the movie establish just how much of a threat he is. He hardly breaks a sweat and cracks open the Tesseract with his bare hands. He’s powerful and only grows more powerful with each infinity stone he collects.

With so many characters you’d expect this to be a huge mess, but all the characters have been well flushed out and their relationships well established. Everyone gets their moment to shine (Except Hawkeye, because he’s not in this one). The choreography of the fight scenes in this movie is done beautifully. The highlight has to be the way that the portals introduced to us in Dr. Strange are used to their full potential during fights. It is stunning. True, it is eclipsed in magnitude by some of the things Thanos does, but these new pairings work so well with each other. The new environments we visit are all unique in their own way and also breathtakingly beautiful. Admittedly, this movie wasn’t as much fun as watching Thor: Ragnarok, but that’s because it’s not as lighthearted. There’s a genuine sense of dread as characters die left and right throughout this movie and you get a sense that things won’t be the same. A lot of the characters should be revived in Avengers 4 but it’s uncertain how many will remain dead and how many more will die.

There’s still plenty of laughs in the movie and plenty of moments that will have you cheering and clapping like you wouldn’t expect given the tone of the film. I was going to write out the names of a few actors who were at the top of their game, but every time I thought I was done I remembered another performance that was just as brilliant so I’ll just have to say that everyone did an excellent job. For once, the 3D in a movie wasn’t cumbersome in any way. And, it actually worked quite well. However, it did tend to pull me out of the experience of the movie every time something looked like it was closer than it actually was, so I still recommend you watch it in 2D. The score suited the movie quite well, as it opened us up with a darker version of the Avengers theme and closed with a sorrowful version of it. Although I must admit that nothing really stood out. Marvel doesn’t really reuse themes or music as much as other franchises so it’s unlikely that any of them will ever be well remembered. If you’ve never watched a Marvel film before I suggest that you watch them all before watching this one, because it won’t mean as much if you don’t.

It’s been six years since I was this wowed by a movie experience. There have been movies I’ve enjoyed more because of their light tones or jokes but none that have really taken me on a ride as wild as this. I legitimately teared up with joy at points in this movie and I’m glad I don’t have to wait another six years for the next one.

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