Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo

Written by: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Zoe Saldana, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Pom Klementieff, and Josh Brolin

After the Avengers broke ties in Captain America: Civil War, they must come together to fight the evil Mad Titan, Thanos. Thanos is on the search for all six infinity stones. With all six stones, Thanos would have all the power to rule the entire galaxy.

The film serves as part one of a two-part event. That’s right, not film, EVENT! The film does not feel like it’s a movie, as there are many things that occur in the film. It’s all balanced well, thanks to the writing from Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. The writers drew inspiration from Marvel’s comic series runs 1991’s Infinity Gauntlet and 2013’s Infinity. The writers, not only did well with balancing the humor and the stakes but also did an amazing job at teaming up everyone for one gigantic fight for the universe. Markus and McFeely did a good job at giving each character enough screen time much like they did with Captain America: Civil War. With everyone getting enough screen time, there’s room for emotion and stakes, both of which are done right by the writers. They don’t back down from the emotion when it hits, it hits hard. Of course, when you have the Guardians of the Galaxy in the movie, you’re gonna get the humor, and Markus and McFeely hit the right notes with the comedy.

Direction from Anthony and Joe Russo are very much like their past direction with Captain America sequels The Winter Soldier and Civil War. The tone is serious — apart from the jokes from the Guardians — a kind of serious from past MCU movies. As stated before, this film hits emotion hard and with the serious tone, makes this one of the darkest movies that the MCU has ever had. The tone is set right off the bat after the Marvel Studios logo goes from its famous red to black. A dark tone was just what the movie needed.

With the crazy amount of people in the cast, it’s insane to point out everyone’s performance. That being said, the cast were all great! As mentioned, each of the characters gets a good amount of screentime, so everyone gets to shine here. Robert Downey Jr. nails the role of Tony Stark in every movie he’s in, but in Infinity War, he brings it and more. So much is at stake for Stark and from Robert’s performance, it is shown and felt throughout. The man who stole the show is Chris Hemsworth, giving a better portrayal of Thor than Ragnarok. Much like Robert Downey Jr. as Tony in the movie, Hemsworth as Thor has emotions and stakes of his own. He did a great job and the best we’ve seen him as the God of Thunder. Elizabeth Olsen is another performance that can be picked out of the ensemble cast. Elizabeth Olsen brings a powerful performance to Wanda like never before. However, she seems to have lost the Sokovian accent. That must have been forgotten about by the crew. Zoe Saldana as Gamora is the best we’ve seen of the character. She plays a big part and with her performance, she gives Gamora so much more than being a fearless woman. Let’s not forget about the villain. Josh Brolin as Thanos was everything that Thanos is in the comics. He was menacing and troublesome for the Avengers and it was perfect. There’s more to Thanos than just finding the stones, but that will touch on spoilers. Josh Brolin as Thanos was so incredible, he’s easily the best villain in the MCU.

As this is Marvel’s biggest movie to date, there was no doubt they would go all in with the visuals. The visuals were breathtaking! This is a cosmic adventure, so visuals of space and planets needed to be amazing and they were just spectacular! Just one little visual effect that looked off but everything else looked great. The visuals for Thanos has to be the best work, there is so much detail to him and not one mistake could be found. The score by Alan Silvestri was great, some really good songs used for the right moments. Sound mixing was useful as well, the sounds of explosions and alien ships and weapons were used well. Despite the film. being visually heavy, there are some great shots by cinematographer Trent Opaloch.

As fun and exciting as the film may be, there is a bit of a problem with a following of who is doing what. It can get boggling at times. Because of the Avengers being split up, they are separated into groups and that can get confusing. It’s not challenging to follow but it is to keep up.

In the end, Avengers: Infinity War was a huge risk for Marvel to pull off but they succeeded. The cast were all great and everyone got time to shine. The story was well put together and drove on an emotional roller coaster. Anthony and Joe Russo have done it again, making a hit with a Marvel movie.

87/100