I just got home from an evening showing of a movie I have highly anticipated. Avengers: Infinity War released last Friday and it’s smashing records already. I’ve carefully avoided reading anything about the movie before viewing it, so I had no expectations. This is a spoiler free review, however, if you have not yet seen the film, be warned that the basic story line is shared in this post, without revealing the ending.
My sister Linda joined me for this movie night, as she has for most of the Marvel Universe films, 18 in total, that have paved the road to Infinity War.
Avengers: Infinity War has a huge cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Zoe Saldana, Tom Hiddleston, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Markie, Sebastian Stan, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Chris Pratt, Gwenyth Paltrow, Josh Brolin, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper. This sci-fi adventure film, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, carries a PG-13 rating, for intense sequences of action and violence, language and some crude remarks, and has a run time of 2 hours and 29 minutes.
The Avengers films bring together the majority of the heroes, who have been introduced in previous movies, so that together they can defeat a villain whose intentions and/or actions will have catastrophic consequences for the universe.
In Infinity War, there is just such a villain. Thanos (voiced by Brolin), sees himself as the only being who can bring harmony to the thousands of inhabited planets scattered across the universe. His plan is ruthless. Kill half of the population on each planet. He believes doing so will relieve overpopulation, famine, poverty and all the woes that plague those worlds, allowing the survivors to have better lives.
To carry out his cold hearted plan, Thanos must collect the Infinity Stones that have been scattered across the universe. As the film opens, he has two. He is searching for the other three.
The Avengers become aware of Thanos’ quest, one by one. Many have already dealt with Thanos previously or at least know who he is. From their scattered locations, the Avengers begin to come together, not as one large group, but in smaller groups, determined to end this threat before Thanos ends life.
Tony Stark/Iron Man (Downey Jr.), Dr. Strange (Cumberbatch), and Spider Man (Holland) eventually team up with half of the Guardian of the Galaxy group…Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Pratt), Mantis (Klememtieff), Drax (Bautista). They go after Thanos, who has kidnapped his adopted daughter, Gamora (Saldana), who is also Star-Lord’s girlfriend.
Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk (Ruffalo) joins Captain America (Evans), Black Widow (Johansson), Wanda (Olsen), Falcon (Markie) and War Machine (Cheadle) as they protect Vision (Bettany), who has one of the Infinity Stones in his forehead.
This group travels to Wakanda for help, joining Black Panther (Boseman) and Bucky/Winter Soldier (Stan). The people of Wakanda take up arms with them when the battle comes to them there.
And Thor (Hemsworth) travels with the remaining Guardian members, Rocket the Raccoon (voiced by Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Diesel). Loki (Hiddleston), Thor’s brother, is present at the beginning of the movie when Thanos begins his onslaught.
Thanos has power wielding beings helping him to search for the stones. The Avenger groups must battle through these nearly invincible foes before the ultimate showdown with Thanos. Every super power they have, every bit of knowledge and wisdom, every clever gadget and powerful weapon must be used, to save trillions of lives.
WOW was the first word out of my mouth at the conclusion of this long movie. Avengers: Infinity War did not disappoint. Full of action that was incredibly intense, the humorous moments interspersed throughout the film were much needed to allow the audience to catch their breath. I cheered each time a familiar character joined the teams. And it was great to see Pepper Potts (Paltrow), Tony Stark’s fiancé, return in this film.
What I love most about the Marvel Universe films is the camaraderie between the different characters. They each have different powers, different gifts, different background stories. But when Earth, or the universe, is in danger, they rally together, champions defending human kind and non-human kind alike.
Avengers: Infinity War is the type of movie that is best experienced on the big screen, with a responsive audience. After the clip tucked in beyond the credits, we can all blink together, sigh, or turn to each other and say what??!!
Linda and I talked about the movie all the way home. We will be thinking about this latest Avengers film for days. I can’t wait to see it again.
