Avengers: Infinity War [movie reaction]

Avengers: Infinity War, directed by the Russo Brothers, started showing here last Wednesday. My sister and I have been semi-regularly following the MCU movies since Avengers in 2012. I have written my movie reactions to previous MCU movies in this blog: Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther (which I still think is the best). The Russo Brothers also directed two Captain America movies, The Winter Soldier and Civil War. I loved both, so I also had high expectations for this one. I'm just your casual fan, I don't have any more detailed knowledge of MCU lore than the average fan of the movies.

Infinity War is the third Avengers movie, and they try to once again save the universe from a new enemy, Thanos. This movie also features characters from Guardians of the Galaxy, where Thanos was the main antagonist of the two films.

As I'm writing this, it's pretty difficult to explain it to non-fans of this franchise. If you just watch Infinity War without previous knowledge of the characters and their stories, you can get confused. Screen Junkies on Youtube posted a helpful video summarizing all the previous movies, "Every Marvel Movie Up To Infinity War - CRAM IT! (Avengers edition)." Even if I was familiar with the movies, I also had to watch that prior to this movie. The movie jumps right into the action and assumes that the viewer already knows what happened to them before.

The six Infinity Stones

The movie starts right after the end-credits scene of Thor: Ragnarok. Thanos is searching for the six Infinity Stones that have power over the universe: Power, Soul, Mind, Reality, Time, and Space. The spaceship of Asgardians led by Thor and company was attacked by Thanos who wants to get the Tesseract (Space stone). Once he completes all stones, Thanos will obtain absolute power and can destroy worlds and annihilate millions of beings with a snap of his fingers. He already has the Reality and Power stones, so he tries to find the remaining ones, some of which are in the possession of the Avengers. Loki has the Tesseract or the Space stone, Dr. Strange has the Time stone, Vision has the Mind stone, and the whereabouts of the Soul Stone is still unknown but will be shown in the movie.

Thanos sends his Black Order to obtain the stones. They are formidable and powerful, and our heroes battle them first before Thanos finally comes into the picture.

I like Proxima Midnight and Ebony Maw (those flanking Loki)

This is a huge crossover film with a big ensemble cast. I watched the film curious about how they will pull that one off. We find Thor with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Ironman, Spiderman, and Dr. Strange follow the ship of Thanos's Black Order to Titan, and they also meet the Guardians there. Captain America is with his buddies from Civil War. The best thing about this movie is the interactions between the cast. The backdrop is grim yet there are lines that will still make the audience laugh. There was the banter between Dr. Strange and Iron Man, Spiderman's dorkiness, and the expected personality clash between Peter Quill and Tony Stark.

Thor, Rocket, and Groot are on another quest to try to obtain a weapon strong enough to defeat Thanos. With the Mjolnir gone in Thor's previous movie, he travels to the place where it was forged.

I think Thanos is a very different villain from the previous films. The Russo Brothers had mentioned that this movie has a focus on Thanos. Thanos really does believe that it's his way that will right the universe. He is the villain, but he also has a compassionate side (even if how twisted that side is). He has a complicated relationship with his adopted daughter Gamora, which is interesting. Gamora resents him but loves him at the same time, but she also knows that he must be stopped. While the Guardians movies were fun, they weren't my favorites. I actually like the Guardians more in Infinity War. Thanos is the first villain that I felt they had totally no chance to win.

What I love most about this movie are the stunning visuals. Most scenes are set in outer space and the fictional planets were stunning, especially the planet Volmir.

Here are some of my favorite scenes without spoiling anything:

• I was not a fan of the romance between Peter Quill and Gamora in the Guardians movies, but I liked it here. 
• Gamora herself. The story shows her as a child and it makes me want to cry.
• Peter Parker saving the day with his movie-nerd knowledge. I just watched the Alien films recently and Spiderman references that many times. Peter used it (effectively) to fight one of Thanos' henchmen.
• I won't spoil it anymore, but prepare your tissues and wipes because this movie will make you cry. People in the theater around me cried. 
• The last act of the battle occurs in Wakanda. Natasha, Okoye, and Wanda against Proxima Midnight was everything.

The movie ends with a cliffhanger and the story will continue in the yet untitled Avengers 4 movie. We still have a year left to wait for it, meanwhile, the next Marvel films will be Ant-Man and the Wasp this August and Captain Marvel next year. 

Anyway, overall it was an enjoyable movie. So many things are going on at once, but it didn't feel like the characters were all fighting for limited screen time. It's funny, but grim and somewhat depressing at the same time. I'm still hoping that the next movie will deliver a satisfying conclusion. The only thing I can predict is that I'm still throwing my money in Marvel's direction in the years to come.