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For a 160-minute epic that unifies a far-flung superhero universe that took a decade to build, packs 76 characters into one story, and has four to six plotlines cooking at any given time, "Avengers: Infinity War" hangs together pretty well. The plot finds the intergalactic bad guy Thanos ( Josh Brolin ) and his army of Green Goblin-looking warriors bouncing from star system to star system, torturing and killing various adversaries in order to gather six super-powerful Infinity Stones and embed them in Thanos' oversized glove. Once he's collected all six, Thanos will be able to achieve his dream of wiping out half the population of the universe in order to preserve its precious resources and restore "balance." The only thing standing in his way are the Avengers, led by Thor ( Chris Hemsworth ), Hulk/Bruce Banner ( Mark Ruffalo ), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow ( Scarlett Johansson ), Steve Rogers/Captain America ( Chris Evans ) and the rest. Plus all the characters from " Black Panther ." And the ones from " Guardians of the Galaxy ." And a few more Marvel characters who are new to this film.

Co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo , co-writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus , their small army of actors, and their hundreds of filmmaking collaborators have managed to get on the same page and stay on it. The film's running time doesn't fly by, exactly, but it rarely seems to stall out, which is impressive when you consider how many of the movie's big scenes consist of people talking, sometimes emoting, in close-up. The Russos swagger headfirst into melodrama here, more blatantly than in any previous Marvel film they've directed, though there are problems with their approach that I'll outline in a moment. The gambit works, mostly, because the story is an operatic tragedy that necessarily has to end with the heroes in a deep, dark place. In light of all this, it's inevitable (and in no way a spoiler to reveal here) that not every character makes it out alive, and that if you come away from the movie feeling bummed out and anxious rather than elated, that means "Infinity War" has done its job, just as " The Empire Strikes Back " and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One" did their jobs.

If only the film were better modulated, or perhaps longer, or more elegantly shaped, or ... well, it's hard to say exactly what's wrong here. But something's not up to snuff. This is, as many have pointed out, one half of a story broken in two, but it feels like less than half somehow. Until pretty recently, MCU films have suffered from collective curve-grading—each film seemed content to settle for "better than expected," as opposed to being really, truly good—and that feeling returns here, unfortunately. "Infinity War" faced so many challenges, many of them unique to this particular project, that it's a small miracle that it works at all. On some level, it feels ungrateful to ask a movie that already does the impossible to do it with more panache. But what are superhero movies without panache really good for? If there was ever a moment to swing for the fences, it was this one.

I like how the movie builds everything around Brolin's CGI-assisted but still fully inhabited performance as Thanos—an oddly wistful and lonely figure who is, essentially, a religious fanatic, yet carries himself with the calm certainty of a military man who's read the ancient Greeks and speaks tenderly to cadets while stepping on their necks. (Thanos' second-in-command, the snide and hateful space wizard Ebony Maw—played by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor —makes an equally strong impression, though he doesn't have many scenes.) Some of the movie's most affecting and/or frightening moments see Thanos tormenting captive heroes (including Zoe Saldana's Gamora and her sister Nebula, played by Karen Gillan ) until they disclose the location of the stones, or forcing them to consider killing themselves (or having others kill them) to stop Thanos from achieving his dream.

The movie treats Thanos as an agent of pure chaos, like an Old Testament curse come to life, picking people up by their skulls, deconstructing them into three-dimensional puzzles with a wave of his hand, even rupturing the structural integrity of the universe. He seems to have the brute force of the Hulk and the conjuring skill of Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange, one of the only characters who routinely manages to counter his destructive power. At various points, characters wonder aloud if they'd have been better off not fighting him. These are action heroes, but the threat facing them is so daunting that they contemplate an alternate reality in which they don't act.

Vision ( Paul Bettany ), who has one of the stones embedded in his forehead, gets attacked while he's off the grid in Scotland, enjoying the company of his beloved Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch ( Elizabeth Olsen ); after they fight off Thanos' goons at great personal cost, he quips, "I'm beginning to think we should've stayed in bed." Peter Parker/Spider-Man springs into action during a class trip after spotting Thanos' enormous, doughnut shaped spacecraft descending on Manhattan, then gets the stuffing kicked out of him and says, "I should've stayed on the bus." The movie has wicked fun foreshadowing the possible demise of our heroes. In the only scene featuring Tony and his partner Pepper ( Gwyneth Paltrow ), they discuss Tony's dream that they had a baby; it feels like the superhero version of one of those scenes in a war flick where the young draftee shows off a photo of his fiancee and declares, "Ain't she pretty?" Thanos' assault on Wakanda, where Cap and the gang take Vision in hopes that Shuri ( Letitia Wright ) can preemptively extract and destroy his Infinity Stone, is depicted as the logical, awful result of revealing the once-hidden country's location, and aligning it with global defense organizations after centuries of neutrality.

And yet, despite the movie's embrace of pain and fear—exemplified by a scene where Thor lists all the loved ones he's lost, and appears to be battling PTSD like Tony—it almost never feels as special or as powerful as it ought to. The direction is part of the problem. Marvel's conceptual artists, visual effects technicians, colorists, and sound designers and mixers are operating at what might be their aesthetic peak here—as well they should be, considering how long this company has labored to perfect a consistent style and tone; the panoramic vistas showing wrecked cities and space stations and distant planets and alternate dimensions, a jumble of psychedelic ironwork and watercolor clouds, seem as strongly influenced by the legendary Marvel illustrator Jack Kirby as Taika Waititi's disco lark " Thor: Ragnarok ." 

But rather than match their support team's inventiveness, the directors avoid risk. They capture both the violent (sometimes cruel) action and the emotionally intense private moments in either a boringly flat or frantically hacky manner (snap-zooms on falling figures; herky-jerky camerawork and fast cutting during fight scenes; the same stuff you see in most action films made during the past decade). They use the camera in an expressive or poetic way so rarely that when they do bust out a heartfelt flourish (like the long, slow camera move that reveals the Guardians in their spaceship engaged in a sing-along, or the "wipes" that reveal the reality that Thanos' illusions hide, or a climatic fight between Thanos and multiple heroes) it's as if somebody had briefly sparked a dull wedding reception to life by going out on the dance floor and demanding a song with a backbeat.

This would all be a lot less grating if the MCU hadn't produced two back-to-back hits, "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Black Panther," which had vivid directorial personalities (Waititi and Ryan Coogler , respectively), and took as many stylistic/tonal risks as Marvel's brand would allow. The studio is too bottom-line driven to permit the sort of eccentricity that would've made this project truly pop (Joss Whedon's ungainly potluck " Avengers: Age of Ultron ," with its spiky wit and nihilistic robot philosopher baddie, is looking better in retrospect). But it's no compliment to the Russos to say that it's tough to tell just by looking at the movie if they were were on a tight corporate leash the entire time, or if they decided to minimize the innate risks of a project this huge and eagerly anticipated by making vanilla choices.

Another issue—and I'm getting dorm room-philosophical, so bear with me—is that the format of a blockbuster MCU movie with 76 characters exposes the limitations of telling a superhero story via this now-well-established cinematic template, as opposed to telling it on the printed page, where the only limits are the writer's imagination and the illustrator's flair for presentation. The storytelling vocabulary of superhero movies doesn't have to be constricted (FX's extravagantly inventive TV series "Legion" is proof) but it feels quite constricted here; it always has been, notwithstanding occasional outliers like "Thor: Ragnarok," "Black Panther" and "Ant Man." There are an infinite number of striking or subtle ways that comic book writers and artists can convey exposition, character details, psychological states, and simultaneous events occurring in parallel storylines; you can do stuff like expand a single decisive instant so that it fills up six pages, or show Spider-Man swinging through midtown Manhattan in a full-page splash panel dotted with thought balloons that summarize a year's worth of his life. But in the sorts of Marvel films that the MCU has released since 2008, we've mostly gotten stuck in linear time, which is where most commercial narratives unfold. Most of the scenes in "Infinity War" fall into one of two categories: (1) scenes where people go into rooms or out onto the street and talk to each other, and (2) action sequences where characters banter while punching and zapping each other and dodging falling rocks, buildings, and spaceships and trying not to get sucked into time-space portals.

There's only so much information that can be put across when you've limited your storytelling in that way. The ticking clock proves a more formidable enemy than Thanos. There are only so many moments or lines that "Infinity War" can give, say, to Tony and Pepper; or to Bruce and Natasha, who had a powerful connection in "Age of Ultron," got separated soon after, and are confined to a couple of brief exchanges here; or to Peter Quill/Starlord ( Chris Pratt ), Rocket Raccoon ( Bradley Cooper ), Drax ( Dave Bautista ) and Mantis ( Pom Klementieff ), who are stuck doing comic relief when they aren't suffering greatly or setting up Peter to make some very bad, dumb choices. Heimdall ( Idris Elba ), The Collector ( Benicio Del Toro ) and Proxima Midnight ( Carrie Coon ) are barely in the film. Cap gets maybe two dozen lines and a few meaningful glances, mostly aimed at Sebastian Stan's Bucky/Winter Soldier, who has even less to do. Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa/Black Panther, who anchored his own marvelous feature just a few months ago, is reduced to a glorified field general in "Infinity War," standing alongside Okoye ( Danai Gurira ) and M'Baku ( Winston Duke ) and watching Thanos' troops burn, trample, and otherwise disfigure the countryside (an image that's more upsetting, for various reasons, than a lot of Thanos' violence against individuals).

Another downside of packing so many people into one film—so many that they apparently had to cut a few; the film's IMDb page lists numerous major players who are nowhere to be seen—is that you start to notice that certain characters are redundant variations on/photocopies of other characters, a realization that you might not have had if you were were watching them star in their own self-contained movies. Putting Tony, Peter Parker and Peter Quill in the same scenes, for instance, might sound like a slam dunk, but once you spend a few minutes with them, the barrage of wise-assery becomes grating. It's like being stuck at a party where every other guy in the room mistakenly believes he's the funny one. (The scenes between Thor and the Guardians are much better because Thor plays the straight man to Quill, who is threatened by his awesome masculine beauty.)

As is often the case in Russo-directed Marvel movies, the humor comes across more vividly than the action. (" Captain America: The Winter Soldier ," with its paranoid thriller stylings and brutal, close-quarters action, is still their zenith.) The movie makes excellent use of Thor and his trickster brother Loki ( Tom Hiddleston ), and gives Hemsworth more chances to show off his formidable deadpan (when Rocket expresses amazement that he can speak Groot's language, he explains, "They taught it on Asgard—it was an elective"). But the joking around doesn't so much complement the film's dark material as clash with it and undermine it. The self-aware humor that the MCU has always done so well ends up working against "Infinity War" in the end. Marvel's "just kidding" sensibility was a refreshing counterweight to the fashionable darkness of early DC Universe movies, as well as to the "dark & gritty" mode that became a global pop culture default after the success of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. But if there was ever a time for Marvel to bust out the Zack Snyder-style, heavy-metal gloom and slap the smirk off its own face, it's here, in a film that's mostly about summoning the courage to fight battles that you know you can't win, and accepting the likelihood of dying on your knees with your head held high.

This movie shouldn't just engage and amuse and occasionally move us; it should shock and scar us. It should kill Ned Stark and Optimus Prime and Bambi's mommy, then look us in the eye after each fresh wound and say, "Sorry, love. These things happen." The last 15 minutes have the flavor of that sort of trauma, but without the actual trauma. Deep down, we all know that modern superhero movies are operating with even lower dramatic stakes than Star Wars or James Bond movies: beloved characters rarely stay dead after they've been killed, and no plot development, no matter how grave, is irreversible, so there's no possible way that what seems to be happening on the screen could really be happening. But we shouldn't be thinking about any of that as we watch Thanos hurt characters we've grown to love and cast the universe into ruin. The very sight should rip our hearts out.  

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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Film credits.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, language and some crude references.

149 minutes

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man

Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson

Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / The Hulk

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Nomad

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord

Josh Brolin as Thanos

Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange

Don Cheadle as James Rhodes / War Machine

Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man

Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther

Paul Bettany as Vision

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch

Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon

Sebastian Stan as James "Bucky" Barnes / White Wolf

Tom Hiddleston as Loki

Idris Elba as Heimdall

Peter Dinklage

Benedict Wong as Wong

Pom Klementieff as Mantis

Karen Gillan as Nebula

Dave Bautista as Drax

Zoe Saldana as Gamora

Vin Diesel as Groot (voice)

Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon (voice)

Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts

Benicio Del Toro as Taneleer Tivan / The Collector

Danai Gurira as Okoye

Letitia Wright as Shuri

Winston Duke as M'Baku

Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Ebony Maw

• Anthony Russo

Writer (comic book story)

• Jim Starlin
• George Perez
• Christopher Markus
• Stephen McFeely

Cinematographer

• Trent Opaloch
• Jeffrey Ford
• Matthew Schmidt
• Alan Silvestri

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‘Avengers: Infinity War’: It’s Marvel’s Universe. We Just Live in It.

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By A.O. Scott

• April 24, 2018

Considered on its own, as a single, nearly 2-hour-40-minute movie, “Avengers: Infinity War” makes very little sense, apart from the near convergence of its title and its running time. Early on, someone menacingly (and presciently) says, “You may think this is suffering. No: It’s salvation.” That’s a bit overstated either way. It’s puzzlement and irritation and also, yes, delight. But of course this film, the 19th installment in a series, was never meant to be viewed or judged in isolation. In that respect it shouldn’t really be thought of as a movie at all, at least in the ways people with jobs like mine are accustomed to using the word. Which poses a few difficulties, for me and also, I would argue, for you.

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo , scrappy fraternal climbers up the 21st-century Hollywood ladder, “Infinity War” is a chunk of matter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a vast entity that long ago expanded beyond the usual boundaries of sequelization and brand extension. This synergistic expression of the corporate interests of Marvel Studios and the Walt Disney Company — which now include 19 feature films and much else besides — has come to be less a creative or commercial undertaking than an immutable fact of life, like sex or the weather or capitalism itself.

Anatomy of a Scene | ‘Avengers: Infinity War’

The directors anthony and joe russo narrate a scene featuring robert downey jr., benedict cumberbatch, mark ruffalo, benedict wong and tom holland..

Hi, I’m Joe Russo. And I’m Anthony Russo. And we are the directors of “Avengers: Infinity War.” This scene takes place about 20 minutes into the film in Dr. Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. And Tony Stark is looking at the burner phone that Steve Rogers gave to him, trying to decide whether or not he’s actually going to contact Steve about what’s occurring in the movie when he is interrupted by a sound. “Say, Doc. You wouldn’t happen to be moving your hair, would you?” “Not at the moment, no.” Part of the creative appeal of this movie was us bringing together disparate characters throughout the MCU and kind of smashing them together in a crisis situation. The intention was to create propulsive narrative, where the plot is driven by the villain, and he keeps interrupting the heroes because he’s one step ahead of them. This is one of those incidents. And this shot, you know, part of what we tried to bring to the MCU as filmmakers on a tonal level ever since our first film, “Captain America, Winter Soldier” is just a grounding and a real world patina over who these people are to try to bring out their humanity a little more in contrast to their powers. And this shot here is in that vein in the sense that it’s a very long shot. We stay in the perspective of these characters as they walk out into Greenwich Village and discover the scene of chaos unfolding. And we discover it as they discover it, and the scope of it as they discover it. It’s a way to increase tension as they walk down the sidewalk. What are they going to see? What is the audience going to see? And then here is probably the most asked about VFX shot in the movie is the hair standing up on Peter Parker’s arm. We’ve been asked hundreds of times how we got Tom Holland’s hair to stand up his arm. And it was a very gentle blowing on his ear actually did it. [laughs] It’s a CG shot. But this fulfilling the promise of “Infinity War” is that all of the characters are working together in this movie to try to stop Thanos, including Stan Lee. “What’s the matter with you kids? You never seen a spaceship before?” While this is a multi-perspective film, Thanos is the glue that binds all the characters together, as we watch Peter Parker swing off towards the incident in New York. [music]

That makes the franchise hard to criticize. You can’t really be for or against Marvel (in spite of the conspiracy theories of some DC fans ), and you can’t quite opt out of it either. They don’t call it a universe for nothing: Where else are we going to go? So we make our zigzagging ways, picking out our favorite planets and solar systems, accepting a baseline of tedious, standardized dead space that makes the brighter constellations seem disproportionately fresh and surprising. “Guardians of the Galaxy” was so funny and weird. Not like a superhero movie at all. Same with “Thor: Ragnarok.” Captain America is such a complicated guy. “Black Panther” gave audiences so much to root for and talk about.

[ Read A.O. Scott’s spoiler-filled article about the ending of “Avengers: Infinity War.” ]

Those interesting, unusual specimens — what we used to think of, in simpler times, as “good movies” — aren’t exactly accidents. They are carefully planned exceptions that uphold a rule (meaning a regime as well as a norm) of passive acceptance disguised as enthusiasm. This universe is engineered for variety and inclusiveness, within certain strict parameters. Above all, the Disney-Marvel combination is a giant machine that manufactures maximum consent. The cosmos is theirs. The rest of us just live in it.

I’m not complaining, but rather pointing out how pointless, how silly it sounds when anyone bothers to venture a complaint. Who wants to be a hater? Still, it’s worth noting that the ascendance of Marvel (and of other, not quite as universal entities like it) has narrowed the parameters of criticism. I’m supposed to tell you, in this review, how much fun you’ll have at “Infinity War.” (Yes, you will have some. Will you have enough? Almost.) But I’ve probably already gone too far in trying to think about what it means. The Marvel movies and others of their kind often produce an illusion of profundity, a slick, murky overlay of allegorical suggestiveness. This provides grist for the kind of think pieces that spar with one another — “Infinity War” is liberal; no, it’s conservative; but don’t you see that it’s a protest against Trump; actually, it’s an attack on the tyranny of political correctness — until they catalyze the inevitable anti-intellectual backlash. It’s just a movie! Don’t spoil the fun!

And of course it is with respect to “spoilers” that the policing of discourse is most ruthlessly and effectively practiced. Reviewers who attend advance screenings take a vow of silence about plot details that will be widely known within a week and all but forgotten a week after that. Government secrets are guarded with less care, and requests from public officials to go off the record are addressed with more skepticism. But if I mention which superhero dies, or which one has an unexpected relationship with someone else — well, I wouldn’t dream of it. Not because I’m afraid of Disney executives. It’s the wrath of their obedient, weaponized minions I fear. In other words: you.

This is not a healthy situation. The reasonable concern that major plot elements not be divulged has spawned a phobic, hypersensitive taboo against public discussion of anything that happens onscreen. If, for example, I were to share that Thor (Chris Hemsworth) mistakes Rocket (Bradley Cooper), who is a raccoon, for a rabbit — whoops, you already hit “send,” didn’t you? The joke is repeated a half-dozen times, so it kind of ruins itself. And until the end, the whole thing is weirdly free of any but the most superficial, mechanical surprises.

The action is especially tedious and predictable. I mean both the scenes of fighting and flying and the overall rhythm of the first two hours or so. People talk for a while, sprinkling jokes and morsels of personality into the heavy dough of exposition. Then they fight in the usual way, by throwing giant objects (and one another) and shooting waves of color from their hands. The noisy, bloated spectacles of combat were surely the most expensive parts of the movie, but the money seems less like an imaginative tool than a substitute for genuine imagination.

There is so much to explain, but basically a large purple fellow named Thanos (Josh Brolin) wants, on vague Malthusian principles, to wipe out half the life in the universe. As you try to keep track of all the good guys massed against him, you may decide he has a point. But he’s not a bad villain. I mean, he’s very bad, but his malevolence is laced with melancholy, and there is a ghastly grandeur to his ambition.

To fulfill his evil plans, Thanos needs to collect six “infinity stones,” which in spite of their awesome power look a lot like what you would find in the craft kit you have been meaning to regift since your kid’s seventh birthday. Also, come on: Another quest for magic gewgaws? This one lumbers from Vormir to Knowhere to Titan, with terrestrial stops in New York, Scotland and Wakanda. Along the way, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) stage a Sherlock Holmes meta-duel and compare goatees. The hunky-Chris showdown — Hemsworth vs. Pratt (Peter Quill) vs. Evans (Captain America) — ends in a three-way tie. Zoe Saldana is heartbreaking as Gamora. If you end up wanting more Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) or Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) or War Machine (Don Cheadle), or whoever your favorite happens to be — well, that’s kind of the idea, isn’t it?

But where you end up may not be where you thought this was going. The final act, including the post-credits sting (to infinity and beyond, as it were) brings a chill, a darkness and a hush that represent something new in this universe. “Infinity War” is the first half of the final installment in the series, and it concludes with a premonition of finality. Its intimations of grief and terror feel shrewdly attuned to what is happening in the actual, unmarvelous world. But those emotions can also be folded back into the movies themselves. This universe is coming to an end. And then where will we be?

Avengers: Infinity War Rated PG-13. Rough talk and large-scale digital slaughter Running time: 2 hours 36 minutes.

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Avengers: Infinity War Reviews

Avengers: Infinity War is the apex of franchise movie-making, bringing together a plethora of heroes from a number of different franchises to form the blockbuster of blockbusters.

Full Review | Feb 6, 2024

Avengers: Infinity War is a ground-breaking, unique movie within the genre.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 24, 2023

Who says all superhero films are predictable?

Full Review | Apr 20, 2023

People will have different opinions on the film depending on how invested they are in the characters in the movie. If you are knowledgeable of the characters and their stories thus far, this movie is flat-out incredible.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 16, 2023

It’s a thrilling, funny, emotional, rip-roaring crowd-pleaser that serves as a fitting culmination of their decade-long buildup.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 19, 2022

Infinity War is all about balance, in many different respects. Balance and tone, both of which, for a film with such ambition and size, are remarkable in how well they are executed.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 3, 2022

The audience is left drained, albeit thrilled, and as every great MCU title does, it leaves us hotly anticipating the next chapter.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 14, 2022

The grand Marvel Cinematic Universe team-up has been out for a few weeks now, and just about everyone from Ben Garland to Zsa Zsa the now-fired Buccaneers Parrot has probably seen this giganto box office muncher of epic proportions.

Full Review | Feb 11, 2022

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Full Review | Original Score: 80/100 | Aug 28, 2021

Thanks to the superb visual effects, the film is truly a work of art, even if it tries to pack in just a little too much, making some characters more like afterthoughts rather than integral to the plot.

Full Review | Aug 24, 2021

I'm torn on the big finale. This is either the gutsiest ending of any modern blockbuster, or a prelude to an emotional cop-out.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Aug 21, 2021

If you are remotely interested and if you remotely enjoyed the films of the MCU, this is a must watch. The Russo brothers have done it again.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Aug 14, 2021

It succeeded in doing exactly what it was likely designed to do: it made me want to watch more Marvel movies.

Full Review | Jul 16, 2021

An enormous action spectacle that never lets up.

Full Review | Original Score: 4 / 5 | Jun 24, 2021

Another mammoth slice of superhero mayhem...

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 18, 2021

The dangling nature of the story will be frustrating to some. For fans, however, the movie should deliver in a big way.

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No genuine or long-lasting amusement or engagement is possible, as the reverential treatment of completely preposterous events and processes is what predominates.

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Avengers: Infinity War is stunning, hilarious, and heartbreaking

Directors joe and anthony russo create a superhero movie where nobody is safe.

By Bryan Bishop

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The most definitive overarching issue with the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been the lack of stakes. Over the course of the saga’s previous 18 movies, MCU heroes have faced numerous world-ending threats, eking out victories by the skin of their teeth, only to have their worlds essentially return to normal in time for the next installment. The approach worked early, on a film-by-film basis, but when viewed as part of a 10-year narrative, it’s tended to weaken the broader franchise. There can be no drama without true risk, and in the MCU, audiences have learned that none of their favorites are ever really in harm’s way.

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo seem acutely aware of this issue with their latest entry, the massive, multi-film team-up Avengers: Infinity War . The long-awaited face-off between the Avengers and Thanos (Josh Brolin), the MCU’s ultimate big bad, is massively entertaining, deftly incorporating dozens of characters across multiple storylines with a kinetic flair. Its devotion to banter and one-liners makes it one of the funniest movies in the studio’s history, but it’s also a film where very bad things happen to good people. After years of movies where even the most mediocre heroes appeared to be invulnerable and indomitable, it’s an arresting jolt — and exactly the film the franchise needed.

After years of teasing Thanos’ upcoming arrival, Avengers: Infinity War wastes no time with stage-setting. It opens with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) on the ship last seen at the end of Thor: Ragnarok , facing off against the big purple villain. Thanos is after a powerful crystal called an Infinity Stone, and he suspects Loki has one in the Tesseract — the glowing cube that served as a key plot device six years ago in The Avengers .

There are six Infinity Stones , the film explains: powerful crystals that originated in the Big Bang, and that represent aspects of existence and have related elemental powers. Some are spread across the universe, but half of them are on Earth, where they’ve played significant roles in past MCU movies. Thanos is trying to collect all of them, slotting them into a massive golden glove. If he acquires them all, he says, he’ll have the power to wipe out half the universe with a snap of his fingers.

It pays off years of emotional investment in ways that are often heart-wrenching.

The film tracks Thanos’ quest as he moves from stone to stone, while various superhero factions attempt to stop him. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) are attacked by several of Thanos’ henchman, who are eager to get the green Time Stone that Strange protects within the mystic Eye of Agamotto. Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), who have gone into hiding to nurture their burgeoning romantic relationship, are attacked by minions seeking the Mind Stone that’s integrated within Vision’s brain. Along the way, the Guardians of the Galaxy team up with various heroes, a bearded Captain America (Chris Evans) comes out of hiding, and Black Panther’s home of Wakanda becomes ground zero for a central conflict. Nearly every character in the MCU is roped into the war, with Thanos swiftly establishing himself as an unprecedented threat on multiple fronts.

With so many characters in play, writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely ( Captain America: Civil War ) are faced with a remarkable challenge: giving every character a place in the story, without letting anyone other than Thanos dominate the larger narrative. The story crosscuts between four or five major story threads, much like Game of Thrones , Westworld , and other complicated serial narratives. It’s a testament to Markus and McFeely’s work that the film never feels crowded, even though it’s juggling such a massive number of movie stars. In fact, the film is able to give many characters their own meaningful story arcs throughout the film, with Tony Stark, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and the Vision / Scarlet Witch love story given particular focus. The result is a film that often feels surprisingly earnest and emotional. It pays off the emotional investment movie audiences have been making in these characters for years, sometimes in genuinely heart-wrenching ways.

The most outlandish-looking Marvel villain is also its most complex and layered one

Even with all of that, this film belongs to Josh Brolin’s Thanos. The prospect of a giant purple computer-generated bad guy has prompted some skepticism , but in context, the character is wonderfully effective. The visual effects undeniably capture the nuances of Brolin’s facial tics and mannerisms, allowing the actor to shine through all the CGI wizardry. It’s a good thing that it works so well, because Thanos is not the cardboard cutout villain that some previous Marvel bad guys have been. His master plan involves destroying half the universe, but in his own mind, his motivations are noble. He thinks he’s the hero of his story, and while nobody is going to agree with his tactics, his backstory does give his overall reasoning a perverse sort of logic. At several key moments in the film, Thanos nearly becomes a sympathetic character — even while he is doing truly horrific, unforgivable things. The biggest surprise of all may be that the most outlandish-looking Marvel villain is also its most complex and layered one, which simply wouldn’t be possible without the film’s synthesis of script, direction, performance, and visual effects.

The film’s sparkling sense of humor balances the weight of Thanos’ actions. Marvel’s films have always had a flair for comedy, but Infinity War turns the dial up further, maximizing the levity found in movies like Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy . Pitting Star-Lord’s hyper-insecurity against Thor’s arrogant hyper-masculinity provides for some of the funniest moments in the entire MCU.

Doctor Strange and Tony Stark also play as comedic foils for each other, sparring over what might as well be the title for Most Arrogant Superhero On Earth. In a film that mixes so many different elements, it would be easy for many of these characters’ essential traits to fall by the wayside. But the Russo brothers don’t just preserve the characters’ innate sensibility. They’re actually able to incorporate the filmmaking sensibilities of the different franchises into their own tapestry. Sequences with Star-Lord, Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and Groot (Vin Diesel) feel like they’re from one of James Gunn’s Guardians films; Thor seems like he’s walked right off the set of Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok . The movie is a Marvel mixtape, combining the very best of everything that’s come before, but recontextualizing the individual parts to tell its own unique story.

The massive scale of the undertaking does have periodic downsides. The action sequences are mostly effective, but at times, there are so many characters being flung around like CG rag dolls that it can be hard to gauge what is happening to whom, in which order. And while every character does get a laugh, a heroic choice, or some other moment to shine, fans will no doubt be frustrated if their particular favorite hero isn’t foregrounded as much as other characters are. That’s simply the nature of the beast, however — it was inevitably going to happen with a project of this size. The fact that those concerns are fleeting, however, is a testament to what a massive storytelling achievement Infinity War is.

Audiences will be aghast at just how far The Avengers have fallen

The film can’t spread around its camera time in equal measure, but it does give all the characters an equal shot at despair. A decade of films have led up to Thanos, and Avengers: Infinity War delivers on that threat with a film that upends the entire fabric of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No character is safe from the far-reaching implications of his actions, and it’s impressive to see just how dark Marvel is willing to go for this story. Even the biggest fan favorites are truly vulnerable, and the movie reinforces that idea — relentlessly, at times — as it sprints toward its final stunning moments. By the time the credits roll, audiences will no doubt be aghast at just how far the Avengers have fallen.

One problem, though, is that Infinity War leans so excessively toward darkness that it’s impossible to believe the studio won’t take back many of the things that happen onscreen. This is still the Disney-run Marvel universe, after all, and the popularity of some of its flagship characters all but guarantees that, no matter what happens during Avengers: Infinity War , much of it won’t be permanent. (In fact, in its final act, the film seems to tip its hand toward a Hail Mary solution that’s likely to come into play in the still-untitled Infinity War sequel .) But that’s the most minor of complaints. This is a comic book universe, after all, and the fact that Infinity War is able to embrace this darkness in the first place is a wonder. The only real crime is that audiences will have to wait until 2019 to see the conclusion.

Avengers: Infinity War opens on April 27th.

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Avengers: Infinity War review – colossal Marvel showdown revels in apocalyptic mayhem

Supersized set pieces, sharp one-liners and surprising deaths abound in the Russo brothers’ utterly confident comic-book movie mash-up

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N ot infinity perhaps, but a really, really big finity war. Colossal, cataclysmic, delirious, preposterous – and always surreally entertaining in the now well-established Marvel movie tradition. It’s a gigantic showdown between a force of cosmic wickedness and a chaotically assembled super-team of Marvel superheroes made more complicated by Doctor Strange’s tendency to multiclone himself in moments of battle stress.

There are some very unexpected family relationships that we had no idea about – potentially compromising unity in the face of encroaching evil. There are also some very surprising deaths – of which, of course, the less said the better. There are, moreover, some surprising omissions in the cast list. Or are there?

Avengers: Infinity War is a giant battle for which directors Anthony and Joe Russo have given us touches of JRR Tolkien’s Return of the King and JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The film delivers the sugar-rush of spectacle and some very amusing one-liners.

Whatever else it does, this Marvel movie shows its brand identity in the adroit management of tone. One moment it’s tragic, the next, it’s cracking wise. It’s absurd and yet persuades you of its overwhelming seriousness. And there are some amazing Saturday-morning-kids-show moments when you feel like cheering. Earth is being threatened by a massive malign hunk with a huge ridgey chin called Thanos, played by Josh Brolin. If he can gain ownership of all the talismanic infinity stones and place them in the holes in his custom-built gauntlet then he will have the ultimate power to destroy anything he wishes in the universe. And he has a chilling wish for mass slaughter of half the sentient beings in existence, ostensibly so that the other half will have enough food to eat – but really so they will bow down to him as the tyrant lord. Ranged against him, of course, are the good guys who come together not in a single phalanx but a constellation of improvised groupings, in which the alpha males have a tendency to bicker. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is nettled by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his supercilious air of intellectual superiority – and vice versa. Spider-Man (Tom Holland) shows up and annoys the hell out of them both with his millennial’s flair for pop culture references. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) finds himself having to do a ride-along with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is intimidated by Thor’s godlike machismo and finds himself trying to do the basso profundo voice. Vision (Paul Bettany) and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) are tormented by the glowing stone in Vision’s blue head, and they’re agonised by the thought that self-destruction is the only way to keep it out of Thanos’s huge mitts. Their own situation brings them into contact with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) – who prefers his non-super name now, not Captain America, and also the always frowning Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), together with the frankly traumatised Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). Scenes and situations whoosh by like a bizarre and bizarrely exciting dream. A sudden trip to Wakanda, with its secret world of remedial hi-tech surgery, seems entirely plausible. T’Challa, or Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) greets the visitors with his habitual Shakespearean bearing and princely calm. Inevitably, there is a little confusion. Groups of superheroes clash and each thinks the other is on Thanos’s side. “What master do you serve?” shouts one, awkwardly. “You mean – like Jesus?” comes the exasperated reply. No. Thor is the only god around here and even he isn’t guaranteed a result. It’s all in the cosmic balance. In theory, all these superheroes crammed into one movie should trigger the law of diminishing returns and the Traveling Wilbury effect. And yet somehow in its pure uproariousness, it works. It’s just a supremely watchable film, utterly confident in its self-created malleable mythology. And confident also in the note of apocalyptic darkness.

I know it’s silly. And yet I can’t help looking forward to the next supersized episode of mayhem.

• Avengers: Infinity War
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Film Review: ‘Avengers: Infinity War’

A knowingly overstuffed Marvel mashup turns out to be bedazzling fun, despite the fact that this many superheroes means they're all less special.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you want a completely spoiler-free experience going into “ Avengers: Infinity War .”

“Avengers: Infinity War,” a.k.a. “What If Marvel Threw a Superhero Party and Everyone Came?,” feels like a movie that the American Entertainment State had to get out of its system. It’s the 19th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it’s the first to push to the wall, to the max, to the ultron the notion that the MCU really is a universe : a vast intermeshed thicket of comic-book icons, destined to be an army that’s greater (in theory, at least) than the sum of its parts. If, for decades, the metaphor for propulsive blockbuster filmmaking was the “ride,” then watching “Avengers: Infinity War” is like going to a theme park and taking three spins on every ride there.

Set in deep space, and in half a dozen lands (New York, Wakanda, Titan, Knowhere), the film presents a galactic battle for the fate of the universe that throws together the six original Avengers; the follow-up wave of Marvel superheroes who’ve only recently been given their own origin stories (Black Panther, Dr. Strange, the rebooted Spider-Man); the Guardians of the Galaxy; and a sprinkling of other figures who’ve been there on the fringes. (I had to scratch my head to remember what Vision’s powers are, but he remains the coolest shade of Revlon.) The movie is a knowingly gargantuan Marvel mashup, so jam-packed with embattled uber saviors that you may feel, at times, like all that’s missing is Dwayne Johnson, Jesus Christ, and the cast of the last two “Star Wars” films.

So is the movie a jumbled, top-heavy mess of cynical franchise overkill? Sort of like the bloated and chaotic “Avengers: Age of Ultron” taken to the second power? Far from it. It’s a sleekly witty action opera that’s at once overstuffed and bedazzling. The directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, working from a script by the crack team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (who wrote their two “Captain America” sequels), are far more stylish and exacting filmmakers than Joss Whedon, director of the first two “Avengers” films. “Infinity War” is a brashly entertaining jamboree, structured to show off each hero or heroine and give them just enough to do, and to update their mythologies without making it all feel like homework. At the same time, you may begin to lose hold of what made each of these characters, you know, special .

Early on, a donut-shaped alien spaceship lands in midtown Manhattan, allowing the effete Continental sadist Ebony Maw (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), who’s like a kick-ass version of the Ghost of Jacob Marley, to ring-lead some FX street mayhem. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), after trying and failing to match Ebony in wisecracks and firepower, gets sucked into the ship, and it’s up to Tony Stark ( Robert Downey Jr. ) to rescue him, with an assist from Spider-Man (Tom Holland), a pop-culture geek who wonders if he’s in the middle of an “Alien” film, and who Tony outfits with anti-gravity armor. Once Tony and Strange are thrown together, you can’t help but notice that both are imperious quipsters with matching goatees, and they razz each other exquisitely, the main difference being that Strange keeps forming those light circles that look like they’re made out of sparklers. Tony, of course, has his zippy metal power suits, but a number of the other characters do, too, including Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who after the opening fight spends the entire film trying and failing to call forth his inner Hulk.

“Avengers: Infinity War” can make it feel like you’re at a birthday party where you get so many presents that you start to grow tired of opening them. But taken on its own piñata-of-fun terms, it’s sharp, fast-moving, and elegantly staged. It also has what any superhero movie worth its salt requires: a sense that there’s something at stake.

The urgency derives, in this case, from the film’s villain, Thanos, the malevolent Dark Lord of the wrecked planet Titan, played by Josh Brolin (in a supremely effective motion-capture performance) as a towering walking-statue purple demon with a chin sculpted like Abraham Lincoln’s beard, and a demeanor of soft-spoken Nietzschean intelligence. He’s like Hellboy, the Hulk, Darth Vader, and Oliver Stone rolled into one eloquent sociopath. Thanos’ master plan could hardly be simpler — and neither, despite its gushing river of characters, could the film’s storyline. Thanos is on a mission to gather all six of the Infinity Stones (candy-colored gems named for Mind, Soul, Time, Power, Space, and Reality), several of which are in the hands of our heroes (Vision, played by Paul Bettany, has one of them embedded in his forehead). If Thanos succeeds, it would allow him, in a mad instant, to destroy half the beings in the universe.

This seems like the most dastardly of plans, and is. Yet Thanos thinks of himself as a genocidal humanitarian (sort of like Chairman Mao). The universe’s resources are limited, and he intends to slice the population in half so that what remains of it can thrive. Brolin infuses Thanos with his slit-eyed manipulative glower, so that the evil in this movie never feels less than personal. It also feels like a force that might just require 20 superheroes to stop it.

At a few key moments, the war really does get personal, as when Thanos is reunited with Gamora ( Zoe Saldana ), the adoptive stepdaughter he rescued as a girl in the midst of wiping out her planet. She won’t give into him now, even when he’s got her android half-sister, Nebula (Karen Gillan), suspended and torturously stretched into her metallic body parts. Saldana, in a ripely emotional performance, plays Gamora like a raging refugee from an abusive home, and the resolution of her conflict with Thanos gives “Infinity War” the (rare) moving moment it needs.

Gamora’s fellow Guardians, meanwhile, are off doing what they do: saving the cosmos (to the tune of the Spinners’ “The Rubberband Man”), but never letting that endeavor get in the way of their ability to take the piss out of each other. The two Marvel franchises come crashing together — literally — when the bloody, barely sentient Thor ( Chris Hemsworth ) bumps into the windshield of the Guardians’ ship. There is much mooning over his muscles (Drax: “It’s like a pirate had a baby with an angel!”), which is funny, and so is the rivalrous back-and-forth between Thor and Star-Lord ( Chris Pratt ), who in contrast to the stentorian stud of Asgard has never seemed more of a dude . He feels like he’s got to lower his voice just to keep up with him.

The Guardians split into two factions, with Rocket ( Bradley Cooper ) and the sulky, video-game-playing adolescent Groot (Vin Diesel) heading off with Thor, who refers to Rocket as “the rabbit.” Then, just when you’re sure that the film has more than enough spinning subplots, along comes Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans in a beard that, frankly, is less becoming to his role than the one sported by Thor. Hemsworth wears his facial hair as a sign of the character’s battered-but-unbowed soul, but in Evans’ case it looks as if it’s not just Rogers but the actor who has grown a bit depressed at the prospect of being Captain America. The team he’s leading — he’s got Black Widow ( Scarlett Johansson ) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) in tow — feels like the least exciting, and the most extraneous to the main action.

“Infinity War” brims with tensely spectacular combat sequences, even if the question of who’s going to win each one has that extravagantly arbitrary could-Mighty-Mouse-beat-up-Superman? quality. Luminous daggers get plunged into bodies, to no effect. Thor, after meeting with his weapons guru (Peter Dinklage, acting very Shakespeare) and bracing himself against the burning force of a star, gets a new super-hammer — an ax, actually — which is presented as an ultimate tool until it fails, at a crucial moment, to do what we think it’s going to do. (The weirdest thing about superhero movies is that they’re bombastically physical… and metaphysical. Which often doesn’t make sense.) The climax is set in Wakanda, where T’Challa ( Chadwick Boseman ) doesn’t have much to do besides orchestrate a battle against an army of squishy alien beasties. It isn’t until the arrival of Thanos that the sequence takes off not just visually but dramatically.

Of all the things that have ever happened in an MCU movie, there will be much chatter about the ending of “Infinity War.” It is dark and spooky and, in its way, chancy and shocking. Do any of our beloved characters die? Well, yes. But, in fact, the ending is so audacious that you realize it’s all an elaborate card trick. Despite what it shows us, these movies are rarely about more leading to less. Count on the sequel — due one year from now — to demonstrate that more, in the MCU, will lead only to more.

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Reviewed at AMC Empire, April 23, 2018. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 149 MIN.

• Production: A Walt Disney Studios release of a Marvel Studios production. Producer: Kevin Feige. Executive producers: Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo, Trinh Tran, Jon Favreau, James Gunn, Stan Lee.
• Crew: Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo. Screenplay: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely. Camera (color, widescreen): Trent Opaloch. Editors: Jeffrey Ford, Matthew Schmidt. Music: Alan Silvestri.
• With: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin, Chadwick Boseman, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dave Bautista, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Karen Gillan, Peter Dinklage, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vin Diesel, Benicio del Toro.

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Avengers: Infinity War gives the fans what they want … and a few things they might not: EW review

For the Marvel faithful, there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing. While some ticket buyers will no doubt look at the bloated 2-hour-29-minute run time of the new, all-hands-on-deck marathon Avengers: Infinity War and sigh, wondering if they’re about to watch a movie or a cricket match, diehards will be only too happy to purchase a bigger trough of popcorn and settle in for the long haul thinking that Christmas has come early. After months of unavoidable pre-release hype, not to mention rabid social-media guessing games about which superhero (or superheroes) may end up biting the dust in this chapter, D-day is finally upon us. And no, I won’t be offering any spoilers because, frankly, y’all scare me.

Let’s be clear, Infinity War is a movie for the fans. Especially those who’ve spent any time wondering what it would be like to witness Chris Hemsworth’s Thor wisecracking with Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, or tagging along with some of the Avengers as they hightail it to Wakanda (the arrival there got a rousing wave of applause at my screening). It’s the Marvel equivalent of watching the old “We Are the World” video (Hey, it’s Bob Dylan singing between to Cyndi Lauper and Huey Lewis!). And for the most part, this super-sized mash-up works better than you’d expect. There are occasional tonal disparities when you get a smart-aleck character firing off quips next to a stoically straight-faced one like Chris Evans’ Captain America. Even in the real world, if you put a large enough group of people in a room together, all of the different personalities aren’t necessarily going to mesh. Comic book heroes, they’re just like us!

And it is a large group. With at least 25 marquee characters crammed into the same story, you can feel the directors Anthony and Joe Russo ( Captain America: Civil War ) struggle at times to keep so many balls in the air. It’s a bit like 10 pounds of movie jammed into a five-pound bag. Some, like Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and Anthony Mackie’s Falcon get so little to do, you wonder why they even bothered to show up. Marvel is sitting on such an embarrassment of riches with its deep bench of characters, that some don’t have much more to do than act as glorified extras. But restraint hasn’t ever exactly been part of the studio’s M.O. Too many of the characters seem to be fighting over too little to do. But that’s what happens when you’re making movies on a canvas this vast.

Infinity War kicks off with the evil Thanos (a CG Josh Brolin, kind of recognizable behind an oversized granite chin, Hulkian muscles, and Booberry-hued skin) terrorizing Asgardians Loki, Heimdall, and Thor, looking for one of the precious infinity stones. With some creepy-cool henchmen, he’s destroying worlds and taking names in his attempt to collect all six and become all-powerful. Ahh, the infinity stones — arguably the most sought-after and now-famous MacGuffins in Hollywood history. To some, a new batch of infinity-stone nonsense will seem like tired reheated leftovers; for others, they’re the stuff that dreams are made of — as riveting as Sam Spade’s Maltese Falcon or Indiana Jones’ Ark of the Covenant. I’m pretty agnostic. I do wish these films would find something else to obsess over, though.

Either way, Thanos is well on his way to getting his giant mitts on the full set and with it, total omnipotence. So it’s off to Earth and various intergalactic planets with names like Knowhere and Nidavellir to snag the others, setting off an apocalyptic doomsday crisis that can only be stopped by the Avengers and the Guardians and basically every other being who’s ever graced the pages of a comic book. But, of course, that means putting aside some old grudges and hurt feelings. If you’ll recall from Captain America: Civil War (which I’d argue was a better movie than this one, thanks in part to the great Leipzig airport battle royal), our heroes may agree on the saving the world, but tensions exist. They need to be smoothed over, stat.

But there are… issues . Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner is been having a hard time of it lately turning into the Hulk, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange has to adjust to Robert Downey Jr.’s rat-a-tat wiseassery (he does pretty well, at one point calling Tony Stark a “douchebag,” which frankly seems a little more crass than his effete airs would suggest), Paul Bettany’s Vision and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch need to come out of their romantic hiding in Scotland to face evil yet again, Peter Parker needs to grow up under Stark’s fatherly wing, and the Guardians posse (including a distracted, now-teenage Groot) need to find a way to integrate into the established hierarchy like exchange students on the first day at a new school. The good news is, they do and nicely. It’s a lot to keep track of, to be sure. But this movie operates on such a simplistic mythic lizard-brain level, that it’s not too hard to reason things out even if you’re coming into the proceedings cold.

Everything I’ve just said is just a skimming of the Infinity War surface. I won’t go any deeper with regard to the plot. The problem is that with so many characters to shoehorn in and so many realms of the galaxy to put out various fires in, the heroic horde is broken into four or five smaller subgroups that we keep cutting back and forth to. And some, naturally, are more entertaining to sit through than others. And some just seem to vanish for long stretches until you find yourself wondering when the hell are we going back to Wakanda or wherever? It ends up feeling a bit too disjointed – like we’re flipping the channels between four different movies instead of watching one cohesive one.

What saves Infinity War from being just another bloated supergroup tour – and what will end up being the thing that blows fans’ minds to dust – is the film’s final stretch. Let’s be clear, when it comes to hand-over-fist cash cows like the Marvel films, any time a character is put into any sort of serious jeopardy, you immediately have to raise an eyebrow and roll your eyes a bit. All of these characters are such lucrative intellectual properties no studio, no matter how daring, is going to put them into too much jeopardy. You don’t have to think back very far to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (DC not Marvel, I know, I know) when it looked like Superman was done for at the end only to see his casket vibrating because…well, you can’t possibly kill off Superman. He’s freakin’ Superman! At least, not when so many executives’ annual bonuses are riding on the next installment. Still, there is something thrilling about watching just how much fun the Russos and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are having messing with the fans here. Even if, in the end, that little subversive act of freaking them out only lasts until the next sequel. B

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Breaking news, morgan spurlock, director of ‘super size me,’ dies at 53, ‘avengers: infinity war’: film review.

'Avengers: Infinity War,' Marvel's biggest, most star-studded film yet, brings together characters from all of its franchises, including 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and 'Black Panther.'

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

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“We’re in the endgame now,” Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange intones in the final stretch of the indisputably epic Avengers: Infinity War —  and, more than in any other comics-derived superhero concoction one could mention, there’s a whiff of something resembling tragedy in a franchise that, for millions of fans, seems to play a role similar to what mythology did for the Greeks.

This grand, bursting-at-the-seams wrap-up to one crowded realm of the Marvel superhero universe starts out as three parts jokes, two parts dramatic juggling act and one part deterministic action, an equation that’s been completely reversed by the time of the film’s startling climax. “Huge” is the operative word here — for budget, scope and size of the global audience.

Release date: Apr 27, 2018

Back in Hollywood’s big studio heyday, the grandest company of them all, MGM, boasted of having “more stars than there are in heaven.” Marvel could arguably make that argument today, and it’s crammed almost all of them into this one densely packed superhero orgy, the first half of which is basically dedicated to finding a semi-coherent way of shuffling them into the same dramatic deck. How are ultra-egotists like Dr. Strange, Robert Downey Jr. ‘s Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Chris Evans ‘ Steve Rogers, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and even Chadwick Boseman’s more even-keeled Black Panther going to like having to share the heroic spotlight with one another, while also allowing some derring-do and dazzling deeds to be performed by at least another dozen characters with unusual talents?

The sharp-witted answer delivered by writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and directors Anthony and Joe Russo, under the supervision of Marvel Films maestro Kevin Feige , is to acknowledge the traffic jam of egos and play it for laughs. The effect is both scatter-shot and precise, knowing and witty enough to be initially disarming and ultimately ingratiating. With more limited screen time than they’re used to and even more limited elbow room, the actors and characters (in what at least some knew would be their swan songs in these costumes) snap off one-liners and sharp remarks with an extra edge of sarcastic disdain. They don’t exactly send up their heroic characters, but there is more of a subtle commentary underneath it all (not so subtle in the case of Mark Ruffalo’s and Evans’ roles) about the frustrations of having two different personas in life.

Even early on, however, one makes note of tragic forebodings that Dr. Strange articulates. For all the activity generated by the superheroes, the fellow driving the action here is the heretofore glimpsed but never central Thanos (Josh Brolin ), a brooding tree trunk of a man whose stated goal is to achieve universal dominance by acquiring all six Infinity Stones. Each of these variously colored gems confers distinct powers. As he acquires them, he becomes increasingly unbeatable, but along with his determination and brute force he brings a philosophical intelligence.

Thanos has thoroughly thought through his ambition, as well as the moral and emotional toll it will take to achieve it, and  Brolin’s calm, considered reading of the character bestows this conquering beast with an unexpectedly resonant emotional dimension, making him much more than a thick stick figure of a  supervillain .

The imposing and unquestionable danger Thanos represents, and the way it increases exponentially with each stone he acquires, becomes quite serious after a while. So what begins as a lark — with the vast assortment of comic book characters trotting out their costumes; middle-aged Bruce Banner humorously being so out of practice that he can no longer transform himself into the Hulk; Tony Stark bantering once again with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts; Holland’s Peter Parker looking so childish even he seems to wonder what he’s doing in this company; Dave Bautista stealing every scene he’s in; Scarlett Johansson and Don Cheadle being given absolutely nothing fresh or original to do; Evans trying to leave his Captain America persona behind him — transforms into something genuinely threatening and grim, something, in fact, that has to be taken seriously: the prospect that evil can win.

With so many ingredients to stir into this overflowing pot, you have to hand it to the two experienced teams of Marvel collaborators who had a feel for how to pull this magnum opus off. Markus and McFeely wrote all three Captain America entries and have a deft, jokey, sometimes glib touch that spreads the humor around and prevents this long film from ever getting stodgy. The Brothers Russo directed the last two Captain America features and have a breezy approach that prevents the action here from sagging in any serious way.

And the scale of that action is astonishing. Some of it is set in space or in different realms, while other scenes take place in New York and elsewhere on Earth. When the intergalactic conflict winds up in Wakanda, Black Panther’s African homeland, it provides a bit of a start: Wait, we were just there a few months ago, and here we are again already for another giant battle?

Another major dramatic thread concerns the hitherto secondary figure of Vision (Paul Bettany), who crucially possesses the final stone sought by Thanos and hies to Scotland with Elizabeth Olsen ‘s Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch before being tracked down.

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But, after Thanos, the most significant figure of all, and the character who lends the tale much of its ultimately tragic stature, is Zoe Saldana ‘s Gamora, Thanos’ adopted daughter. This relationship and story strain emerges from the distant background to play a decisive role both in the plot and the work’s ultimate thematic resonance, and the way it plays out is highly dramatic, upsetting and inevitable. By the time Thanos and Gamora’s relationship truly comes into focus, the film has rather remarkably shifted from a mood of larky fun to one of classical tragedy, not an inconsiderable feat in a comic book-derived entertainment.

Without giving anything away, the climax is startling in its gravity, and no Marvel fan will leave before the long final credits scroll gives way to the traditional kicker tease at the very end, which amplifies the ending by serving up even more questions, not answers. This will achieve the desired result of making millions of fans debate what it all means until the next installment. All we know for sure is that just one identified character will return.

No question about it, barely two months after the release of Black Panther, Marvel (and Disney, of course) has returned with another of the most expensive films ever made that will pull off another of the biggest commercial hauls of all time. This franchise isn’t going away anytime soon.

Production company: Marvel Studios Distributor: Disney Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo , Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch , Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman , Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Tom Middleston, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Idris Elba, Danai Gurira, Peter Dinklage, Benedict Wong, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt, William Hurt Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Screenwriters: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, based on the Marvel comics by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby Producer: Kevin Feige Executive producers: Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo, Trihn Tran, Jon Favreau, James Gunn, Stan Lee Director of photography: Trent Opaloch Production designer: Charles Wood Costume designer: Judianna Makovsky Editors: Jeffrey Ford, Matthew Schmidt Music: Alan Silvestri Visual effects supervisor: Dan DeLeeuw Casting: Sarah Finn

Rated PG-13, 149 minutes

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• Avengers: Infinity War review: An adventure 10 years in the making

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Every time I sit down to review a Marvel movie — and I’ve reviewed a lot of them — I ask myself the same question:

What do we expect from a Marvel movie these days?

Avengers: Infinity War is full of narrative challenges that would make a stand-alone film buckle. It groans under the weight of its cast , strains with the tension of holding four central plots aloft in nearly a dozen locations, flexes mightily between tones to fit the moods we associate with different Marvel subfranchises. Its strength is that we already know these characters, and that the movie is surrounded by a hype machine that has kept its central story — Thanos , the Infinity Stones , the Avengers — fresh in the audience’s minds. Infinity War was never intended to function outside the web of a franchise, so there’s little value in judging it separately.

What we expect from the directing duo, the Russo Brothers, and the screenwriting duo, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, isn’t so much that they reinvent the genre. (Although we wouldn’t say no, Marvel’s most recent films — Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther — being exemplary proof that there’s life left in the much fretted-over bones of the superhero trend .) What we really expect from Infinity War is to see some old friends — because a decade in, that’s what the Avengers are. We want to see them see each other, to watch them struggle against insurmountable odds, to feel their fear and hope as our own, and be transported by it.

By that metric, Avengers: Infinity War succeeds, with a confidence that is almost entirely earned.

Without getting into spoiler territory, Infinity War dives into its story without wasting time: Thanos, the shadowy alien figure who put the events of the first Avengers movie into motion , is coming. He’s after the six Infinity Stones, which are scattered across Earth and space , and it’s up to our heroes to stop him before he gets them all and attains an omnipotent power to warp reality to his dark will.

Infinity War has a lot to do, and even though the Russos have a decent track record of packing a movie full of characters but still giving them room to breathe ( Captain America: Civil War , for example), it might be better if you don’t walk in expecting the furtherance of anybody’s character arc in this one. Still, while the movie does flip all across the galaxy at a moment’s notice, it doesn’t flip too fast. It feels packed, but not rushed, delivering a story that’s surprisingly simple and straightforward, for all its threads — the Russos & Co. know exactly how much to bite off and chew.

True, the film does not have a particularly interesting structure. Narratively, it’s more of an inclined plane than an arc. But while I might not have been sure exactly when the third act began, I was thrilled by it all the same. There were really only a few moments where I was distracted from my viewing with the intrusive thought that this bit had really gone on too long or that Infinity War was building a moment that wasn’t earned.

The filmmakers gamely attempt to make an audience feel invested in Vision and Wanda, two characters whose development has happened almost entirely off-screen — not even Paul Bettany’s considerable puppy dog eyes could make me care about their relationship. Infinity War also does a lot of heavy lifting to turn Thanos into the compelling arch-nemesis that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been desperately trying to recreate since Loki’s post- Avengers semi-redemption. But in the end, no matter how many times you have him or one of his lackeys monologue about his motivations, he remains neither sympathetic nor even empathetic.

Overall, however, Infinity War lands the vast majority of the emotional beats it’s reaching for, which is why we’re here anyway. There are some tremendous surprises in store for viewers, including a wonderful cameo. The Russos play expertly in a sandbox that’s already chock full of castles built from 10 years of fan theories, speculation and even complete fiction about what might happen when Rocket Raccoon meets [SPOILER], or [SPOILER] meets Iron Man.

A decade into the franchise, what we expect from a Marvel movie is as informed by what’s come before it as anything else. It’s not just about the way that Marvel Studios has driven the evolution of the superhero genre in film, but in how it’s given us a set of characters and then consistently provided new adventures for them — for a full decade. There’s no way to do that without fostering an attachment between the audience and the story, and that attachment has evolved from a versatile foundation for larger stories to a narrative end in and of itself.

And that’s what we really expect from Avengers: Infinity War : We want to see the Avengers. We want to see them have a very big adventure. We want that adventure to be fun and sad and thrilling and hopeful, and to remind us why we like the Avengers. Above all, we want to leave the theater asking “what happens next?”

And Avengers: Infinity War , above everything else it does, will do that for you.

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Avengers: infinity war, common sense media reviewers.

Intense violence, strong messages in shocking Marvel epic.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Heroism, courage, self-sacrifice are front and cen

Motivations and actions are unusually believable f

Frequent, intense, massively destructive comic boo

One scene is implied to be taking place after sex

Not constant, but a couple uses of "s--t," plus wo

Tony uses an ancient AT&T flip phone. Verbal r

Parents need to know that Avengers: Infinity War is the most intense of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films so far, due to the villain's genocidal quest and the grave consequences for some well-known characters. It has plenty of humor and lighter moments, but it ultimately goes to places darker than in any…

Positive Messages

Heroism, courage, self-sacrifice are front and center in most Marvel movies, but with stakes feeling even greater than usual here, they really stand out -- along with teamwork, of course. Several characters face ultimate test; most pass. Several make extremely difficult decisions while acting out of love. The crisis unifies the heroes instantly, reuniting factions. All that said, violence still the core problem-solving method, and Thanos' mission of "mercy" involves genocide.

Positive Role Models

Motivations and actions are unusually believable for the genre. Characters can be selfish and sarcastic but also frequently make sacrifices and act to protect each other and in others' best interests. The Avengers are increasingly diverse (welcome back, Black Panther!); there are many strong female characters, including a powerful villain. Women make their own decisions and fight as hard and as bravely as the men. And Shuri may be the smartest. The youngest hero, teenage Spider-Man, is also brave and very clever. Thanos and his minions believe they're bringing salvation and mercy to the universe, but their method -- genocide -- is untenable.

Violence & Scariness

Frequent, intense, massively destructive comic book-style action violence, as well as brutal beatings, impalings, stabbings, and sudden smashings/crushings. Characters tortured. Violence is generally bloodless, but consequences feel real; the emotional impact is greater. Some deaths of well-known characters appear final, which will likely upset younger viewers. Also a scene of genocide, though actual murders aren't graphically or clearly shown. A flashback includes a scared child hiding with her mother from bad guys; the child is saved, but everyone she knows is killed.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

One scene is implied to be taking place after sex (one character gets out of bed, while the other remains there). Loving kisses between couples. Talk of love; flirting.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Not constant, but a couple uses of "s--t," plus words including "ass," "a--hole," "douche bag," "nut sack," "dammit," "d--khole," "hell," "crap," "bastard," "jerk," "sucks," "stupid," "screwed," "God" (as an exclamation). Two suggested but incomplete uses of "f--k": One character says "chill the F out," and there's a cut off use of "motherf----r."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Tony uses an ancient AT&T flip phone. Verbal reference to Starbucks. Film is tied in to the vast merchandising/licensing efforts surrounding Marvel Comics.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Avengers: Infinity War is the most intense of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films so far, due to the villain's genocidal quest and the grave consequences for some well-known characters. It has plenty of humor and lighter moments, but it ultimately goes to places darker than in any previous Marvel Cinematic Universe entry. Also, it requires more knowledge of things that have happened in previous Marvel movies than other Avengers films have; it's the meeting point of several franchises and storylines. Violence is the biggest issue; it's stepped up even by MCU standards, with some torture and several impalings and crushings in addition to the usual smashed buildings, giant fights, and blasted spaceships. Thanos ( Josh Brolin ) is by far the most powerful nemesis the Avengers have faced, which the filmmakers establish right away with his brutal beatdown of one of the mightiest Avengers. The core plot element is mass murder on a universal scale, which might be a little much for younger viewers. Frankly, things get pretty grim: Key characters die, and the villains are much scarier than most comic book baddies. The gore level isn't higher; it's really the emotional impact that's different. There's also some strong language (including "s--t," "a--hole," "dammit," and several colorful insults), but sex isn't a factor beyond a few loving kisses. As always, teamwork and courage are core messages as the Avengers (including Robert Downey, Jr. 's Iron Man, Chris Evans ' Captain America, Chris Hemsworth 's Thor, and Scarlett Johansson 's Black Widow), other MCU heroes (including Chadwick Boseman 's Black Panther, Tom Holland 's Spider-Man, and Benedict Cumberbatch 's Doctor Strange), and the Guardians of the Galaxy (including Chris Pratt 's Star-Lord and Zoe Saldana 's Gamora) come together to defend humanity -- and the universe. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Based on 175 parent reviews

A historic piece of film history

What's the story.

In AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, Thanos ( Josh Brolin ), whose efforts to acquire powerful cosmic gems called "Infinity Stones" have been important elements in previous Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies, marches toward his goal of eliminating half of all life in the universe (he believes it's the only way to stop beings from using up all of the universe's resources). Lining up to stop him are almost all of the big-screen Marvel heroes, including Avengers Iron Man ( Robert Downey, Jr. ), Captain America/Steve Rogers ( Chris Evans ), Thor ( Chris Hemsworth ), Black Widow ( Scarlett Johansson ), and others; plus Spider-Man ( Tom Holland ), Black Panther ( Chadwick Boseman ), Doctor Strange ( Benedict Cumberbatch ), and the Guardians of the Galaxy, led by Star-Lord ( Chris Pratt ) and Gamora ( Zoe Saldana ). The sprawling epic takes place on multiple continents and multiple planets as Thanos and his terrifying accomplices stop at nothing to find the stones and take them by whatever means are necessary. It all leads up to a massive climactic battle with shocking consequences.

Is It Any Good?

This is the most intense, complex, and stirring Marvel Cinematic Universe film yet -- though the sheer number of characters and storylines make it a bit confusing for anyone who's not a hard-core fan. Avengers: Infinity War is also the grimmest MCU movie so far, with consequences unlike any that have come before in this massive franchise. Much of the talk about the film will center on those events (no more details here, to avoid spoilers), but there's more to it than that. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely were already responsible for two of the best MCU entries to date, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War . With Avengers: Infinity War , they continue to respect viewers' intelligence while giving their characters deep motivations and presenting knockout action scenes. It's as lean as epics get; none of its nearly two-and-a-half-hour running time feels wasted. While the many characters and intersecting plots may confuse casual viewers -- the filmmakers assume audiences are familiar with all that's come before -- for fans, it's one mind-blowing moment after another, starting with a jaw-dropping fight in the first minutes. Plus, Infinity War is also one of the funniest MCU movies yet, relying on character-based humor rather than some of the wacky flights of fancy of, say, the also excellent Thor: Ragnarok .

The performances benefit from the strong script, no-nonsense direction, and the growth the actors have experienced in their roles over many years. It's fun to watch two of the MCU's biggest egomaniacs, Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange, bump up against each other -- and then for Pratt's off-kilter Star-Lord to crash into the mix. Relationships are deepened, and it's a huge relief to see the Avengers working together again after the events of Civil War . Thanos, as voiced by Brolin and brilliantly animated by the VFX team, is perhaps the most frightening villain ever in a comic book film (including Heath Ledger's iconic Joker in The Dark Knight ) -- largely because he's so thoroughly convinced that he's actually a good guy who's willing to make hard choices and impossible sacrifices in the universe's best interests. Without spoiling anything, the film's dire consequences feel almost Game of Thrones -like, with well-known characters defeated as never before. Some kids will likely be upset by that. But keep in mind that this is a comic book world (so things aren't always what they seem), and -- in the meantime -- appreciate the fact that the overall effect gives Infinity War the highest stakes and biggest wow factor of the MCU so far.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in Avengers: Infinity War . How does it compare to the other Avengers movies? Is there a difference in the impact between hand-to-hand combat and catastrophic, buildings-collapsing type of explosions? Was the movie scarier than previous MCU entries? If so, why?

What are the movie's messages about teamwork and courage ? What happened when characters didn't work together as planned? Why is teamwork an important character strength ? Which teammates in Avengers: Infinity War were particularly effective? What strategies did they use to contribute to their team?

How does the movie explore the idea/theme of sacrifice? Are there different kinds of sacrifice in the movie? What role does it play in the movie? What impact does it have on the characters?

Why is it important for superheroes to be diverse? Do you think the Marvel Cinematic Universe offers strong examples of both racial and gender diversity? Has that changed over the films' history?

Captain America: Civil War left the Avengers split into factions. What's changed since then, at the start of this movie, and what happens when a larger threat arises? What does that say about what's most important to the characters?

Movie Details

• In theaters : April 27, 2018
• On DVD or streaming : August 14, 2018
• Cast : Robert Downey Jr. , Chris Pratt , Chris Hemsworth , Zoe Saldana , Tom Holland , Josh Brolin
• Directors : Anthony Russo , Joe Russo
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors, Latino actors
• Studio : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Superheroes , Adventures , Space and Aliens
• Character Strengths : Courage , Teamwork
• Run time : 156 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, language and some crude references
• Awards : Common Sense Selection , Kids' Choice Award
• Last updated : May 6, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Avengers: Infinity War review: Marvel’s biggest, most bizarre movie

Avengers: Infinity War isn’t the best Marvel movie. But it’s Marvel’s most daring. 

by Alex Abad-Santos

Avengers: Infinity War feels like a Marvel movie on bath salts. Trying to describe any part of it alone will make you sound like you’ve lost your mind; trying to describe it all kind of makes it sound like it’s lost its mind. And it’s all the more confounding for how closely it mirrors its decade of movie predecessors only to end up shattering that mirror: Infinity War moves, sounds, and acts like a typical Marvel movie, but then unmasks itself as a creature distinctly its own.

Throughout Marvel Studios’ 10-year cinematic history, we’ve seen the world saved multiple times, from threats ranging from a chunk of Earth poised to crash down and wipe us out like the dinosaurs in Avengers: Age of Ultron to the unkillable goddess of death in Thor: Ragnarok .

You don’t have to squint too hard to see that all these villains and their endgames (take control of the planet and/or the universe), as well as our heroes’ efforts to stop them, have started to look essentially the same.

“We don’t trade lives,” Captain America ( Chris Evans ) tells his compatriots in Avengers: Infinity War , essentially summing up Marvel’s ethos over the past 18 movies: Leave no men, women, children, or any other life form behind.

Directed by the Russo brothers , the architects behind Captain America: Civil War and Captain America: Winter Soldier , Infinity War slyly betrays Cap, presenting his and the Avengers’ worldviews as naive and privileged. Instead, it dares to ask what happens if saving the day means taking real, tangible losses — a concept so foreign that it comes in the form of an intergalactic purple titan named Thanos ( Josh Brolin ).

It’s a testament to Marvel and the Russos’ daring that Thanos is actually one of the less surprising things about Infinity War . For the past six years, we’ve been told that he’s on a collision course with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, setting us up for the chaos that ensues in this long-heralded culmination. What I didn’t fully realize is just what that chaos would look like, and that Marvel had the guts to, mostly, pull it off.

Infinity War is more of a Thanos movie than an Avengers movie

The most difficult task facing Infinity War is addressing all of the characters, motivations, subplots, and relationships that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has built up over the years without making it feel like an expository avalanche careening down a mountain to bury the audience below.

For example: Gamora ( Zoe Saldana ) and Nebula ( Karen Gillan ) are adopted daughters of Thanos, the villain of Infinity War and the big bad lurking in the shadows of Marvel’s movies since 2012’s Avengers . Gamora and Nebula hate each other and hate Thanos, who tortured them by pitting them against each other; he also killed the family of Gamora’s Guardians of the Galaxy teammate Drax ( Dave Bautista ).

Gamora, Drax, and the other Guardians aren’t technically Avengers, but that’s just because they operate in Marvel’s cosmic universe, which we found out in Thor: Ragnarok is connected to Thor’s Asgard, a recently destroyed world populated by Norse gods and goddesses.

That intricate web of characters and motivations barely scratches the surface of four of Marvel’s recent movies; there are 18 total, not including Infinity War .

The Russo brothers’ solution to this dilemma is to turn a movie nominally about the Avengers into a movie about Thanos, played by Brolin decked out in lumpy mounds of purple CGI.

The special effects needed to turn Brolin into Thanos distract in the villain’s softer moments, as when he explains how exactly he came to be the Mad Titan. We’re told that, ages ago, Thanos’s home planet was bountiful but resources were finite. To alleviate the stress on the planet, Thanos had the idea to reduce it by half, eliminating life in order to preserve it.

Not satisfied with culling his own planet, Thanos has continued on a mission to eliminate half the life in the universe, and needs the Infinity Stones to do so. And it just so happens that our Avengers are the only thing standing in his way.

Thanos’s story allows Saldana to shine, as she rounds out Gamora with more humanity and purpose than the Guardians movies have allowed her. That she’s acting opposite a computer-enhanced Brolin in a majority of her scenes is even more impressive.

But giving Thanos such an expansive history comes at a price.

Most of the Marvel superheroes appearing in Infinity War, particularly Black Panther and Captain America, are compressed, concentrated versions of themselves. T’Challa ( Chadwick Boseman ) is given five or so lines to be majestic in his defense of Wakanda; Cap gets a few more minutes to be noble and inspiring. Spider-Man ( Tom Holland ) is around to remind us that he’s young.

Scarlet Witch ( Elizabeth Olsen ) and Vision ( Paul Bettany ) have scenes together to tell you they’re in love. Characters like Drax, Mantis ( Pom Klementieff ), Falcon ( Anthony Mackie ), Bucky Barnes ( Sebastian Stan ), Shuri ( Letitia Wright ), Okoye ( Danai Gurira ), Rocket ( Bradley Cooper ), Black Widow ( Scarlett Johansson ), and, of course, Groot (Vin Diesel) have a few one-liners.

Instead of showing us why these characters are so beloved, the Russo brothers employ a Marvel shorthand of sorts, relying on past movies to do most of the work. And that’s not an unreasonable instinct: Captain America’s first onscreen return in Civil War is awe-inspiring in large part because he’s the Captain America who’s lived in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the past seven years.

The same kind of chills happen when the “Wakanda” theme plays in Infinity War — a testament to the power of Ryan Coogler’s massive film . For devotees of the MCU, there’s plenty to read into between the lines of Infinity War , but only if you know where to look.

Not all of the film’s heroes are underutilized, though. Tony Stark’s ( Robert Downey Jr. ) fear of a galactic threat, established over the past few films featuring him, is fully realized in Thanos, and Downey sinks his teeth into Stark’s vulnerability and apprehension. Stark has to not only defeat this villain but also reconcile that mission with the fact that Thanos’s plan is horrifyingly adjacent to Stark’s dream of a universe so safe that Avengers are rendered obsolete.

Benedict Cumberbatch ’s Doctor Strange and Chris Hemsworth ’s Thor are apt counters to Stark. Cumberbatch’s Strange is coolly stubborn, calculating in ways that Stark isn’t. And Hemsworth, after flexing his knack for comedy in 2017’s Ragnarok , taps into that same humor but laces it with jagged grief and anger informed by having seen Thanos’s wrath firsthand.

It would have been stellar to see all of Marvel’s superheroes allowed these little pockets of storytelling in between the Thanos action, but there’s already not enough room in Infinity War ’s two hours and 40 minutes. I don’t envy the difficult decisions the Russos had to make about the heroes and storylines to spotlight, but I’m also not convinced that giving us a Thanos origin story and relying on that Marvel superhero shorthand to fill in the gaps was the most efficient way.

Perhaps the easiest way to reconcile this is to understand that Infinity War doesn’t want to have multiple profound heroes, but rather have one profound thing happen to all of its heroes.

Avengers: Infinity War is the most comic book movie that Marvel has ever created

The best and worst thing about Infinity War is that it’s a comic book movie.

Comic book artists aren’t bound by visual effects budgets, so they’re allowed to give us priceless imaginations on paper: new worlds on every page, mystifying beings, dazzling spacecraft, spellbinding powers, and megaton fights. Infinity War is the closest iteration of this limitless power that we’ve seen onscreen.

Midway through, I lost count of the planets and galaxies visited, each one terrifyingly beautiful in its own way. There’s a breath-stopping visit to a deserted ghost city of a planet, so evocative you can almost smell the sulfur in the air and feel the temperature drop when it comes on the screen.

And the faces of Thanos’s Black Order , his cabal of henchmen, are fearsome and distinct, offering both scintillating powers and copious nightmare fuel. Their fights with the Avengers are the film’s highlights, and a couple of them truly feel like significant threats to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The problem with flexing this sort of expansive world building is that it requires so much jumping around the universe that the film feels like it’s spinning plates. That results in the compression I mentioned earlier, the feeling that some characters are around simply to remind you they exist. But it also, frustratingly, kneecaps what should be the MCU’s grandest fight scene, Infinity War ’s invasion of Wakanda.

It’s the largest-scale onscreen fight I can recall since the Battle of Helm’s Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers . Our heroes, in a valiant last stand, are the only thing that stands between Thanos and universal destruction. And his generals have unleashed thousands of intergalactic hounds — what look to be a cross between snapping turtles and WWE wrestlers — upon Wakanda. Cap and Black Panther teaming up to hold the line is a strange mix of joy and stress. Seeing Okoye and Black Widow’s combat expertise in tandem is breathtaking. Same with Scarlet Witch unleashing her full powers.

Unfortunately, though, because there are multiple storylines going on at one time, we jump from Wakanda to outer space and another faction of Avengers doing their part to save the universe, or get thrust into Thor’s side quest to find a weapon strong enough to kill Thanos.

It’s frustrating that it’s so difficult to fully appreciate the fantastic work that went into orchestrating these massive spectacles when we’re constantly being jostled from place to place. Midway through, all these different settings and all these jumps begin to feel exhausting.

The same thing can happen in comic books. Some story arcs are better than others. And sometimes you’ll have to read through them all — even the most boring ones — to get the full crossover experience and make sure you didn’t miss anything.

But also as in comic books, there’s one absolute bombshell of a moment that grabs you by the neck and drives you back into the story. Infinity War boasts the most breathtaking, audacious moment in superhero movie history, one that rocketed through my brain and tore apart everything I thought I knew about the past 10 years of Marvel moviemaking. For the first time in a while, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

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Avengers: Infinity War Review

27 Apr 2018

NaN minutes

Avengers: Infinity War

Marvel has raised the pressure for itself on Infinity War , widely touting it as the endgame of three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and promising earth-shattering – or at least, judging by the trailer, moon-shattering – consequences to this two-part story, which will finish with next year’s untitled Avengers 4 . It would be hard for any film to live up to the level of sky-high hype that has resulted, and to satisfy the fans of every single one of these characters. Miraculously, this smashes right through your expectations and delivers shock after shock.

The film opens without the traditional Marvel fanfare, instead throwing itself into full-throated operatic drama. The opening minutes are designed to jolt you out of any complacency you may have felt about Thanos’ effectiveness, or the threat posed even by his minions in the Black Order. Ebony Maw (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) and Proxima Midnight (Carrie Coon) and the rest make themselves instantly hissable. They may look like Lord Of The Rings rejects, and they boast little in the way of redeeming qualities, but that’s all to the good. They are big, they are powerful enough to test the Avengers independent of their boss, and that’s about all we need to know.

Brace for noble self-sacrifice, senseless tragedy and straight-up murder.

Thanos, meanwhile, gets monologuing from minute one, and it’s to Josh Brolin ’s credit that he is never less than compelling, whether speaking or letting his actions speak for him. Thanos is mad, and the solution he sees to the galaxy’s ills both evil and ineffective, but he has a thought process that (sort of) makes sense, and his commitment to his cause is so absolute that it is almost admirable. Almost.

Standing against him is a team that is physically fractured, scattered across the galaxy between the remnants of the Avengers, the refugee Asgardians and the Guardians of the Galaxy. The plot’s machinations result in unlikely combinations of Avengers meeting, bickering and, usually, working together semi-effectively. The addition of the Guardians of the Galaxy happens smoothly – which is to say that there is fighting, flirting, bonding over heavy weaponry and the steady erosion of Peter Quill’s ( Chris Pratt ) ego. Speaking of egos, the titanic clash between Iron Man ( Robert Downey Jr ) and Dr Strange ( Benedict Cumberbatch ) is a delight, especially given spice by the addition of the naïve, entirely good Peter Parker ( Tom Holland ). The combinations of heroes working together feels both inevitable and unexpected, and the sheer charisma of the cast means that whatever scene or planet we cut to, there’s someone there to care about.

Everyone is tested. Hulk ( Mark Ruffalo ) comes up against obstacles he can’t smash, and Steve Rogers ( Chris Evans ) — relatively underused — has to reckon with his own personal worst-case scenario. Thanos’ genius is to repeatedly use our heroes’ mutual ties against them. Thanos is willing to sacrifice half the universe to achieve his ends, but he knows that others are not so determined. Over and over again, the film tries to force one character to make concessions to save a life, and over and over again they try to live up to Vision’s claim that “We don’t trade lives, Captain”. They may not, but Joe and Anthony Russo, evil genius screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus, and producer Kevin Feige, have no such mercy.

Brace, then, for noble self-sacrifice, senseless tragedy and straight-up murder. The good news is that it’s also really, really funny. Tony Stark is briefly reduced to speechlessness. Thor gives an account of his family history that is accurate and also hilarious. Groot ( Vin Diesel ), Rocket ( Bradley Cooper ) and Drax ( Dave Bautista ) continue to leave a trail of much-needed laughs, without ever quite distracting from the danger they all face.

The film dances nimbly across the cosmos from one group to the next, turning the screws on each group, shattering them and pulling them back together in new combinations. With all these different strands, you might expect to see the gears move to keep this intricate plot humming, as in Age Of Ultron and Civil War . But this time the Russos achieve the impossible. Not only did they bring all these disparate characters and stories together, but they made it look effortless. And the ending laughs in the face of carbonite when it comes to raising the stakes for next time. “It’s not overselling it to say that the fate of the universe is at stake,” says one character, early on in Infinity War . If the universe he meant was the Marvel one, there’s no need to worry. We couldn’t tear ourselves away now if we wanted to.

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• Entertainment

Avengers: Infinity War is wildly fun until it leaves you hanging

Spoiler-free review: Marvel's latest team-up, the best Avengers movie yet, melds hilarious and tragic moments into a streamlined diary of mad titan Thanos.

I was having infinite fun watching Avengers: Infinity War -- until it ended.

The film is the Marvel Cinematic Universe 's biggest superhero soap opera yet. And despite an ending that left me fuming at the screen, and a breakneck pace that shortchanges many characters, it's still the best Avengers movie yet .

One minute it's heart-wrenching, the next it's laugh-out-loud funny. You're watching Spider-Man (Tom Holland) swing through New York to help Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). Then you're zipping to outer space as Thor (Chris Hemsworth) forges a new alliance with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Fortunately, giant captions help you keep track of the multiple characters' whereabouts, whether they're battling on behalf of the universe in Wakanda or Scotland.  

With so many players and planets, there's plenty of potential for things to go awry. But the streamlined story makes the approximately 2.5-hour movie fly by. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo have incorporated elements of each of the films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe while keeping one character in focus the entire time.

Diary of mad titan Thanos

That character is Thanos (Josh Brolin), and as long promised , he takes center stage in his quest to collect six Infinity Stones that will let him wipe out half the universe. 

Unlike Marvel villains who often lack character depth (think Helmut Zemo from Captain America: Civil War or Malekith from Thor: The Dark World ), Thanos gets plenty of screen time to show what makes him feel triumph and what makes him feel pain. He's still a genocidal maniac, but he suffers desperate consequences for his deadly goals. And I do mean deadly. Some of his actions are violent and grotesque enough that parents should take caution before bringing children elementary school age or younger to the film.

'Avengers: Infinity War' is going to blow your mind

Because of the galactic focus on Thanos, the movie feels much more like a sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 than a follow-up to more grounded films like Captain America: Civil War or Avengers: Age of Ultron . This makes sense. Early on in 2014's original  Guardians of the Galaxy , several characters quickly name Thanos as someone they want to betray or destroy. Those grudges haven't faded, and Gamora's (Zoe Saldana) close but complicated history as Thanos' favorite adopted daughter gets fully explored.

Guardians meet Avengers

As trailers have already revealed, Thor (post-Ragnarok) fits in with the Guardians as tightly as the Infinity Gauntlet on Thanos. If Thor isn't given a fourth movie to headline, I'd be thrilled to watch Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder instead bicker with Chris Pratt's Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 .

That's not to say the earthbound heroes don't have their moments. The love story between Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany's Vision has now fully blossomed as they fight to protect the Mind Stone that makes Vision as alive as a sentient robot-host on HBO's Westworld . 

You'll cheer as Captain America (Chris Evans) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) fight in Wakanda alongside Black Panther T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and Okoye (Danai Gurira). And War Machine (Don Cheadle) is so over the Sokovia Accords that broke the Avengers apart in Civil War.

But many other Earth stories feel sidelined. 

After being teased at the end of Black Panther, Bucky Barnes' (Sebastian Stan) return feels glossed over. The Sokovia Accords and most of the beef between the Avengers highlighted in the Russos' Civil War film are rapidly undone to get the Thanos fight started. And based on a few off-the-cuff references to time that conflict with earlier films , I'm now convinced nobody in the Marvel universe truly knows how much time has passed since the first Avengers movie.

Avengers assemble

• What to watch before you see Infinity War
• Avengers: Infinity War: Everything you need to know
• How to stream every Marvel movie available
• Avengers: Infinity War has too many Avengers. Just admit it

Everything I just described involves having some familiarity with previous Marvel movies, and while this one is a breezy watch, some viewers may be lost right at the start without having seen previous Marvel outings, especially both Guardians movies, Captain America: Civil War and Thor: Ragnarok . (Our  quick catch-up guide can help.)

New characters include Thanos' Black Order, but none rise beyond the level of henchmen helping to obtain the Infinity Stones. Peter Dinklage's mystery character, who I won't spoil, is an absolute treat. And other cameos will happily surprise Marvel movie fans.

Avengers: Infinity War feels a lot like a sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy.

Infinity War also outdoes itself in the special-effects department, depicting battles that highlight Wakanda's technological capabilities, Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange's control of their magical powers and the might of Thanos -- often all in one sequence. Other backdrops look so obviously CGI-ed that reports Tom Holland acted in scenes by himself , with other actors added in later, make a lot of sense. 

An abrupt end

We'll be analyzing the numerous plot lines for months, but the way Infinity War ends easily feels too much like a television show's cliffhanger season finale that baits you to come back next year to find out how it all resolves. Unless Avengers 4 has a heck of a subtitle, this movie should have kept its "part 1" label. As a result, audiences might leave the theater feeling cheated, and frankly having a hard time believing the film's stakes. (The movie also only features one post-credits scene, which deepened my conflicted feelings about the ending. We discuss and dissect what that post-credits scene means here ).

Until the ending hits, Avengers: Infinity War features all the cool superhero fight scenes you've come to expect, smartass quips between superheroes and super beings like Doctor Strange and Tony Stark, and with chances to see so many Marvel characters mingle among each other for the first time. It's absolutely worth the ride, but get ready to be left hanging.

Want to practice your Spanish. Check out CNET en Español's review of Avengers: Infinity War . 

Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters worldwide on April 27.

You'll cheer when the Avengers fight alongside the Black Panther and Wakanda's forces.

How to watch every MCU property in the perfect order : From Marvel films to the shows on Netflix, here's the best order to experience the MCU.

Meet the Black Panther, ruler of Wakanda : CNET Magazine interviewed Chadwick Boseman and learned just how he came up with that accent.

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Movie Review: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

• Vincent Gaine
• Movie Reviews
• --> May 5, 2018

Over the past decade, Marvel Studios have proved time and again their mastery of the superhero genre. Central to this success is the combination of superhero tropes with other genres: World War II film with “ Captain America: The First Avenger ,” conspiracy thriller with “ Captain America: The Winter Soldier ,” heist movie with “ Ant-Man ,” high school comedy with “ Spider-Man: Homecoming .” With Avengers: Infinity War , Marvel once again develop the superhero genre, pushing the envelope in a number of ways. The scale and breadth of the canvas on which the story unfolds is unprecedented in the genre’s history, the sheer number of characters is staggering, the tone and measure of the piece is truly epic, and the central conceit of the film as a whole is something new. This conceit is that while Avengers: Infinity War is a superhero/fantasy epic film, it is also a super villain film.

Whereas previous films in the franchise followed the selfless exploits of Thor, Iron Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity War focuses on Thanos (Josh Brolin), a Titan in search of the Infinity Stones, most of which have appeared in the franchise. After the feeble Abomination (Tim Roth) of “ The Incredible Hulk ,” the flamboyant Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) of “Captain America: The First Avenger” and the charismatic Loki (Tom Hiddleston) of “ Thor ” and “ The Avengers ,” Thanos emerges as the most prominent, rounded and engaging villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Indeed, it may be overly simplistic to label him as a villain: His quest propels the drama in such a way as to make him the protagonist. Arguably, such “villainous” characters are frequently the protagonist because they are attempting to change something, whereas the “heroes” endeavor to maintain the status quo.

In the case of Thanos, he is trying to make significant changes, the Infinity Stones providing him the means to a profound end. Thanos’ wish is distinctive among his counterparts like Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) of “ Justice League ” and Green Goblin (Willem Defoe) of “Spider-Man”: Those figures displayed a vague desire for power, but Thanos has a belief in something beyond himself, something that he sees as good for others and to which he is fanatically devoted. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo take the time to flesh out this ideology, enabling the viewer to understand Thanos’ perspective and perhaps even sympathize with him. Brolin’s performance is remarkable: Despite the hefty dose of digital make-up that transforms him into a large purple alien, he conveys a sense of weight and pathos through body language and eyes, while his voice carries a sense of heavy responsibility and regret. Despite this, Thanos’ ruthlessness and viciousness are never compromised. These contradictory elements make him a complex character, convinced that he is helping others and, furthermore, his perspective does make sense, despite his various opponents repeatedly describing him as “insane.”

These opponents of Thanos are a motley and familiar crew, Avengers: Infinity War incorporating the vast majority of characters previously seen in the MCU (with a couple of notable exceptions). Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely also situate the film neatly within the MCU, continuing plot threads from “ Thor: Ragnarok ,” “ Captain America: Civil War ,” “ Doctor Strange ,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “ Black Panther .” The Russos combine this familiarity with innovation, as the film deviates from the structure of “The Avengers” and “ Avengers: Age of Ultron ,” both of which focused on the difficulty of our heroes’ cohesiveness and cooperation.

Here, different groups of heroes follow particular plotlines, the film cutting smoothly between them in a way that balances the plotlines with equal weight. The film’s form therefore mirrors its content since balance is a major and recurring theme: Balance of resources and feelings, as well as an ethical balance over what how much is justifiable. The characters demonstrate familiar elements in new combinations, such as quippy zingers between Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jnr.) and Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), competing egos between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), tenderness between Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany). Yet there is also development: Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a more grim and embittered figure than we have seen before, Bruce Banner and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) have a new difference of opinion, and the previously straightforward Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is given more background as well as internal conflict. These developments often lead to emotional outbursts, which may leave the viewer surprised and shaken.

Not that the action is restricted to internal conflicts, as Avengers: Infinity War delivers multiple spectacular set pieces on a variety of scales. Thanos’ lieutenants clash with different heroes, potentially fatal exploits of strength and resilience are undertaken, entire armies clash on vast battlefields. Despite the scale, the Russos maintain a keen eye for detail, the various powers of the Avengers, the Guardians and the non-affiliated allowing for variety both in interpersonal combat and against multiple opponents. Director of photography Trent Opaloch maintains a fluid, mobile aesthetic, weaving deftly between characters much as editors Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt cut between narrative strands. With its grand scale, multiple threads and range of characters, the closest cinematic cousin to Avengers: Infinity War may be “The Lord of the Rings,” specifically “The Return of the King” as, like in that film, many unite against a malevolent force, stories running in parallel while also building to more than one thunderous climax. Much like Peter Jackson’s magnum opus, Avengers: Infinity War runs the risk of becoming bloated and unwieldy, a problem that did afflict “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Captain America: Civil War.” But the Russos manage to avoid this pitfall through their careful balance of the myriad characters, and their central focus on Thanos.

What marks Avengers: Infinity War out is that it adds something different exceptional to the mood and indeed the meaning of Marvel’s movies. While there is fun and enjoyment, comedy, affection and visceral thrills, the film also carries an overwhelming sense of destiny and doom. The fatalism of the various characters suggests knowledge and acceptance of their mortality, and the viewer may well expect at least someone to die. But there is a deeper, more philosophical aspect to the film. Thanos’ immense power not only makes him menacing, it also lends credence to his quest, suggesting that might may actually make right. This is a common criticism made of superhero narratives: These immensely powerful individuals operate without oversight and are effectively above the law, making them unstoppable fascists. “Captain America: Civil War” and, from the DC Extended Universe, “ Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice ,” presented this problem but more as window dressing than thematic substance.

Avengers: Infinity War , however, takes a less direct but perhaps more effective approach to this concept. Thanos is the protagonist of the film, so we follow his arc, sharing his excitement and sometimes regret even as his power may evoke fear in us. His goal is understandable and could be considered noble, while his devotion goes beyond that of Stark, Rogers or Strange. Like them, he believes in something greater than himself and is willing to make hard choices. He is, therefore, the epitome of Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) description of the Avengers Initiative: A remarkable person who fights the battle no one else can. He is an unstoppable fascist in his pursuit of a better universe, seeking to save lives in his own way, which happens to be violent and destructive. The key difference between Thanos and Thor, Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), is that Thanos will make greater sacrifices. Rogers mentions on more than one occasion that “We don’t trade lives,” but the convenience of this perspective is that Rogers and his ilk end the lives of their enemies while prizing those of their friends. Vision offers another perspective when a single death might save many others. In addition, various “good” characters including Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) are largely motivated by personal goals including revenge. Thanos, however, prizes his higher calling above everyone and everything. And maybe he’s right, at least from a perspective that is prominent throughout superhero narratives: The ends justify the means, those with power have the authority to wield it as they see fit, the strong prevail.

Viewers may not share the perspective of Thanos, but have we not gone along with similar perspectives through our support and endorsement of ostensibly “heroic” figures? Avengers: Infinity War is therefore a fascinating development for the superhero genre. While it does incorporate elements of the fantasy epic into an established formula, the film’s focus on a super villain creates fascinating ambiguity, not only within the film but also in the perspectives of the audience. It is a film that raises intriguing questions, and while future installments in the MCU may provide answers, Avengers: Infinity War will likely remain a compelling adventure as well as a remarkable thought experiment.

Tagged: aliens , battle , comic book adaptation , sequel , superheroes , team , villain

Dr. Vincent M. Gaine is a film and television researcher. His first book, Existentialism and Social Engagement in the Films of Michael Mann was published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2011. His work on film and media has been published in Cinema Journal and The Journal of Technology , Theology and Religion , as well as edited collections including The 21st Century Superhero and The Directory of World Cinema .

Movie Review: It Lives Inside (2023) Movie Review: The Inhabitant (2022) Movie Review: The Man from Rome (2022) Movie Review: The Breach (2022) Movie Review: Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) Movie Review: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) Movie Review: The Batman (2022)

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“Avengers: Infinity War,” Reviewed: The Latest Marvel Movie Is a Two-and-a-Half-Hour Ad for All the Previous Marvel Movies

By Richard Brody

“Avengers: Infinity War” is a very peculiar movie. It runs for two and a half hours, and its spectacular action, effects, histrionics, and noises fill big screens and cavernous theatres with their colossal churning and yowling. Yet its roiling action is beside the point, serving mainly to illustrate the movie’s main idea: to give each one of its dozens of characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe a few moments to shine. In the well-worn divide between plot-driven dramas and character-driven ones, “Avengers: Infinity War” falls strangely and surprisingly into the latter category.

For that matter, although there’s nothing small scale about “Avengers: Infinity War,” it only resembles a movie. It comes off not even as a single drama, as a self-contained and internally structured narrative, but, rather, as a big-screen, two-and-a-half-hour variant on a single episode in a television series. “Avengers: Infinity War” would make little sense in the absence of its pack of predecessors. Its characters aren’t introduced; they just show up, and their behavior is entirely defined by the template set for them in other movies . Not only does “Avengers: Infinity War” presume that viewers have seen all the preceding films in the Marvel series but, worse, it presumes that they’ve thought about them afterward.

And for those who haven’t, there’s always streaming: “Avengers: Infinity War” may be the first movie that functions as a full-length ad for the binge-watching of a virtual series, whose episodes, having been released one by one in theatres over the course of many years, are now simultaneously and instantly available to be streamed. The insubstantiality of the film isn’t due to the infinite yet flimsy malleability of C.G.I. gimmickry but, instead, to the dispersion of its drama throughout the many cinematic installations set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The significance of nearly every scene is outsourced to one of the previous movies in the series. What’s more, “Avengers: Infinity War” seems built to be seen and re-seen; the directors, the brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, pack the film’s transformations and effects into vertiginous camera plunges and surges and swish pans, winks and asides—a realm of sheer visual complexity waiting to be parsed in detail on repeating viewings. If the Russos don’t offer a substantial quality of imagination to fill out the mental space of the movie’s running time (or, for that matter, of any one of its scenes or even shots), they at least offer a generous, even a profuse, quantity of it.

The movie, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, is built around a straightforward and classic MacGuffin: there are six small and gem-like stones at large in the universe—the stones of space, reality, power, soul, mind, and time. Each one endows its bearer with one particular power, but whoever collects all six (as if they came in boxes of breakfast cereal) gets total, unprecedented, presumably irresistible control of the universe. A villain named Thanos (Josh Brolin), endowed with a leathery face and a bulbous, striated chin, wants them; the superheroic Marvel-sphere unites to prevent him from getting them.

Thanos’s plot is explicitly, enthusiastically genocidal (of his own murderous efforts to make “trillions cease to exist,” he offers the Nazi-like assertion that “The hardest choices require the strongest wills”), and the movie resounds and rumbles throughout with a megalomaniacal energy that plays like arena-Wagner. It comes complete with hardcore light shows; absurd heroic gestures amplified by visual and sonic clamor; the neo-medievalism of weaponry forged by a dwarf master smith (Peter Dinklage), and enough varieties of Liebestods to fill the Met’s whole season. Yet there’s a huge mistake in “Avengers: Infinity Wars”: its music. Alan Silvestri’s score is entirely, blaringly functional if not memorable—but, with its symphony-orchestra battalion of winds, strings, and kettledrums, it’s in the wrong genre altogether. What the movie calls out for, what it suggests from the start, is the electrified fury of throwback heavy-metal—hair-metal. That the overlords of production didn’t see fit to commission that kind of music suggests, dismayingly, that they possessed no desire to distract from the thudding and thrashing that the Russos depict onscreen.

Nonetheless, with dozens of characters popping in and out of the action, and the storyline absurdly extended to create enough little slots for each character to get a one-line aria (written in the universal language of snippy screenwriter-ese), the actors hardly seem like they’re there at all—they’re only given celebrity cameos. None of the dramatic threads has any psychological impact, with one exception—the ongoing struggle of Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to bring out his inner Hulk. “Avengers: Infinity Wars” favors not a full range of performance but a style marked by the tone of the voice, the sculpting of moments through sharp diction, which is why the actors who make the strongest impressions in the film are Robert Downey, Jr ., and Danai Gurira. Also, the character of Wanda Maximoff has been written large, and Elizabeth Olsen makes something distinctive of the role: with her low-key, nearly neutral manner, she offers a virtual mumblecore off-the-street authenticity among the gloss of more polished movie stars.

But then there’s that ending. The movie feels like a two-hour-long setup for a single sprint of conflicts that offer unexpected reversals. T’Challa, as he promised at the end of “ Black Panther ,” makes good on his plan to open Wakanda to the world, and, when the other heroes are in need of allies to defeat Thanos, he invites them in. At first, the ingenuity of Wakandan technology and strategy prevails; but then things go haywire there, as they do elsewhere in the universe. Thanos wreaks havoc and leaves a trail of misery in his wake, and the most powerful impression left by the movie overall is its sense of bewilderment and betrayal, of mightily mournful and unreconciled desolation that feels, inescapably, like an allusively emotional transcription of the current American political landscape. (Even the title suggests a comment on the current state of American foreign policy.)

But that ending is also a narrative cheap shot, because it doesn’t feel like an ending—it feels like the turning point of a movie that is about to enter its heroic final act (which, in this case, will instead be the sequel). The ground rules governing the film’s superheroics are undefined and limitlessly malleable: infinite powers mean infinite dramatic possibilities, and none of the limitations by which real lives and choices are constructed and compelled. That’s why, for all the colossal C.G.I. kinetics and pyrotechnics of the movie’s massive battles and thudding fights, the stakes seem so low. Even the surprising deaths of beloved characters, for all their momentary power to disturb, feel cheap, because the powers of superheroism—amped up by the reversibility of time thanks to the time stone—make no result seem conclusive, no death seem final. The redemptive heroics that are doubtless forthcoming in the next episode are little to look forward to; they have the inevitability of the calendar. The only thing to hope for is a little meta-playfulness: if the producers had a sense of humor, they might give Thanos, with his infinite powers, the ability to control even the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself. Imagine, for instance, a world in which he could go back in time to reëdit “Avengers: Infinity War” and make himself come out not the villain but the hero.

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By Jonny Auping

By Anthony Lane

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Avengers: Infinity War

The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe. The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe. The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

• Anthony Russo
• Christopher Markus
• Stephen McFeely
• Robert Downey Jr.
• Chris Hemsworth
• Mark Ruffalo
• 4.6K User reviews
• 527 Critic reviews
• 68 Metascore
• 46 wins & 80 nominations total

• Tony Stark …

• Bruce Banner …

• Steve Rogers …

• Natasha Romanoff …

• James Rhodes …

• Doctor Strange

• Peter Parker …

• T'Challa …

• Wanda Maximoff …

• Sam Wilson …

• Bucky Barnes …

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• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia Tom Holland was not allowed to read the script for this movie, since he revealed too many secrets for Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) . In one of the promotional videos for the movie, several of its cast members are in an interrogation room refusing to reveal any spoilers, and Holland's mouth is conspicuously taped shut.
• Goofs (at around 1h 1 min) While on the Maw's spaceship, Tony Stark, Peter Parker and Dr. Strange's cape have a conversation. and for the entire scene Peter's hair is slicked back. During an intense exchange with Tony, Peter says "You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood"; the camera cuts to a speechless Tony and then goes back to Peter, who now has a completely different hairstyle, featuring a fringe. His hair turns back up for the rest of the scene.

Rocket Raccoon : This is Thanos we're talking about. He's the toughest there is

Thor : Well, he's never fought me.

Rocket Raccoon : Yeah, he has.

Thor : He's never fought me twice.

• Crazy credits The Marvel Studios logo changes the "io " in the word Studios to the numbers "10" to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• Alternate versions In the theatrical version released in India, some profanity has been muted. Also, the middle finger of Star-Lord during an action sequence has been blurred.
• Connections Edited into Marvel Studios: Legends: Wanda Maximoff (2021)
• Soundtracks The Rubberband Man Written by Thom Bell (as Thomas Bell) and Linda Creed Performed by The Spinners Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Group By arrangement with Warner Music Group & TV Licensing

User reviews 4.6K

• Apr 26, 2018
• How long is Avengers: Infinity War? Powered by Alexa
• Why did Black Widow dye her hair blonde in this film?
• Why isn't Wolverine in this movie?
• Why is Gamora?
• April 27, 2018 (United States)
• United States
• Marvel (United States)
• Official Disney+ Hotstar
• Cockburn Street, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK (Pizza Shop)
• Marvel Studios
• Jason Roberts Productions
• South Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $321,000,000 (estimated)
• $678,815,482
• $257,698,183
• Apr 29, 2018
• $2,052,415,039

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 29 minutes
• IMAX 6-Track
• Dolby Surround 7.1
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Atmos

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• DVD & Streaming

Avengers: Infinity War

• Action/Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy , War

Content Caution

In Theaters

• April 27, 2018
• Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man; Chris Hemsworth as Thor; Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk; Chris Evans as Steve Rogers; Josh Brolin as Thanos; Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow; Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange; Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine; Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man; Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther; Paul Bettany as Vision; Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch; Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/White Wolf; Tom Hiddleston as Loki; Idris Elba as Heimdall; Danai Gurira as Okoye; Peter Dinklage as Eitri; Benedict Wong as Wong; Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord; Pom Klementieff as Mantis; Karen Gillan as Nebula; Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer; Zoe Saldana as Gamora; Vin Diesel as Groot; Bradley Cooper as Rocket

Home Release Date

• August 14, 2018
• Anthony and Joe Russo

Distributor

• Walt Disney

Movie Review

For years, Thanos has watched.

When the Avengers beat back an alien invasion, he watched. When the Guardians of the Galaxy saved a faraway planet from annihilation, he watched. For nearly the whole of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, as our superheroes did their hero things, Thanos has lurked in the story’s borders, watching, waiting, biding his time.

But now, his time has come. He is the coming storm, the creeping death, the threat of apocalypse and Armageddon, oblivion and omega.

Thanos’ name recalls Thanatos, the Greek personification of death. He might argue he’s unjustly named. Thanos doesn’t want to annihilate all life in the universe, after all. Just half of it. Just half.

All he needs is six stones, seeds of power sown when the universe was first born.

The first of these Infinity Stones is in his possession already— the purple Power Stone, taken from the same planet that the Guardians of the Galaxy saved not so long ago. That stone alone would be enough to lay waste to civilizations, to planets, to whole systems.

But it’s not enough. He needs all six.

The blue Space Stone , also called the Tesseract, was last seen in Asgard—Thor’s home world—before it was destroyed. Thanos suspects it might’ve survived, thanks to Loki, Thor’s brother. Easy enough. Thanos has dealt with Loki before.

The red Reality Stone was last in the possession of the Collector, a mysterious being who gathers the treasures and detritus of the galaxy like an extraterrestrial hoarder. But the Collector’s museum of the odd and arcane suffered its own cataclysm not so long ago. Thanos will have to visit and see how he—and it—are doing.

The Mind Stone could be trickier, given that it’s in the forehead of Vision, one of the Avengers’ most powerful, most enigmatic, heroes. Hardly seems possible that Vision and the rest could stop him, but they might muster enough strength to pester.

And then there’s the green Time Stone , lodged in the Eye of Agamotto. True, Doctor Strange used the stone to fine effect against Dormammu, a galactic demi-demon after Thanos’ own dark heart. But if Thanos has a couple of Infinity Stones of his own in tow by the time he faces Strange, he’ll hardly be a threat.

But what of the Soul Stone, hidden for so long? A glowing orange needle in a cosmic haystack? Perhaps Thanos has an inkling of where this most elusive stone is, too. Perhaps its secret will unfold like a flower.

One down. Five to go. And—yes, there it is, the spaceship carrying Thor, Loki and the refugees of Asgard. Another Infinity Stone nearly in hand.

For nearly all of the 10 years and 18 movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thanos has been coming … slowly, inexorably.

Now he is here. And that Universe will quake as he passes.

Positive Elements

Let’s start in an unexpected place: with Thanos himself. He is, most certainly, the movie’s villain. But he sees himself as its hero—the only guy in the cosmos willing to do what (he believes) must be done. He thinks the universe has an overpopulation problem, and he reasons that if you kill some of its residents—OK, half of them—quickly and humanely, the folks left behind will live far better lives. He wants to help . He intends well.

‘Course, you know what they say about good intentions, and never has that saying been more true than it is here. While Thanos sees the universe simply as a math problem in need of some serious subtraction, our heroes understand that the lives at stake are precious. Every one of them. Those whom Thanos so cavalierly wants to kill have hearts and minds and souls. They love and are beloved. And they work like crazy to save the universe from Thanos’ genocidal number-crunching.

All of the heroes here display a great deal of courage throughout the movie, and all are willing to sacrifice a great deal—down to their very lives—to oppose Thanos. And even when things look bleak, there’s no quit in ’em. When someone tells Okoye, Wakanda’s great general, that it looks as if this battle could be the end of the country itself, Okoye says, “It will be the noblest ending in history.”

Spiritual Elements

Infinity War offers lots of interesting spiritual rabbit trails we could explore, but explicit references to faith are fairly rare. That said, we are dealing in a world of demigods here, and a few characters are considered by some to be gods (lowercase “g”, of course).

Loki refers to himself explicitly as the “trickster god.” Thor, meanwhile, tells Thanos that the purplish villain will “never be a god” (though Thanos’ powers become indeed quite god-like as the film goes on). Indeed, Thanos’ lackeys practically worship him throughout the film, reverently using titles such as “almighty Thanos,” and “Father.”

While not referenced explicitly in this film, we know from its predecessors that other characters owe their powers to godlike beings: Black Panther, for instance, credits the goddess Bast for his skills ; Peter Quill (leader of Guardians of the Galaxy) has the DNA of a powerful planet-like being (Ego) in his blood.

Elsewhere, Quill makes a joking reference to Jesus. When the Guardians of the Galaxy run across an unconscious Thor, the blue-skinned Drax admires the man’s body, calling him a cross between a “pirate and an angel.” Later, he’s jokingly referred to as a “god-man.” We hear a recitation of the universe’s creation at the Big Bang, and we learn of the simultaneous creation of the Infinity Stones in the universe’s first moments.

The very name of the Soul Stone suggests an understanding of the “soul,” and its powers seem predicated on sacrifice. One character has a dreamlike vision that perhaps suggests some manner of afterlife. Some characters are referred to as “wizards,” and their powers are quite magical. Someone looks into the future.

We hear conversations about how fate and destiny shape characters’ lives. One character says, “Attachment to the physical is detachment from the spiritual.” We see Doctor Strange assume the lotus position while meditating; a scene pictures him with multiple sets of arms, visually echoing depictions of the Hindu god Shiva. Someone tells Thanos, “The universe has judged you.” Thor says a prayer of sorts to the “Allfather.” There’s a verbal reference to resurrection.

A fight takes place in and around a church, and we see flashes of stained glass windows and the church steeple.

Sexual Content

Vision and Scarlet Witch drop off the grid and spend a couple of weeks in Scotland, and we see the two kiss. (They’re obviously sharing a hotel room as well.) Two other prominent characters kiss and express their undying love. Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanov bat their eyelids at one another.

Drax, a blue alien, never wears a shirt. Quill compares Thanos’ chin to a part of the male anatomy (using a crude slang phrase to do so), and Quill becomes rather defensive when his team admires the muscles on an unconscious Thor. (When Gamora massages Thor’s muscles in an apparent effort to revive him, Quill pleads with her to stop.) Someone uses the phrase “booty call.” Scarlett Witch and other female characters wear tight, revealing outfits. A character says suggestively, “Shoulda stayed in bed.

Violent Content

Infinity War is a superhero movie, and superhero movies are inherently violent. (I have yet to see a pacifist one, at least.) But here, the stakes feel far higher … as does the body count. We can’t detail every bit of mayhem here, but we’ll do what we can.

In flashback, we see Thanos’ lackeys execute countless citizens of Gamora’s home planet. Scores of others lie dead or dying on the floor of a spaceship. A massive battle with toothy, beast-like things creates numerous casualties (though, mostly, among other beast-like things). Sometimes, people simply turn to ash and blow away. We hear about the deaths of others. Various characters ponder whether someone’s death might avert calamity.

Blades wreak a lot of damage, though we see very little blood. One exception: A hero gets stabbed in the side, leaving a bloody wound and causing blood to trickle out of his mouth. Other folks are sometimes impaled through the chest or back, and we see blade jut from the other side. Still others are simply stabbed to death. One unfortunate hero suffers at least three separate chest wounds, only to bind them up and dive into the fray again. A man is tortured through what appear to be glass needles, one of which punctures his cheek (and turns part of his face a little gray and veiny).

One of the stones gives Thanos the ability to manipulate matter, and he uses it to pull apart one character, cause another to fall into blocks and still another to devolve into ribbons. (All these mechanizations, oddly, are non-lethal.) Someone is thrown from a great height and dies. Laser-like force fields kill myriad monstrous creatures; a force field also severs someone’s arm (which we see fairly cleanly detached and lying on the ground). Machinery crushes others.

Someone apparently dies in the vacuum of space. Another character has his throat crushed. People are tortured via other means. A hero withstands a long blast of celestial heat. One character comes close to asphyxiating. Quill asks crudely if a particular grenade is the kind that will “blow off your junk.”

We see lots and lots of fighting with fists and feet and various implements. I’ll spare you (ahem) the blow-by-blow.

Crude or Profane Language

Four s-words and a gauntlet of other profanities, including uses of “a–,” “b–tard,” “h—,” “d–n,” “p-ss,” “crap” and “douchebag.” Someone calls someone else a “d-hole.” Someone says “motherf—,” suggesting an f-word afterward without voicing it. Another character abbreviates the f-word as well, exclaiming, “Chill the eff out.” God’s name is misused about ten times. We see one crude hand gesture. There are a couple of slang references to the male anatomy (in the context noted above in Sexual Content).

Drug and Alcohol Content

Other negative elements.

We hear someone brag about smuggling a stolen eyeball his backside. Spider-Man skips school (albeit, I should add, to save the universe).

Avengers: Infinity War is unlike any superhero movie I’ve seen and, narratively, almost impossible to classify. Is it good? Is it bad? Hard to say. Aesthetically it works: It takes risks I’ve never seen in the genre before, and it’s got some really satisfying moments. But it’s not, in the end, a very satisfying movie.

That’s by design. Infinity War is really the first part of a two-part story, what with another Avengers’ movie rolling out next year. How I will ultimately feel about this movie depends, in large part, upon how well the next one works.

But given that we’ve got a whole year to wait—and without getting into any spoilers—let me offer this warning: Infinity War will challenge many a moviegoer, especially young ones. Kids and teens who’ve really invested in this universe will find this intense flick hard to watch at times.

At Plugged In , we often talk about how important it is to talk through the entertainment we consume, and that’s especially true for Infinity War . If you decide to see this movie—and if you take your family to see it—budget time to talk about it afterward. There’s a lot to process here, and many who watch it will need to process it. I won’t lie to you: I’m still processing myself.

Because of this movie’s astronomical profile, and because many viewers have invested so much into this universe and its characters, I imagine that plenty of families will feel like they have to see Infinity War . I totally get that. But remember, the word “war” is a wholly appropriate descriptor of Infinity War . And all wars—even fictional ones like this—come with consequences.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Avengers: Infinity War (United States, 2018)

Minimal spoilers. There are some vague references to things that happen and the usual discussion about plot elements available via trailers and pre-release clips, but I have tried to remain as “spoiler-lite” as possible. As always, however, if you’re concerned about maintaining the “virgin” experience, avoid reading this until you have seen the movie.

Avengers: Infinity War knows what it wants to be and goes about pursuing that goal with relentless intensity. An exhausting 150 minutes after opening with a bang, the film concludes with a quieter, solemn moment that illustrates how this movie has done something never previously attempted by a superhero film. No, it’s not a game-changer like Deadpool or Logan . It remains firmly anchored within the “traditional” comic book milieu. But, with an unwavering devotion to spectacle and action, the film throws down a gauntlet where this kind of mass team-up is concerned.

The volume of characters guarantees that no one gets much screen time and a few (like Ant-Man and Hawkeye) are absent altogether. If you’re a big Tony Stark fan, know that Robert Downey Jr. clocks in more minutes than most of the actors but that’s still not a lot. Thanos appears more than any of the heroes; in some ways, this is his movie. In order to make things manageable, the characters are broken into groups. Iron Man, Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) hang out and trade quips. The Guardians – Star Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Buatista), Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper), Brooding Teen Groot (Terry Notary), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) – are joined by Thor (Chris Hemsworth) when they find him floating around in space. No-Longer-Captain-America (Chris Evans) returns to the fray, bringing his ex-Avengers compatriots with him. Vision (Paul Bettany) and Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) share a few tender moments before eventually winding up in Wakanda with Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) starts out the film with one group (the one he was with at the end of Thor: Ragnarok ) before moving on to another then a third.

This movie is a lot of fun, with a dash of substance thrown in for those who care to look (Thanos and his plan are allegorical). It satisfies the deep-rooted escapist desire most movie-goers experience from time-to-time with its spectacular visuals, unflagging pace, and understanding on the part of Joe and Anthony Russo of what MCU fans want from this important piece of the saga. The staunch superhero fan won’t need a morning cup of coffee before seeing Infinity War – the film offers a bigger jolt than caffeine could ever provide. As for those who are fatigued by the genre or were never interested in the first place, there’s nothing in this film that re-invents the comic book movie or morphs it into something else. The mission of Infinity War isn’t to convert the pagans; it’s to satisfy the true believers and, to that end, it succeeds admirably. Twelve months will seem like a long time to wait for the next Avengers movie to see whether the Russo Brothers craft a worthy conclusion to the story begun in Infinity War , but for at least a year we can savor where this story has taken things.

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This Avengers: Infinity War goof makes one of the saddest MCU moments ever a lot less of a tearjerker

Mr. Stark, we don't feel so good

An Avengers: Infinity War goof has been discovered all these years after the film released – and it's going to change the way you watch one of its most dramatic moments. 

You'll probably remember that, at the end of the film, one half of the universe is wiped out by Thanos. The most upsetting of these 'deaths' was easily Tom Holland's Spider-Man, who crumbles into dust while Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man can only watch. 

But, one eagle-eyed viewer has spotted a goof that makes the whole thing a bit less sad. Look closely at the scene, and you'll spot that Iron Man's hand looks very still… then slides rigidly out of view. Check out the clip below. 

When getting this clip, I couldn't help but notice how stiff Tony gets after a certain point. Including his hand, which funnily becomes a png that's obviously translated out of frame. I can't unsee it now, so neither can you. pic.twitter.com/p66cFUdw0K May 20, 2024

Of course, it's possible that Downey Jr. just moved his hand kind of weirdly. But to our eyes, it definitely looks like this moment is the result of a post-production quirk. Luckily, though, it's only obvious in the IMAX aspect ratio (though you can spot it in the regular version, too). 

Iron Man's hand can now join the ranks of the likes of Jeans Guy in The Mandalorian or the random guy who pops up in Revenge of the Sith as random moments that have us scratching our heads. 

Next up for Marvel is Deadpool 3 , which stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. This year will also see the release of Disney Plus show Agatha All Along, a WandaVision spin-off starring Kathryn Hahn. 

You can keep up to date with everything else the MCU has in store with our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows . 

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

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I'm an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English. 

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Marvel Fan Spots AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR VFX Blunder Which May Ruin One Of The Movie's Biggest Moments

In a video that's gone viral on social media, one Marvel fan has noticed a VFX blunder in Avengers: Infinity War which might ruin a key scene in the 2018 movie for you. Check it out after the jump...

Avengers: Infinity War is widely considered one of Marvel Studios' best movies, but one eagle-eyed fan has spotted an apparent VFX mistake which might ruin how you view a pivotal scene. 

During the final act, Thanos succeeds in gathering all six Infinity Stones and snaps away half of all life in the universe. That led to a shocking sequence which saw several fan-favourite superheroes turn to dust, including Spider-Man. 

He vanished in Iron Man's arms, but YouTuber  @MadvocateYT  points out that, during the scene, Robert Downey Jr.'s hand naandd body suddenly become very rigid. That's likely because the real actor had to be removed from the scene so Peter Parker could turn to dust before a PNG version of Tony Stark was super-imposed over him.

"When getting this clip, I couldn't help but notice how stiff Tony gets after a certain point," they explain.  "Including his hand, which funnily becomes a png that's obviously translated out of frame. I can't unsee it now, so neither can you."

Looking at how Tony stops moving and the way his hand awkwardly moves out of the frame, it's fair to say that, yes, we can't unsee this!

Here's what Tom Holland said about shooting the sequence in a 2021 interview:

"'I don’t want to go,' is the one I get all the time, from that scene in Avengers: Infinity War. It’s amazing when people think it’s some mind-blowing piece of improv, because I just say the same line five times in a row. People make out like it’s this beautifully eloquent sentence. But I look back on that scene so fondly. We had so much fun on those sets, but when we got into the emotion of that moment, we really dived into it." "People tell me they imagine that scene must have been horrendous to shoot, but I look back on it with nothing but happiness. It was amazing. I loved it. I got to hug Robert Downey Jr., like, 60 times, and cry on his shoulder. What’s not to love."

The apparent Avengers: Infinity War blooper has gone viral and racked up close to 3 million views on X alone. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments section. 

When getting this clip, I couldn't help but notice how stiff Tony gets after a certain point. Including his hand, which funnily becomes a png that's obviously translated out of frame. I can't unsee it now, so neither can you. pic.twitter.com/p66cFUdw0K — Madvocate (@MadvocateYT) May 20, 2024

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Star Paul Bettany Shares A Shocking Revelation About The Vision's Death Scene

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Reportedly Removed A 45-Minute Sequence With Thanos Seeking Out The Power Stone

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Fan Points Out VFX Error In Avengers: Infinity War Years Later

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X-Men '97 Actor Believes His Character Could Have Resolved Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: secret wars rumored to have a big connection to venom, lotr: the rings of power - why does galadriel think celeborn is dead.

• Even the most emotional scenes in Infinity War can have subtle flaws, as a fan recently discovered on Twitter.
• Iron Man's hand movement in Peter Parker's disintegration scene sparked debate among Marvel fans online.
• While fans noticed minor errors, Avengers: Infinity War continues to captivate audiences with its brilliance.

Avengers: Infinity War remains a pinnacle in the history of the MCU. Yet, a flaw in one of its most pivotal scenes could potentially alter fans' perceptions of that moment. Even six years post its release, Avengers: Infinity War continues to captivate fans with its brilliance. However, a recent discovery by a fan highlights an error in one of its most tearful scenes , subtly detracting from its emotional impact.

Marvel fans likely vividly recall one of the most heart-wrenching moments in the entire MCU: Peter Parker disintegrating due to Thanos' snap. This scene in Infinity War evoked tears from many viewers. However, one observant fan noticed an error : Iron Man's hand appears unnaturally still before he slides out of view, slightly diminishing the emotional impact of this dramatic moment.

One X-Men '97 actor speculates his character's potential to prevent Thanos's devastation in Avengers: Infinity War.

In the climactic ending of Avengers: Infinity War , the devastating fallout of Thanos' snap sees half of the world's population, including Spider-Man, tragically vanish into oblivion. Peter Parker's emotional plea , "I don't want to go," uttered as he fades into nothingness while clasping onto Iron Man, brought many fans to tears. However, the recent Twitter post by @MadvocateYT has prompted a reevaluation of this iconic scene. The observation centers on Iron Man's hand, which appears oddly still before abruptly pulling away from the screen as Peter disintegrates. This seemingly unnatural movement raises questions about the scene's authenticity, hinting at possible post-production alterations. While it is possible that Robert Downey Jr.'s hand may have moved oddly during filming, the stark contrast in motion suggests digital manipulation. Many fans have rallied behind this assertion, arguing that such oversights detract from the scene's emotional impact. Nevertheless, the scene's essence lies in the emotional farewell between Peter Parker and Iron Man, not the nuances of hand movement. While the error may appear trivial to some, it underscores the meticulous scrutiny fans apply to their cherished franchises, ensuring no detail goes unnoticed.

It is intriguing that it took six years for someone to spot this error, given the dedicated fanbase who regularly rewatch Marvel movies, particularly acclaimed ones like Infinity War . But that is not all — another fan recently noticed a different error , also involving Iron Man. In this instance, Iron Man's facial hair undergoes noticeable changes throughout the scene, which many fans found funny. While there was an additional minor error in the same movie, these glaring mistakes do not detract from the brilliance of Avengers: Infinity War , which remains as captivating as ever.

Avengers: Infinity War is available for streaming on Disney Plus.

Source: @MadvocateYT | Twitter

Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Secret Wars is rumored to answer a big question involving Tom Hardy's Venom that fans have waited years to see resolved.

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I'm worried about the mcu's new avengers & it's all the infinity saga’s fault.

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• The MCU's new Avengers face a worrying trend with the audience failing to show the same enthusiasm for fresher faces as the original Infinity Saga heroes.
• Only Thor, Spider-Man, and Ant-Man appeared in more than one movie as the focus, while some Infinity Saga characters were egregiously sidelined.
• The lackluster setup of legacy heroes in the Infinity Saga leaves the new Avengers at a disadvantage, potentially resulting in a rushed reassembly.

The Infinity Saga is responsible for putting the MCU 's new Avengers in a very worrying position. The MCU's Infinity Saga comprised its first three phases, ending with Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home before Black Widow would launch the movies of the Multiverse Saga in MCU Phase 4. Black Widow would then kick off a string of movies that grossed around the same as the earliest movies of the MCU, though still falling short of the $500 million and $450 million grossed by Iron Man and Thor , respectively.

This was a worrying sign of things to come. As Shang-Chi and Eternals welcomed all-new characters to the MCU in the wake of a solid conclusion, audiences that were so heavily invested in the main players of the Infinity Saga failed to demonstrate the same level of enthusiasm for fresher faces and characters less accustomed to the Infinity Saga's limelight, despite them debuting alongside the likes of Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. This worrying trend doesn't seem to have changed course as Avengers 5' s release date slowly approaches.

Everything We Know About MCU Phase 5 Now: Story, Timeline & More

With Phase 5 well underway, Disney announced some changes to its slate so here is everything we know, from stories to timeline and release dates.

Avengers 5's Hero Lineup Must Rely On The Infinity Saga's Underappreciated Heroes

Of the possible future Avengers who debuted in the Infinity Saga, only Thor, Spider-Man, and Ant-Man appeared in more than one movie where they were the focus. Perhaps the most egregiously sidelined character of the Infinity Saga, meanwhile, is Bruce Banner - whose solo appearance in the earliest days of the MCU has never been followed up. While he and most other future Avengers candidates were all part of the ensemble in at least one of the Infinity Saga's Avengers movies, they mostly played second fiddle to more mainstream heroes like the now-absent Steve Rogers and Tony Stark.

The height of the Infinity Saga was the perfect time to do precisely the opposite. It's no secret that the future of the MCU was not meticulously planned out from the very start. Still, striking a better balance between shining a light on Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and other auxiliary characters would have helped to engender greater fervor for possible future appearances from characters like Sam Wilson, who may be the one to finally form the new iteration of the team. Currently, Wilson's first attempt to do so may occur too late in the tail-end of MCU Phase 5.

The theory that Sam might be the one to form the new Avengers gained traction when exclusive footage of Captain America: Brave New World saw President Thunderbolt Ross instructing him to do so.

The Infinity Saga's Ending Should Have Set Up Its Legacy Heroes Better

The cohesion between the first Avengers was a lot stronger halfway through the Infinity Saga than it is for the new Avengers halfway through the Multiverse Saga. This is thanks largely to the lackluster way in which Avengers: Endgame left things for the newer heroes, who went their separate ways to deal with the fallout of the Infinity Saga rather than immediately embark on their own unified quest . Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was the first to dip its toe in a unifying factor, but it's too little too late compared with how the Infinity Saga brought its heroes together.

Sadly, time is running short for the MCU to pick up steam. This could make the moment in which the Avengers finally reassemble feel shoehorned or rushed as it falls to the latter half of MCU Phase 5 and the entirety of MCU Phase 6 to start tying narratives together ahead of Avengers 5 . With so many unsung heroes at its center, meanwhile, it is hard to see how audiences can muster up the same level of excitement as they did for Avengers: Infinity War .

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is the fifth Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will bring together heroes, new and old, to face off against the omnipotent Kang the Conquerer. The Kang Dynasty will also mark the beginning of phase 6 of the MCU.

20 facts you might not know about 'Avengers: Endgame'

Posted: March 20, 2024 | Last updated: March 20, 2024

It all came down to this. Sure, Avengers: Endgame was technically not the last film of the first era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, just the penultimate title. However, the last movie, Spider-Man: Far from Home , exists entirely in the wake of Endgame . This is what everything was building toward, and when the dust settled (not Thanos finger-snapping dust, for the record), Endgame delivered on the bombast…and the box office. Here are 20 facts about Endgame that are just the beginning.

It got a new title fairly late

In 2014, Marvel announced “Avengers: Infinity War Part 1” and “Part 2.” However, they quickly began saying, “Actually, it’s two films that are thematically tied, but they stand on their own, we promise.” The “Part 1” and “Part 2” thing was proving a little confusing. The first film was retitled Avengers: Infinity War and the second became an untitled film. It would remain that way until 2018, when it was titled Avengers: Endgame . The theory was that they didn’t want the title to spoil “Infinity War,” which, to be fair, is a very spoilable movie.

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Natalie Portman eased her way back into the MCU

Portman, who played Jane Foster in the first two Thor movies, disappeared from the MCU after that, including an absence from Thor: Ragnarok . While Portman returned with gusto in Thor: Love and Thunder , this movie was actually the first time Portman returned to Marvel — sort of. Footage from a deleted scene in Thor: Dark World led to a reappearance of Foster, but Portman also provided her voice for a scene where Jane is heard in the distance.

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The Russos continued their sitcom cameos

Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of many Marvel movies, like to shout out their old sitcom work with cameos. In particular, they have used several actors from Community , and they also tried to get David Cross to play Tobias Funke in Avengers: Infinity War , but due to a scheduling conflict, they had to settle for an uncredited extra dressed as Tobias. Well, in Endgame , we see two more Community veterans: Ken Jeong and Yvette Nicole Brown.

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One character made the jump from TV to film

In Agent Carter , James D’Arcy plays Jarvis, the majordomo of Howard Stark and confidante of Peggy Carter. The character was created for and introduced in the show. However, D’Arcy appears as Jarvis during one of the many flashbacks in  Endgame . This marked the first time a Marvel character originating with a TV show appeared in an MCU movie.

It was, fittingly, the end of an era

Stan Lee, Marvel's head honcho and creative force, was known for his cameos in Marvel movies. Eventually, it had to come to an end. Lee died late in 2018 at the ripe age of 95. He had filmed three cameos before his death yet to be released. The final of those films was Endgame , making his cameo in this movie the last on-screen appearance of Lee.

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Another comic book legend has a cameo

Jim Starlin makes a cameo as a grieving man in Endgame , and it’s only fitting he got a chance to be in the film. After all, Starlin is a comic artist and writer who created the character of Thanos.

We almost saw Tony’s daughter grown up

Tony Stark finds a new purpose in his and Pepper’s daughter Morgan. Morgan is played by child actress Lexi Rabe, but there were plans to see an older Morgan as well. Katherine Langford was cast, but her scenes were cut.

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What to do with Thanos proved difficult

Infinity War and Endgame screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely considered Thanos the main character of the first of the two films, but with his mission complete, the writers struggled to figure out what to do with the older version of Thanos that succeeded in his quest. Then, producer Trinh Tran suggested that they kill Thanos off in the first act. That’s just what they did, though another version of Thanos plays a role in the film. To differentiate the two, the younger Thanos was called “Warrior Thanos” by the filmmakers.

Brie Larson filmed out of order

Larson plays Captain Marvel, who made her debut in her 2019 solo film. That movie was released before Endgame , but Larson shot her Endgame scenes before she filmed Captain Marvel . As such, Captain Marvel directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were on set to ensure the version of Captain Marvel in Endgame fit their plans and vision for their movie.

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Chris Hemsworth fought for Thor not to be fit

Thor goes through some things after futilely killing Thanos, including, shall we say, not staying in peak physical condition. This was partially Hemsworth’s idea, but the directors made sure it wasn’t just a sight gag but also an indication of Thor’s mental and emotional state. The actor called this version of his character “Lebowski Thor,” which required him to spend three hours in hair and makeup. Thor was going to return to his old self in the middle of the film, but Hemsworth argued not to have him get chiseled again and won that debate.

It was a first for Robert Redford

Redford is an acclaimed and beloved actor, a true movie star across multiple decades. He had, however, never done the sequel thing before. When Redford appeared as Alexander Pierce in Endgame , it was the first time he had ever played the same character twice in the same film series. Also, it came after he had said he was retired after the release of The Old Man and the Gun in 2018.

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Karen Gillan felt like she missed an opportunity

There is a scene wherein the Avengers discuss their “time heist” plans, which involves making a lot of reference to time travel pop culture. Gillan’s Nebula is in that scene, but Gillan does not join in on the fun, much to her later regret. After the fact, the Scottish actress said she considered referencing Doctor Who , which would have been fitting. Gillan first became familiar to many audiences by playing the companion on that show.

Only one actor was fully clued in

Marvel scripts are closely guarded secrets, especially after actors like Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo started letting spoilers leak in interviews. In fact, only one actor received the entire screenplay for Endgame . That would be Robert Downey Jr., who arguably needed it to bring Tony Stark and Iron Man to life one last time.

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A classic comics line was finally uttered

“Avengers assemble!” This is a line repeatedly said in the Avengers comics over the years. It’s effectively a catchphrase, and even people who aren’t comic book fans may be aware of it. However, it had never been uttered in the Marvel films. Finally, “Avengers assemble!” was spoken in Endgame , with Captain America saying that line before the final battle.

It was almost shot simultaneously with 'Infinity War'

Infinity War and Endgame were shot back-to-back, which is onerous enough. It was almost even trickier. Initially, the Russos wanted to shoot the films simultaneously, getting scenes shot with whatever actors were available. Shockingly, they realized this was “too complicated,” so they went with the back-to-back shoot.

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There was simultaneously filming, though

While Infinity War  and Endgame were shot back-to-back, but that doesn’t mean every Marvel actor could avoid simultaneous shooting. Ant-Man and the Wasp was filmed at the same time as Endgame , which meant Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly had to shoot the films simultaneously.

It, uh, it made a ton of money its first weekend

Avengers: Infinity War  made an incredible $640 million worldwide its opening weekend, which was a new box-office record. Endgame  didn’t just beat that. It almost doubled it. The movie made $1.2 billion in its opening weekend, meaning it hit the rare $1 billion mark in the blink of an eye.

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The movie was the highest-grossing film for a while

In the end, Endgame made $858.3 million domestically and $2.78 billion worldwide. That made it the highest-grossing movie in the world and the second-highest-grossing movie domestically of all time. However, a re-release of Avatar overtook Endgame at the world box office. Adjusting for inflation, Endgame is the fifth-highest-grossing movie ever.

It won quite a few awards

Endgame was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars but did not win. However, it won best film awards from the Kids’ Choice, Teen Choice, People’s Choice, and MTV Movie Awards. This isn’t an award, but it is interesting: The Wikipedia page for  Endgame was the most-viewed article on that website in 2019, being viewed 44.9 million times.

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It turned out not to be the final 'Avengers' film

This seemed like it would be the final Avengers movie. The story wrapped up nicely. Tony and Natasha were dead. Not so fast! It turns out, more Avengers movies are coming. In 2025, we’ll get Avengers: The Kang Dynasty , and in 2026, we will see Avengers: Secret Wars .

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