AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018)
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo
Screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt and more but seriously I'm tired already....
No spoilers here, by the way.
Wow.
Remember THE AVENGERS? (And yes, I'm talking the 2012 Marvel movie, not the 1960s British spy series. If you're unfamiliar with that one I'd suggest fixing that problem as soon as possible.)
Remember wondering if they could bring a movie together that featured all three(!) of the main franchise leads, along with the other characters introduced along the way, into an entertaining film? Those were much more innocent times, weren't they?
Ten years and nineteen films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought us here - Thanos is finally "doing it himself" and going after the Infinity Stones that have been weaving their way thru most every MCU movie to date. Doing so will make him quite simply the most powerful being in existence and so it will take every other powerful being banding together to stop him.
Somehow, the original AVENGERS managed to give all the characters time to shine. Somehow, the Russo Brothers upped the ante with the massive CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and it turns out that movie was just a warm-up. Nearly every named character in the MCU comes out for this one.
At this point, they're not even trying to make a movie that 'first-timers' can walk in to and follow with no issue. Maybe one line is given to *who* these people are and their relationship (if any) to the other characters they're on screen with because from the opening frame, this juggernaut of a film starts moving and only takes a breath during the final credits.
It is, basically, one long fight scene, spread across the universe as the disparate characters each have their own encounter with Thanos or his minions and find their way to each other before the final battle. Even so, they manage to pack some surprising emotional beats into the proceedings, grounding at least some of the conflicts on a more personal note than "saving the universe."
And more than maybe any other film in whole MCU series - because that's what it is, each film a chapter in a longer story - it will leave you wanting to see the next one and sooner rather than later.
Avoid spoilers and just go see it.
(and like I said, you can take a breath and maybe a bathroom break once the credits start because the only end-credits scene is allllll the way at the very end)
