After a decade of prepping and planning, the beginning of the end of the first era of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe is here in Avengers: Infinity War. In the epic sequel in the MCU’s Avengers sub-franchise, Iron Man & Captain America, now leaders of two very different Avenger factions are forced to unit as one once more as a powerful warlord named Thanos is in search of the mystic & all powerful Infinity Stones which grants the users immense power over the universe including reality itself.

Avengers: Infinity War is a 2018 superhero film, it is the third sequel to the Avengers film franchise and the 19th overall entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios.

After ten years, Thanos finally makes his full MCU debut.

A broken Avengers return in the third entry into the ensemble film franchise. Immediately following the events of the Thor: Ragnarok end credits scene, Thanos finally makes his move and his first target is The God of Thunder and the remaining remnants of the Asgardians. Making short work of the hammer-less Thor, Loki, and the Asgardians, Thanos quickly moves on to Earth setting in motion a dual battle in Wakanda & on planet Titan.

Editor’s Note: This review contains near complete spoilers for the theatrical cut of Avengers: Infinity War.

The War for the Infinity Stones climaxes.

THE GOOD: From the very opening minutes of the film ‘Infinity War’ shows that it’s not afraid to kill off anyone and makes it a point that it has no plans to pull any punches. The first major causality (unless you count a ton of Asgardians) comes in the form of Loki. Trying to stealthily kill Thanos, his trickery is foreseen and the titan crushes his neck for punishment forcing a powerless Thor to watch. Thanos continues his attack by destroying the ship Thor and his people had settled in. Back on Earth, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts are getting married and are in the middle of discussing wedding plans, before Tony is sent to the Sanctum Sanctorum after Bruce Banner warns Dr. Strange of Thanos’ impending arrival. These events spark two wars for the Infinity Stones one on Earth in Wakanda, and another in the stars on Titan.

Iron Spider debuts.

While for nearly a decade we were thought to believe Thanos was a man of pure evil in his quest for the Infinity Stones (and in the comics he kind of is), here in Infinity War the Russo Brothers felt it best to at least humanize the man. His reasoning and ideals for his thirst for the stones are at the very least sound, and he shows genuine disgust for some of his actions. Including the death of his beloved adoptive daughter Gamora, which was a sacrifice necessary for acquiring the Soul Stone. Thanos, having experienced loss and extinction on his home world of Titan wants to make sure no one is forced to go through this again by eliminating half of all life in the universe in order to provide proper balance for survival. Though he is the core antagonist, Thanos isn’t necessarily evil in his thinking and as previously mentioned a lot of what he explains for why he’s done what he has to for his plan does make sense.

One of the most incredible emotional scenes in Infinity War: Tony and Peter.

Avengers: Infinity War, being the big superhero blockbuster that is it is full of action, but it’s also full of heart and emotion. One scene in particular is towards the end of the film when Thanos succeeds in his ultimate goal, and we see half of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes disintegrating one after another, two characters provide the most emotionally gripping segment in the entire film. As Earth’s heroes are disintegrating, we get a cut to Titan where basically all of the Guardians are gone except for Rocket Raccoon, Strange is gone having sacrificed the Time Stone for his comrades, and finally Peter Parker begins to feel ill before beginning to dissolve and begging for his life to his mentor Tony Stark. This is a superhero film and when it comes to deaths in comic books you can never truly count anyone out, but even knowing this seeing a teenage Peter literally begging for his life was still just absolutely depressing. I’m even man enough to admit that I actually cried during the whole ordeal.

In our heart of hearts, we know who the real villain of Infinity War is: Star-Lord.

THE BAD: Though Infinity War is pretty excellent, it’s not entirely perfect. Some characters that were established from previous films are just absent here when they really shouldn’t have been. Such as Valkyrie for example, at least in the theatrical cut of the film I saw, but apparently some of these characters did film scenes for the movie, so I’m not sure if they made it into certain cuts or were completely cut for the home release. A lot of key characters could have also used more time, it felt like some characters were purposely cut off from one another for the sequel such as the long-requested interaction of Tony Stark and Rocket Raccoon, two characters who weren’t eliminated with the Infinity Gauntlet. Speaking of the Guardians, there’s also the Star-Lord issue. Using Quill as a plot device for giving Thanos his victory was just poor writing. Yes, he should be pissed about Thanos killing Gamora, but this is twice now that Quill has been used as an emotional scapegoat for the villain to get a one up on the heroes, the first time of course being in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2.

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, defeated.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Infinity War is short of problems, but they are fairly noticeable for even the most loyal of comic book/MCU fans to point out. Despite this though, if you’ve been through the ten year journey like most others watching Infinity War has then I have no doubt you’ll be leaving theaters with a smile on your face and potential tears falling from your eyes. Otaku Dome gives Avengers: Infinity War a 93 out of 100.