Avengers: Infinity War review

There are three questions you might be asking yourself about Avengers: Infinity War. One, should I have seen the prior fourteen or so movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Two, if I don't have to see all of those movies, which ones should I have see before going to watch Avengers: Infinity War at the theater. And should I see this film at the theater or wait for it to come out on cable or rent it.

Well, let me answer the first two questions right away. No, you don't have to see all the movies in Marvel Cinematic Universe. it's a lot but Infinity War does an okay job of exposition. That comes mostly from Gamora. (Zoe Saldana) Okay, which movies of the MCU should I see before Infinity War? Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). The Avengers (2012). Guardians of the Galaxy. (2014) And Thor: Ragnarok. (2017) Maybe this one will also answer the third question. You can take your time to watch the recommended list.

Avengers; Infinity War starts where Thor: Ragnarok left off. Thanos (Josh Brolin) has attacked Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) ship of Asgardian refugees. He's looking for an Infinity Stone. You see Infinity Stones are jewels of power. Each controls a physical attribute such as power or reality. There are six. The being who has all six can rule the Universe by obliterating beings at will. Thanos kills half of the Asgardians and takes the stone. But there are three left. Two of them are on earth where he sends his minions to retrieve them. Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) who's in New York has the stone which controls time. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland)join Strange to stop them from getting it. Seeing that they need help, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) aka Hulk contacts Captain America. (Chris Evans) Okay, I'm going to stop here not because I'm afraid I might spoil the movie but for the fact that this movie has a lot of plot lines and superheroes. Let's just say the film centers around Thanos' desire to get all the stones.

Directors Joe Russo, Anthony Russo and writers Stephen MacFeely and Christopher Markus have created an epic film which mixes gigantic action set pieces, serious consequences, sacrifice and humor. For the most part, it all works. There are many memorable scenes. My favorite is Thor's landing on earth. That gives me goose bumps and is what I want to see in a superhero film. I found myself often rooting for the superheroes.

And let me say a quick thing about Thanos. I used to think that simple villains were not good drama. I mean villains are usually more complex than being just plain evil. Don't get me wrong, Thanos does have some depth but he's basically a power hungry bad guy. You see Thanos wants to restore order to the universe by destroying half of the life in it. Kind of his way to control the population. I used to think this kind of evil, power hungry bad guy was over the top because they didn't exist in America. Then came President Trump. He's a power hungry guy with a god complex like Thanos.

Avengers; Infinity War does have some big flaws. The Russo brothers have a love for hand held camera shots and fast cutting. I can't imagine seeing this movie in 3D because I got a small headache watching this movie in 2D. Fortunately, editors Jeffrey Ford, and Matthew Schmidt make some logical cuts. Because with all the plot threads and visual noise, this movie gets confusing. There's another problem with thie film. First let say here's a minor spoiler. Infinity War is like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One. (2010) There's going to be a sequel and this movie is not self contained. Unlike the Potter movie, Infinity War doesn't have in its title Part One. So you may not know there's going to be a part two. The film is more serial than episodic. At least with a movie like It (2017), you had a film that could stand on its own. Avengers: Infinity War does not. Finally, there's some questionable behavior from a couple of superheroes. I won't go into details but just ahem... say Star Lord (Chris Pratt) and Dr. Strange have some explaining to do in the sequel.

So, it's time to answer the third question. Should you run out and see Avengers: Infinity War in the theater? Based on the fact that its part one of a series, the answer is no. Save you money and wait for this one to be broadcast on cable or rent it. The big action is too confusing to enjoy on the big screen. You're better off watching this movie on TV where you can see it multiple times to catch all the action. The grade is B.



Oops. I forgot. There is the usual Marvel end-credits scene. Stay for it as it will give you a hint about who's going to be the sequel. Plus it's kind of got a funny catch phrase.