Avengers: Infinity War

This review may contain spoilers!

They absolutely nailed it! I would give Avengers: Infinity War a 9.5/10.

This film is a real testament to ten years of Marvel cinema; the stories that have been told, the characters established and the sprawling universe of worldbuilding that has been developed. It's nice to see the chemistry shown between Marvel characters who are interacting for the first time, you get to see a lot of dynamics that you wouldn't normally expect and are excited to view onscreen. This has the comedic nature of the Marvel films, rife with one-liners and witty interactions. However, there is a deeper element to this film; you are gripped by the danger threatening the heroes and their universe and feel that the stakes are higher than they've ever been before. The emotional depths this film goes to results in an ultimately tragic film, punches are certainly not pulled and loss is felt by the characters and audience alike. There were multiple appearances and cameos throughout which really added to the scope of the film, one of the moments which surprised me most was the reappearance of Captain America villain, Red Skull, who has been cursed to defend an Infinity Stone for all eternity. The cinematography used throughout feels monolithic and larger than life, every scene looks visually stunning and reminds you of the scale of this film. The visual effects aren't just impressive but they also hold some nice references to past Marvel films; Doctor Strange and his magic abilities, the design of the cosmic MCU from the Guardians films, Thor's lightning and Bifrost transportation from the Thor films and the style of Wakandan technology from Black Panther. The score is without a doubt the best to emerge from the MCU with a clear track design for some of the key emotional or major moments within the film; I especially liked the touch added to the soundtrack by including a song for the Guardians of the Galaxy team.

Karen Gillan, who played Nebula, is a twisted and tortured figure at the mercy of Brolin for most of this film; Gillan's reckless and dangerous fighting style make her an interesting anti-hero. Elizabeth Olsen, who played Scarlet Witch, is a role guided by her heart in this film; Olsen's fierce defence of Bettany and their developed love is a touching sub-plot. Josh Brolin, who played Thanos, in many ways seems to be the main character of this film; Brolin does a great job at humanising his space tyrant and showing how this journey has resulted in a number of sacrifices for him as well. Tom Holland, who played Spider-Man, is a high point of energy and comedy throughout; Holland's tragic final scene with Downey Jr. is an unexpected yet powerful moment. Scarlett Johansson, who played Black Widow, feels like her time spent underground has hardened her; Johansson's confident fighter seems more than capable of tackling beings with power and ability her character doesn't wield. Chris Pratt, who played Star-Lord, was a fun point of comic relief throughout; However, Pratt also showed a deeper sense of conflict and grief as the feature progressed. Chris Evans, who played Steve Rogers, is quite the moral centre of the Marvel universe; his stern and calculated approach to tactics make for a strong leadership role. Pom Klementieff, who played Mantis, feels like she has found her place strongly within the Guardians team; Klementieff's calm and passive demeanour makes her one of the more charismatic Guardians to watch. Chris Hemsworth, who played Thor, really carries a lot of pain and grief around with him over the course of this film; Hemsworth's self-sacrificing role makes him one of the boldest heroes to emerge from Infinity War. Sebastian Stan, who played Bucky Barnes, feels like a character more at peace with himself this time around; Stan's presentation of Bucky as proficient at fighting yet no longer aggressive shows quite a development in the short time we see this role. Robert Downey Jr., who played Iron Man, has such a clear leadership persona within this film; Downey Jr. does a great job at portraying the confident wit of Stark while also concealing a clear lack of confidence while being out of his depth in the cosmic setting. Tom Hiddleston, who played Loki, showed a heroic side of himself in a tense moment of desperation; Hiddleston really presented the manipulative nature of Loki at his best in an effort to turn a hopeless situation to his advantage. Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Dr Stephen Strange, has a dry wit about his delivery that really shows how far his role has come from his first solo film; Cumberbatch's stern resolve and 'lone wolf' persona make him quite a unique hero compared to the Avengers or the Guardians. Chadwick Boseman, who played Black Panther, is exceptionally charismatic as leader of his nation and an element of the resistance against Thanos; the ease with which T'Challa approaches the situation makes him a force to be reckoned with. Dave Bautista, who played Drax, has that fun clueless, extremely literal sense of humour running strongly throughout; Bautista's rage and reckless aggression towards the main antagonist really got to the heart of what motivates his role. Vin Diesel, who voiced Groot, is immediately quite entertaining as a rebellious adolescent version of his role; the growth we see from Groot is a nice touch and he plays a nice role in the Thor sub-plot. Danai Gurira, who played Okoye, has some fun chemistry with Boseman and the pair exchange some fun lines of dialogue; Gurira's ferocity in the face of heated battle fits her character well. Paul Bettany, who played Vision, has really taken this character along a great journey since Age of Ultron (or even the first Iron Man if you want to be a stickler); Bettany has crafted a role that once felt mechanical and has convincingly gained human qualities such as love and empathy which comes through strongest in this very feature. Bradley Cooper, who voiced Rocket, has that cocky bravado that makes this character so likeable throughout this film; Cooper really shows the growth of Rocket by making him a more comforting individual as shown with some of his shared scenes with Hemsworth. Gwyneth Paltrow, who played Pepper Potts, has such natural romantic chemistry with Downey Jr. that you're reminded how much you've missed the two of them together in the MCU; Paltrow plays a very grounded role in all the chaos and that's a nice counter to her onscreen partner. Peter Dinklage, who played Eitri, is a questionable addition at first but grows on you as the narrative progresses; Dinklage has a couple of light-hearted moments alongside Hemsworth that lend an intense situation moments of levity. Mark Ruffalo, who played Bruce Banner, seems a confused mess trying to find a fixed place in the chaos of this film; the impact his time away from Earth has had is apparent and the fact most of this film is Banner moving into combat rather than the Hulk is pretty impressive. Anthony Mackie, who played Falcon, is clearly the quick-witted comic relief of Captain America's underground team; Mackie and Cheadle have a great onscreen chemistry and seem thick as thieves in moments of pitched battle. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, who played Ebony Maw, is a minor antagonist who really leads the first act of this film; an unnerving individual who does some great work to make an impression alongside Brolin's Thanos. Winston Duke, who played M'Baku, is a real ferocious, reckless warrior in the final act of this film; Duke's role is described as "always rearing for a fight" and this is proven the moment he appears onscreen. Benedict Wong, who played Wong, captures the solemn nature of his character and balances that out by comically dropping this persona in fleeting moments around Cumberbatch; the manner in which Wong discusses and presents the threat works really well for the set-up at the start of the feature. Don Cheadle, who played War Machine, presents the stalwart persona of his military role very well; Cheadle's brazen defiance of his character's superiors shows a lot of development in Rhodes since the events of Captain America: Civil War. Samuel L. Jackson, who played Nick Fury, is a nice cameo to have right at the end; Jackson presents a nice moment of comedy while reacting to the events around him extremely well.

However, the best performance came from Zoe Saldana, who played Gamora. Saldana has really taken her performance a long way since the first Guardians film; back then I had some trepidation about the role but now she clearly stands out from her fellow major performers in the MCU. Gamora enters the film at a pretty joyful point and as the clear moral conscience of her spacefaring team. Yet the dread that sets in upon Thanos entering her storyline is clear, the performance grows a lot more fearful and desperate. Saldana's defiance in the face of impossible odds and an unbeatable foe shows a deep strength to her character; and the fact Gamora only surrenders when Gillan's character, Nebula is threatened adds to that. There is a brilliant relationship of spite and a twisted form of father/daughter love between Saldana and Brolin; in many ways, that is what this film is built on and it results in one of the strongest scenes in Infinity War.

The second act of the film labours a bit when it comes to pacing, there are a lot of narrative arcs happening at once and the film takes it's time to cycle through each of them. This was a good choice ultimately but nevertheless has the effect of slowing things right down. As a further disclaimer, if you aren't wildly into the Marvel films or haven't' seen that many of them then you probably won't get as much out of this film as someone who has.

Idris Elba, who played Heimdall, has a send-off that doesn't really go down very well; his role is barely acknowledged and he is swiftly dispatched in a manner that is just as unsatisfying as what happened to the Warriors Three in Thor: Ragnarok. Benicio Del Toro, who played The Collector, feels like he isn't really putting much into what is probably his last stint as the Collector; Del Toro delivers his character as quite flat this time around and it doesn't make the last time you see his character very impactful. William Hurt, who played Secretary Of State Thaddeus Ross, feels like he's in this film for continuity reasons post-Civil War more than anything else; he gruffly barks a few lines and is then dismissed out of the narrative almost as quickly as he appeared. Letitia Wright, who played Shuri, was amazing in Black Panther so it's disappointing to see her role really shunted into the background; Wright's character dishes out some needed exposition but doesn't get much opportunity to really show off the personality of her character. Jacob Batalon, who played Ned, wasn't really needed in this film; it was nice that Batalon was included but he provided nothing to the scene he was in. Cobie Smulders, who played Maria Hill, feels tacked on to the Nick Fury cameo; Smulders is just there for Jackson to bounce some dialogue off of and doesn't feel much like an interesting cameo herself.