Avengers: Infinity War
So, part 1 of the big Marvel Universe Cinematic Event has finished, and damn does it give you a sucker punch. No one is safe, the stakes have never been higher, and the ever-present threat of Thanos keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the experience.
Credit to the entire team for this movie, it is beautiful to look at, even when going to worlds that are not 'pretty,' there is enormous amounts of care and detail put into each location, and it really makes it feel like a cinematic universe rather than a movie franchise.
Performances across the board are great, and special mention must be given to Josh Brolin as Thanos, joining the very short list of good Marvel villains (the others being Loki, Killmonger, and Zemo) - and part of what makes him work so well is that he thinks he is the hero. There is a tendency to make the villains
Evil rather than characters with legitimate motivations - though they have used the revenge angle many times - so having this understated performance for a genocidal alien was a change of pace that the movies desperately needed.
There are quite a few cameos scattered throughout the film (one in particular surprised the Hell out of me) and no part of the story feels rushed - just urgent. No scene is wasted, and it's the rare 2+ hour movie that I wish was longer.
Not much more to go into - not without going into spoilers - but I am very anxious to see the next part of this movie.
8.5 out of 10
