Posted by Avengers: Infinity War was incredible and I would highly recommend seeing it. The first section will consist of some of my thoughts, spoiler free, but the second section will contain spoilers.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building towards this movie for a long time. Thanos first appeared in the post-credits scene of The Avengers, and ever since that, the conflict has been brewing. As the Marvel Cinematic Universe progressed, the Infinity Stones were introduced, as well as the characters that would build the central conflicts of Infinity War. Thanos himself wasn’t formally introduced until Guardians of the Galaxy. And because of this long building process, the hype surrounding its climax was incredible, and I think that the build-up was worth it. It was so satisfying watching all of the events of the past Marvel movies finally culminate in this movie.
Infinity War follows about five or so different groups, each one set on their own mission. And throughout the course of the movie, some of these groups split up or combine with others, ultimately resulting in a complex branch of events. I didn’t find any of the groups to be particularly boring; each one had its mission and it was interesting skipping around to see how everyone was doing and how everything was going to connect.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
Now concerning Thanos, I think that he’s great villain. I find him to be a complex character with an interesting motive. Thanos isn’t afraid to make sacrifices so that he can carry out his plans, and this creates some interesting conflicts. Some Marvel villains can be really interesting and complex, such as Erik Killmonger from Black Panther, but others can be kind of bland and boring, such as Ronan the Accuser from Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m happy that Thanos is the former instead of the latter. I found his motive to be particularly interesting, because he has seen what happens firsthand when a planet becomes overpopulated, and he doesn’t want people to suffer in the same way that he did when his planet faced overpopulation. But of course this would mean that the entire population of the galaxy would need to be halved, at least according to Thanos. Thanos is so convinced that this is the right action that he forces himself to make a tremendous sacrifice. In order to get the Soul Stone, he forces himself to kill Gamora, who is one of the few people that he genuinely cares about. And because of this rationale and Thanos’ conviction, he is an interesting villain.
Infinity War introduces us to the remaining Children of Thanos in the beginning of the movie before being sent off to collect the remaining Infinity Stones. But by the end of the movie, each is dead, and every death is more satisfying, and brutal, than the last. As the movie went on and the Children of Thanos and their devotion to their father and each other became more and more developed, I kept looking forward to their inevitable deaths. One of the most annoying Children of Thanos, Ebony Maw (also known as Squidward), is the first to die. After kidnapping Doctor Strange to get the Time Stone, he gets sucked out into the vacuum of space (much like in that really old movie Alien) by Iron Man and Spider-Man. The remaining three Children aren’t killed off until the final battle, but their deaths are equally satisfying. Cull Obsidian gets his hand stuck in the fist of the Hulk Buster suit, piloted by Bruce Banner, after he ripped it off, and then he gets sent into the Wakandan energy shield, causing him to explode. Proxima Midnight gets lifted up by Scarlet Witch and subsequently eviscerated by one of the automated meat-grinder/driller vehicle things. And finally, after repeatedly stabbing Vision throughout the movie, Corvus Glaive gets impaled by his own glaive, courtesy of Vision. When Thanos first hears of Ebony Maw’s death, he is somewhat upset and remarks that his victory will have a heavy toll. Thanos cared about his Children, and I’m excited to see how he responds when he faces off against the Avengers again. It should be a heated battle, because Thanos has lost his Children to the Avengers and the Avengers have lost so many of their friends to Thanos, so everyone should be extremely angry and ready for revenge.
I can’t wait to see how the events of Infinity War are concluded in Avengers 4, especially concerning how half of the cast is “dead”. I assume that all the people Thanos erased from existence will be able to come back somehow, because it seems odd that Marvel would kill off Spider-Man, Black Panther, the Guardians of the Galaxy, with the exception of Rocket, and other important characters. However, I don’t think that Gamora or Vision will be coming back, and the same is true with Loki and Heimdall. Marvel movies have killed off characters in the past, but I think that this is the first time that established heroes have been killed off (I’m not counting Quicksilver since he was introduced in Age of Ultron and also died in it). This also marks a departure from the happier, funny movies where everything goes well, only the villain dies, and the heroes win. In all honesty, Avengers: Infinity War reminds me a lot of The Empire Strikes Back, because the villians won. The heroes came back and won in the next movie, and I’m excited to see what happens next.
SPOILERS END
In my humble opinion, Avengers: Infinity War is easily the best Marvel movie, if not the best superhero movie, that I have seen so far. This is one of the rare movies that I can confidently give a 10/10.
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