Avengers: Infinity War

Okay, so I just got back from seeing Avengers: Infinity War. And I legitimately think that I’m traumatized by the experience. But it was so good.

I will say this, right up front. I know that #ThanosDemandsMySilence, so this will be entirely spoiler-free. So let’s talk about as much of the plot as I feel is safe:

Thanos, the “Mad Titan,” has a plan to bring balance to the universe. But to do so, he has to first collect the six Infinity Stones. We’ve seen five out of the six in the previous MCU installments: one is with the Nova Corp, one was on Asgard before it was destroyed, two are on Earth, and one was in the possession of the Collector on Knowhere.

But Earth’s mightiest heroes aren’t going to let him do this without a fight. And it’s going to be one for the ages. Because if Thanos succeeds in his quest, trillions of people will be wiped out of existence.

Seriously, I don’t think I can get any more specific than that. I mean, there’s a lot to unpack. The entire story branches off in three different directions (maybe four, I might be forgetting something), only to come back together to just two by the end. So there’s a lot of jumping back and forth between the separate plotlines, some of which got a little jarring.

Personally, I loved it. This is what this kind of movie should be: big, loud, and full of spectacle. What the critics are saying about James Brolin’s Thanos is true. He’s one of the better Marvel villains to grace the screen and, even though the whole thing was done through motion-capture CGI, he imbued the character with a great deal of depth and soul (pun intended).

What made me love this movie the most was the way it surprised me. I had kept a toe in the waters of speculation on this film, not because I wanted spoilers, but because I was curious what people were expecting. Some of the stuff I expected happened. But the ending…well, I did not see a lot of that coming. Most of it, as a matter of fact. But because I’m being circumspect about spoilers, I will avoid saying more than that for now.

I’ve seen some complaints that the end of the movie is too abrupt and people blame it on the fact that this is just part one of a two parter. I disagree. This movie told a complete story. It is the first part of a much larger one, but it’s still complete on its own.

Put simply, this is up there as one of the best MCU movies, and one of the best superhero flicks to date. I can’t wait for the second part to come out.