Tonight's Movie: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

So that happened...that being seeing the long-awaited -- and rather unsettling -- AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018).

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR unites virtually every character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe against the most fearsome villain of all, Thanos (Josh Brolin). Thanos is a genocidal maniac who also happens to be the father of Gamora (Zoe Saldana), one of the Guardians of the Galaxy. He's busy collecting Infinity Stones, which to this point in the series have acted rather like Hitchcock's MacGuffins, propelling the stories forward without much direct impact.

However, if all the Infinity Stones are held by one person, he'll have unlimited power...and some of the last stones Thanos needs are in the hands of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and Vision (Paul Bettany). Needless to say, Thanos is coming after them.

I don't want to delve too deeply into the plot as to do so would necessarily be spoilerish. Let's just say some have called this the EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) of Marvel films, and they wouldn't be wrong, though I didn't find myself terribly upset by the ending, as I don't believe it's possible things will stand as they were left. Vague enough?

In terms of the movie's execution, it's hard to imagine the filmmakers doing a better job utilizing what seems like one of the biggest casts of "A" names ever. Every single superhero has his moments to shine; with so much story and so many characters, the film necessarily runs two hours and 40 minutes, yet it doesn't feel unduly long.

There's great pleasure to be found in Thor (Chris Hemsworth) joining forces with Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) trading snark with Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), and the intellectual Doctor Strange interacting with the teenage Spider-Man (Tom Holland). And is there anything more delightful than the earnest response of Captain America (Chris Evans) to "I am Groot"?

Elizabeth Olsen particularly has moments to shine in an emotional performance as the Scarlet Witch. Also on hand are the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansen), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Heimdall (Idris Elba), Shuri (Letitia Wright), Okoye (Danai Gurira), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), Bucky (Sebastian Stan), Wong (Benedict Wong), and more. We even get a scene with Tony and Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) early on.

That said, there are two key Avengers missing this go-round, who ostensibly will show up to help in Part 2. Fellow fans are probably aware of who they are or can figure out their identities by process of elimination, noticing who's not mentioned in this review.

There's quite a bit of the trademark Avengers humor but in the end it's an intense story which can be a bit of a tough watch. One definitely leaves the theater in a somber mood. How I ultimately feel about this film will have quite a bit to do with my reaction to Part 2 when it's released in May 2019. It's really all one big story, and it's far from over at this juncture. I'm hoping for a rousing RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983) feel to Part 2. (Update: The release of Part 2, now titled AVENGERS: ENDGAME, has been moved up to April 26, 2019.)

As always with Marvel films, stay to the very, very end of the movie. There's only one credits sequence tag, but it's a doozy which is especially rewarding for longtime Marvel fans.

Speaking of fans, newcomers can jump into the Marvel series with any number of the various prior movies and quickly get up to speed, as I did. That said, this film, more than any other, is where all Marvel roads meet and is emphatically not the point at which to begin watching the movies.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. It was filmed by Trent Opaloch. The musical score was by Alan Silvestri.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated PG-13. As Marvel films go, it's on the more disturbing end of things; the violence isn't particularly graphic but much suffering is involved. On the positive side, it hardly needs to be said that there are countless exhibitions of bravery, teamwork, and, yes, love among our heroes.

A trailer is here.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR opened to strong reviews. In a 3-1/2 star review at USA Today Brian Truitt calls the film "a full-fledged Shakespearean tragedy" and also writes that it's "a glorious, multilayered and clever comic-book adventure with loads of emotional stakes...nobody gets left behind in the storytelling." Leonard Maltin called it "an overpowering experience" and adds "Marvel has lived up to its reputation for daring its filmmakers to break boundaries, and trusting its audience to go along for the ride."

Previous Marvel reviews: IRON MAN (2008), IRON MAN 2 (2010), CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011), THOR (2011), THE AVENGERS (2012), IRON MAN 3 (2013), THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013), CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014), AGENT CARTER (2015), ANT-MAN (2015), AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015), CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016), DOCTOR STRANGE (2016), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (2017), SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017), THOR: RAGNAROK (2017), and BLACK PANTHER (2018).

Coming from Marvel this summer: ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018).

Update: Here is my review of AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019).