Avengers: Infinity War

I talked about it for years and now it's here.

Actually, it's been here.

I didn't see Avengers: Infinity War on its opening weekend because I was preoccupied with a 25th Anniversary screening of Super Mario Bros., a film I've seen plenty of times before since I was eight. It was worth it, just like this movie.

Thanos (Josh Brolin) the Mad Titan believes the universe is overpopulated. He just needs a way to get rid of half the universe. The Infinity Stones are that way but his minions haven't been much luck. So he sets off with his "Children" to get them himself. He already has two before the title appears. All the best Marvel Heroes, including the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, have to assemble to keep him from getting more. It's not that easy.

I think I've summed up this entire movie. But there's a bit more than that.

The film divides its massive cast into several groups. It's fun to see these disparate characters interact here as much as it was in the first Avengers. My personal favorites involve Thor and Rocket Raccoon's relationship and the banter from Iron Man and Spider-Man. It balances each front rather well considering the scale.  Its large personnel means that this film, perhaps more than any other, requires familiarity with the other Marvel films. Certain characters have less screentime than you'd expect.

The real star of the movie is Thanos. He opens the movie displaying his physical and psychological prowess on The Hulk and Thor. He never stops being menacing from that first scene onwards. He steamrolls through our heroes and is willing to chat with them. His beliefs are understandable even if his methods are madness. He gives us a lot to think about after the film's cliffhanger ending.

Marvel's technical standards shine through. There's plenty of great action scenes set to a rousing Alan Silvestri score. The digital and real environments are perfectly realized. But the best effects are the motion capture used on Thanos and his "Children." Brolin and the other actors strongly emote through their CGI characters, none of whom look out of place with real actors. A few of them, like Ebony Maw (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), look so lifelike you'd think they were live actors.

Infinity War is probably the bleakest Marvel film around. Literally nothing the heroes do can stop Thanos from unleashing death and destruction. Its 149 minutes seems like needlessly putting off the inevitable. Those expecting the usual heroics will be disappointed. It ends rather quickly because it is part one of two.

On the other hand, I thought it moved along rather well. The character interactions made it worth it. The death and destruction is tragic, but the Infinity Stones can reverse that. Marvel's future lineup means that some of it will get reversed. The darkest part is that we have to wait a year for the epic conclusion. But it'll keep us talking until then. The prerequiste end credit scene sets up Captain Marvel, a major player in Part Two, and who gets her own movie next March.