Spanning ten years long, the ever popular Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has found its place in cinematic history. The franchise currently boasts nineteen feature films, all taking place within the same universe of Marvel superheroes. On April 27, directors Joe and Anthony Russo took every major hero in their roster for a climactic, beginning-of-the-end confrontation against the galactic titan, Thanos. The culmination of ten years’ worth of character and story developments unfolds in “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Predictions Before Watching the Movie:

Before Infinity War came out, we decided to jot down our speculations for comparison’s sake. Aside from our thoughts were some of the other opinions on MCHS grounds, all collected below:

We, the writers, predict either Iron Man or Captain America will die. Being the two most iconic symbols of the MCU, their demises would be most impactful in a storytelling sense. We are also suspicious about the fact that Hawkeye hasn’t made a single appearance in any promotional material, despite being one of the founding members of the Avengers.

Senior Leandro Garcia thinks Thanos will kill every main character in the movie. Senior Johanan Jaimes is certain that Iron Man will be the one to die, along with Spider-Man facing a near-death experience. Senior Fernando Miguel thinks that this movie is the first in a two-parter story, and that someone will have to die in this one.

Something to note is what these predictions all have in common: somebody has to die in this movie (and stay dead, too). It’s been heavily implied that at least one major character will meet their demise by the end of this movie by the directors and Marvel Studios president, Kevin Feige, and the fans have been holding their breaths over who.

The Review
We watched this movie Thursday night, April 26, and we can say confidently state that “Avengers: Infinity War” was an experience to behold. As a celebration of ten years of these movies, it delivers immensely, with a huge scope full of ambition from the creative team, as it should be. From the cinematics to the various interactions the heroes had, it was full of life and had something for all fans.

This movie does not hold back with its action and intensity, as it charges headfirst into the gritty from the very beginning. And it just grips the audience for the rest of the nearly three-hour runtime, as evident with our theater’s various gasps and applauds throughout. This is probably the darkest Marvel movie in the lineup, much to our pleasure. Not to say it was devoid of humor though; it is worthy to note that this movie can be hilarious when it wants to, thanks to its rich cast of characters bouncing off one another. As humorous as the film can be though, it knows when to hold back the laughs and let the drama play out to its fullest effect, something that surprised us because it is difficult to pull that off. It was balanced very well, since “Infinity War” prides itself on subverting expectations and messing with the audience’s emotions with its dark feel.

It is our pleasure to report that even with this many characters in one movie, it was still written coherently to where the audience should still be able to follow the plot and never get lost. Each character showed off their personality as they interacted with the many different others they crossed over with. These character spotlights made it a very entertaining.

Speaking of character spotlights, Thanos is one beast of a villain. From the get-go, he makes his presence one to remember. He is a surprisingly complex character in ways better experienced not knowing until you watch it. We are constantly reminded of his motivations and why he does what he does throughout the film. Thanos easily makes it to the list of best superhero movie villains. On the technical side of things, the CGI on him is incredible, which helped tremendously in grounding his character to this world.

The special effects in general are a spectacle. “Infinity War” is reported as one of the most expensive movies ever produced, and it shows. It is surprising how good its effects are, even in comparison to other movies in the franchise that look solid on their own.

Since no movie is perfect, there are some gripes to be had with “Infinity War,” particularly for casual fans. It assumes you’ve watched most if not all the other films in the MCU, and have a good connection to the characters, so it can be alienating to those who want to go into this one without having caught up on the universe, This can be spun into a positive, however, if you have watched them all. It continues from the consequences of previous conflicts, as a culmination of a story should. Some people might have a problem with the final minutes as well, but it depends on how the viewer perceived it would end.

Overall, “Avengers: Infinity War” was a great event with its humor, emotionally-driven scenes, production values, and impacts. A huge positive is its subversion of expectations. It’s best watched without knowing the big reveals and twists plastered all over it. We rate this movie in the upper 9’s in a scale of 1 to 10, especially with its very unforeseen ending that is sure to shock most audience members. It delivers on the promises Marvel set up years ago, which is the best outcome it could have had.