Welcome to my first movie review!! I have bestowed this honor to the most hyped movie of the year: Avengers: Infinity War. The most ambitious movie Marvel pulled off yet. I have waited a long time for this movie and how the preceding movies have built up to this very moment: when all six infinity stones would come together.

The main plot involves collecting the six stones. Thanos, the main antagonist and someone who made brief appearances in other movies, has decided to take matters into his own hands and to gather the stones himself. That's essentially the plot with the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy teaming up to stop him.

Going into this movie, I had high expectations. I wanted to see Nomad Steve Rogers, White Wolf Bucky Barnes, Blonde Black Widow, and Scarlet Witch/Vision love story for starters. You can see whose side I was on during the movie, Captain American: Civil War.

I'm filling this part of my review with my superhero nerdiness for those who have not seen the movie yet and want to bail before I get into the specifics of the movie. Still here? Awesome.

I also looked forward to Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Star Lord sharing screentime in this movie. Spider-Man being thrown in there also helps because he is such a love-able hero. I love his interactions with Tony Stark because he is just a kid trying to impress his father-figure mentor.

I love Guardians of the Galaxy too and wondered how they would meet up with the rest of the Avengers to combat Thanos. According to the trailers, Thor is involved somehow in that process considering he will meet them first. There is a lot of ground to cover in this movie, but it does not disappoint especially on how the two teams meet up with each other.

Last thing before getting into the movie review. Agents of SHIELD Season Five and how it brought Thanos into the narrative. I have a review posted on the latest episode and the way the events of the movie influenced the current plot going there. If you watch the show and want to check that out, the link is here.

Approaching Spoiler-Like Territory. This is your last chance.

If you keep reading, I will not be responsibility for ruining your movie experience.

Another Warning! Stop if you don't want to know.

Don't blame me if you get spoiled in this review.

Thanos demands silence!

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FINAL WARNING HERE!

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DEADPOOL 2 COMES OUT MAY 18

RYAN REYNOLDS IS TRUE LOVE

Okay let's get into the movie's spoiler-like specifics. I have posted a warning. I am writing this sentence to give you all one last chance to back out now. If you've seen the movie, disregard this warning, but for those who don't understand the memes or finger snapping, leave if you don't want the experience ruined.

If you're still here, let's explore what went down in this amazing movie and how it got broken down into several storylines:

Thanos collecting the Infinity Stones
Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man following him to space.
1. This intersects with number 3 when they meet Guardians.
Guardians of the Galaxy meeting Thor and getting updated on Thanos threat.
1. Thor leaving their company with Rocket and Groot to create new hammer.
2. They confront Thanos, who kidnaps Gamora.
3. Guardians and Avengers team up on Titan.
Bruce Banner returning to Earth and contacting Tony, then Rogers for help.
1. Bruce is Hulk-less and gets number 2 rolling before calling Team Captain America.
2. Steve Rogers and his team join forces with Black Panther and Wakanda
3. Vision and Scarlett Witch love story (more like sacrifice)
Thor, Rocket, and Groot create the new hammer to kill Thanos.
1. They travel to Knowhere to acquire such a weapon.
2. this connects to the Wakanda battlefield scene.

This is how the movie is broken down more or less.

Let's talk about Thanos and his complexity. He is the most powerful antagonist yet. His strength surpasses the Hulk in raw strength, he forces Iron Man to use literally every weapon in his arsenal, and Doctor Strange even admitted they had only one shot in stopping him out of like a million potential scenarios.

The Titan is powerful but he is also sympathetic and holds the ability to love.

He has horrible plans for the universe but hides it under his noble intentions. He is trying to bring balance to the universe, overpopulation being a legit problem, and decides to use the Infinity Gauntlet, powered by the six stones, to wipe out half of them.

The movie portrays Thanos in a way that almost has the audience rooting for his plan or at least an understanding on why he is doing what he's doing. This is similar to Black Panther's villain who the fans enjoyed a lot more than the protagonist in a lot of ways.

I rooted for Thanos in my own way, but my bias for Steve Rogers prevented me from completely rooting for him. I love my bearded Avenger so much, and I have dedicated myself to staying on his side.

Let's get into the actual protagonists. You know? The Avengers and the Guardians trying to stop the mad man from wiping out half the universe.

While I did not like how Steve Rogers and Tony Stark couldn't make amends or didn't even get the chance to interact, let's get on that in the next Avengers movie, I did enjoy the new group dynamics established in this movie even if they had only a brief window to interact.

Besides the ones I mentioned above, here are the ones that stood out for me:

Black Widow, Okoye, and Scarlet Witch fighting Thanos' female villain (her name escapes me; I just call her Scarlet Witch's arch nemesis).
1. this was brief but their fighting dynamic played off nicely.
The running montage of Steve Rogers and Black Panther getting into the fight first
1. I enjoyed that so much, I squealed like a child.
2. It's not a new dynamic, but it shows how much they've grown as characters and in leadership since Civil War and Black Panther respectively.
Rocket and Bucky Barnes (White Wolf)
1. I would pay a lot of money to have seen Rocket try to steal Bucky's new arm.
Groot and Steve Rogers
1. "I AM GROOT"
2. "I am Steve Rogers" - his smile slays!!
Bruce and Shuri
1. She's smarter than him.
2. Shuri is such a joy. A shame she couldn't have a bigger role.
Red Skull, Thanos, and Gamora
1. You read that correctly. Red Skull returned.
2. After Captain America: First Avenger, he was zapped to Vormir to protect the soul stone, unable to claim it because he loved nobody.
3. They could've filled Red Skull with a new character and it would've played out the same, but I'm glad they addressed his fate.

As you can tell, there are A LOT of characters in this movie: Ant-Man and Hawkeye did not make appearances though because they are on house-arrest for their role in helping Captain America. Too many characters according to Spider-Man who could not keep track of everyone's names.

While the movie did darker as it progressed, it did not forget how to have fun and to have those comedic moments like Thor and Stevie Rogers catching up with each other.

The storylines did get overwhelming at times, especially when it came to Thor, Rocket, and Groot. While an important plot point, it was the most boring one, for the lack of a better term, compared to everything else going on.

Again, my bias for Steve Rogers may affect my judgment. I expected him to have more screentime, and he didn't get it.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, all the hype surrounding it was well-earned, but I will mourn Loki, Gamora, Vision, and half the main cast (Bucky, T'Challa, Guardians minus Rocket, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Falcon, Scarlett Witch, etc.) who died in the movie's conclusion. Spider-Man's death scene was the worst one. Sorry Gamora, but it's true. We all cried for the young lad who felt scared about dying.

Tony Stark's fear from Spider-Man: Homecoming came true. He feared Peter would die, and that's what happened.

I hope Captain Marvel (post-credit scene) will reverse the effects or do a soft reboot on the universe. Let's go with the soft reboot because I think we need fresh heroes to add into MCU without the old heroes holding us back (and their contracts are expiring).

Comment and let me know how we're feeling. Theories? Did you survive Thanos' finger snap? I saw something like that going around Facebook.

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