April 27, 2018 marked the official theatrical release of Avengers: Infinity War – the third in the ‘Avengers’ franchise, and nineteenth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Nerd Nation Magazine was in attendance for the early press screening Tuesday, April 24, 2018 courtesy of Marvel Studios, Allied Marketing, and Regal Cinemas.
To say this movie is a big deal would probably be the biggest understatement of the year here at Nerd Nation. It absolutely shattered box office records with an opening weekend box office, opening in North America to over $250 million (breaking the record of $247 million previously held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens), with a foreign opening of a reported $380 million (second only to Fate of the Furious). For those of you keeping score, that’s a total opening weekend of over $630 million, making it the single biggest opening weekend of all time. I’ll let that sink in for a moment. Now, I’d like to point out that the film has still yet to have its foreign opening weekend in China (which happens May 11), and will almost certainly break the international record as well once that happens.
So, yeah… a pretty big deal.
As you’ve probably already seen, the internet is absolutely exploding with the buzz about this one, including the usual argument over spoiling the movie on social media. That being said, don’t worry – this review is 100% SPOILER FREE! – So let’s get to it, shall we?
Avengers: Infinity War serves as the culmination of everything we’ve seen in the MCU up to this point, and something that Marvel has been building towards for years. Thanos, the deranged, evil titan has set out to acquire all six of the mythical infinity stones, even forging the infinity gauntlet to hold them all in a plot to destroy half the population of the universe and, as supervillains tend to do, ultimately rule over the remaining ones. Aided by his followers, who worship him as a god, Thanos goes after each known entity (and a few that aren’t) in his quest. This brings together, for the first time in MCU history, all of the different groups of Marvel Superheroes – from the now-former, fractured Avengers including “Team Cap” and “Team Iron Man”, to the Guardians of the Galaxy, to Thor, Hulk, and the people of Asgard, to Doctor Strange, to Black Panther and the people of Wakanda, and, well, just about everyone else we’ve seen. These new meetings and groups bring forth some excellent character development and genuinely fun moments – especially between Strange and Tony Stark, and the Guardians and well, pretty much everyone. It’s a very smart way to use all of the characters in ways that are fresh, new, and entertaining. With the combined forces of all the best heroes of Earth and beyond coming together, will they be able to stop Thanos from mass genocide on a cosmic scale, or will Thanos destroy everything we know about the entire universe? Well, you’ll just have to go see this one for yourselves and find out!
It’s very, VERY difficult to review the plot(s) here without any sort of spoilers, because there’s just so much of it. Marvel seriously throws everything at the screen. Everything. And they don’t hold anything back at all with this one. It’s a huge gamble, for sure, but thankfully the gamble pays off, and we’re treated to something truly epic, even for an already-epic Marvel film. To call this an “All Star Cast” would be yet another huge understatement, as literally ALL of your favorite MCU actors return to reprise their roles. So many, that I just won’t even try to list them all. You know who these actors are, you know who all these characters are, and yes, they’re (almost) all here, and they all do really well. As the legendary Stan Lee says, “Nuff Said”.
The action is very high, as you’d expect. The effects are quite heavy-handed, as you’d also expect. Actually, from a technical standpoint, everything is exactly what you’d expect from a Marvel movie. There, I’ll just save us both a long-winded lecture on all of the technical aspects of a MCU film, that we’ve all heard thousands of times before. After all, what I’d wager you dear readers really care about here is the story… and of course, the big question of ‘is it any good?’ – In short, YES. The storytelling is outstanding, the plot, pacing, you name it is excellent, and most importantly it is fully entertaining throughout. There’s a very good reason why this movie is breaking all these records.
The Bottom Line:
Overall, Avengers: Infinity War is everything you hope for when you think of that “ultimate dream match” or what have you. Marvel throws everything they have at this one, giving audiences exactly what they asked for with the largest ensemble mash-up in franchise history (and hell, maybe superhero/action movie history) and it absolutely delivers. This film is spic in every way, and will likely go down in history as one of the most epic superhero movies of all time. Go see this movie. Above all else, it’s fun. – 9.5/10
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-Dave Harlequin
Editor/Staff Writer: Nerd Nation Magazine
@NerdNationPress
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