Composite Score: 81.65

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, and Josh Brolin

Directors: Joe Russo and Anthony Russo

Writers: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby

Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Drama, Superhero

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, language, and some crude references

Box Office: $2.048 billion worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                If you are at all a fan of the MCU or superhero films, Infinity War is one of the best the industry has to offer. Obviously, its follow-up Avengers: Endgame briefly held the spot of highest-grossing film of all time before an underhanded re-release of Avatar in China, but Infinity War, in my opinion, is arguably the better movie. The cast has basically no flaws on-screen, great casting all around. The story is among the more original that Marvel has put into a film adaptation. The visuals hold up relatively well four years later, and the villain actually has some character development, which is refreshing for a Marvel adaptation.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                Infinity War’s biggest knock is its reliance on connections to other movies within the MCU. It struggles to stand alone as a wholly original film. Many of the best parts of Infinity War are only as great as they are if you have seen the seventeen other films that came before it in the MCU. Its ending and post-credits scene even necessitate watching more films after this one (namely, Captain Marvel and Endgame). Such interconnectivity, while impressive, can frustrate people trying to just watch a standalone film. The story’s character development is minimal, focusing instead on major action set pieces and cool referential moments because of its assumption that all viewers have already seen at least some of the other films that come before it in the MCU.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                Infinity War’s greatest success is its focus on developing the character of its villain, Thanos, even going so far as to have him win in the end and tease his return in Endgame at the end of the film’s credits as opposed to any of the major superheroes featured in the film. Josh Brolin’s CGI performance as the Mad Titan impresses with the depth of emotion and drive that he is able to bring to the character through vocalizations and facial expressions captured by the CG technology that the film utilizes. The character immediately vaults into the ranks of iconic film villains alongside the likes of Darth Vader, the Joker, Loki, Hannibal Lecter, and Agent Smith with a combination of iconic lines of dialogue, memorable action sequences, menace, and a goal that is just understandable enough to get a Reddit page devoted to its rightness. From the jump, Thanos goes to work, defeating Thor off-screen before absolutely beating the breaks off of the Incredible Hulk and killing Loki – and that’s just the first scene of the film. Over the next two and a half hours, Brolin’s Thanos cements himself by overcoming basically every Marvel superhero in the MCU (except Ant-Man and Hawkeye) through a combination of willpower, brains, and brawn, a villain worthy of the role.

                In terms of its scope, Infinity War did what virtually no major film had done before, bringing together characters from multiple franchises as the culmination of ten years of worldbuilding, character development, and storytelling. Infinity War’s place in the Great Films pantheon is cemented by its success creating a story that highlights the best parts of each of these characters and teams while also providing great action sequences, a high-quality villain, and emotional resonance that does extend beyond just external connection to these characters (some definitely more than others obviously).

                Outside of Brolin’s Thanos, the rest of the cast executes their roles well with very few stand-out moments of “acting”. The best of these comes in the film’s final moments, before the credits roll, from Tom Holland. After the film’s release, I saw many heralding the scene as the moment when they finally accepted Tom Holland as the “best” Spider-Man portrayer. If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m talking about; if you haven’t, major spoilers ahead. The scene when Spider-Man disappears as a victim of Thanos’s snap is the most emotionally moving moment from a film full of heavy emotion. His (reportedly) ad-libbed performance and delivery of the “I don’t want to go” line remains one of the most iconic moments in cinema from the last five years. While it does not have the same emotive permanence that deaths from Endgame have, it still brings home the hurt and sadness (and grim satisfaction) that the audience is feeling following Th’nos's victory.

                Avengers: Infinity War is one of the most ambitious films in the history of film, managing to bring together ten years of worldbuilding into one satisfying film with a seriously iconic villain. The film’s reliance on its predecessors is part of what makes it so great but also part of what makes it so difficult to approach for people not connected to the MCU. Its commercial and critical success speak to its greatness, and there is little doubt about its place among the Greatest Films of All Time.