Just got back from seeing Infinity War, I loved it!
I must admit going in I was a tiny bit skeptical. I thought the trailers looked great, but I was unsure if they'd actually be able to pull this off. Also, I was a bit iffy on Marvel's past couple movies. They weren't bad in my eyes, just not my favorites. Turns out they managed to pull this off beautifully, the Russo Bros are freaking geniuses.
I loved the interaction between characters, especially the Guardians, Spider-man, and Iron Man. The characterization was spot on for everyone and the filmmakers really made the most out of them. I honestly don't think this movie could have been pulled off better than it was.
I saw someone point it out in a spoiler-free review I read before seeing the movie, but the overall structure felt...different than most movies. I'm not the biggest expert on film structuring, but it seemed different. It didn't feel wrong though, it actually felt very fluid and natural. I loved the pacing and the way scenes connected to each other.
There were a good amount of risks too. I mean, Banner didn't even turn into the Hulk during the final battle. I noticed several other things like this throughout the movie too. Honestly, the whole movie was one giant risk, and it payed off!
Random thoughts: I LOVED the Red Skull's role! We get to hear one of the songs that Star-Lord has on the Zune. I enjoyed Wakanda's role a lot here. Initially I kind of viewed Black Panther as a somewhat disposable film, but this made me realize it's importance in the MCU. It actually makes me want to see it again.
I don't have a whole lot of negatives, and the negatives I do have are more like semi-negatives, they will ultimately be determined by the sequel. This is the main one:
While I liked the ending and was fine with what happened, I honestly didn't find it that sad. The fact that characters like Spider-man and Doctor Strange are signed-on to multiple sequels means there's no way they're permanently dead. The fact that they'll bring those characters back also means the universe probably won't have that many lasting effects after all is said and done, which could kind of cheapen this movie's ending if they just reverse time or something similar. (Kind of reminds me of that one Doctor Who three-parter with the new Master.)
Some of my friends said they cried when Spider-man faded away, but I can't say it really affected me with this knowledge. (I will say that I don't get hugely emotional during movies in general). It's not necessarily a complaint though, because it does lead to a lot of interesting speculation about Avengers 4, and it was handled well. If they didn't have Thanos destroy half the universe, there would undoubtedly be far more complaining form fans that they ruined the story.
Overall I really loved Infinity War and thought it was handled wonderfully. In years/decades to come, I think this movie will go down in history as one of the big influential movies of Hollywood, alongside movies like Star Wars.
