"Avengers: Infinity War" juggles at least thirty major characters over the course of 156 minutes, and while doing so it escapes feeling bloated, underdeveloped, or simply too busy. The key is in the monumental world-building which has taken place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the last eleven years. For viewers who have faithfully followed the collectively sprawling previous eighteen films, they already know the involved players—who they are, where they come from, what has led them to become heroes, and the circumstances which have placed them in their present-day moments of truth. Now, for the first time in some instances, they are interconnecting and joining forces, even as fans have the privilege of already being intimately familiar with all parties. Thus, the filmmakers behind 2016's "Captain America: Civil War," directors Anthony Russo & Joe Russo and screenwriters Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, can finally cut to the literal chase while bringing a renewed sense of focus and purpose to the "Avengers" franchise Joss Whedon began with 2012's solid if unspectacular "Marvel's The Avengers" and 2015's clunkily forced "Avengers: Age of Ultron."
Thanos (Josh Brolin), that incorrigible intergalactic tyrant, has two Infinity Stones in his possession. Willing to stop at nothing to retrieve the other four, he sets out across the stars, creating a path of terror and destruction in his wake. With two of the powerful elemental crystals situated on distant planets and the other two on Earth, guarded by Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Vision (Paul Bettany) respectively, now is most definitely the time for the disbanded Avengers to put their differences aside and reunite. On hand: Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), T'Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and Guardians crew Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper), and a newly rebellious teenage Groot (voice of Vin Diesel). If their perilous mission to intercept Thanos' deadly scavenger hunt fails, it will come at a terrible cost: the near-instantaneous decimation of half the universe's population.
See Dustin Putman, TheFilmFile.com. for full review
