Avengers: Infinity War Reviews

[SSJPhenom]

The review embargo for Infinity War lifted yesterday at 3 pm and as per usual reviews are hitting the internet like hot cakes. I haven't read a lot of them, however, I've read the reviews from the outlets that I trust and they've been overwhelmingly positive. IGN gave the film a 9/10 and Den of Geek gave it a perfect 5/5. There are others that I've watched/read and they've all been very high on the film. The best thing I've heard is that Thanos was great and that the film nailed the character. IMO, that's the most important thing for the film to get right. If it has an underwhelming villain then there's no reason for 30 heroes to come together.

All in all I'm hyped as hell for this one and now I'm even more excited. What do you guys think?

[Y 2 Jake]

It's reassuring to know they've nailed a villain after 19 films.

[SSJPhenom]

I know right. Out of all of the films in the MCU they've only really had like 2 memorable villains. That's horrible. I'm hearing great things about Thanos though. Even read one review that said he was "terrifying". It's from an outlet I tend to agree with on most things too.

[Jack-Hammer]

I've heard mostly really good things about it. To be perfectly honest, I was hoping for something decent but I expected a clusterfuck considering how big and ambitious this movie is. I mean, with so many characters from so many different blockbusters coming together for one movie, I figured there'd be a lot of them would get lost in the shuffle but, apparently, that's not the case. If so, then this could really be the overall strongest addition to the MCU. Rottentomatoes.com has it listed at 86% fresh based on 125 reviews, so that leads me to believe that most critics enjoyed it but that they had a few complaints about it. I'm not surprised as a movie this ambitious is bound to have a few things here and that that rub people the wrong way.

Most of the MCU has revolved around the personalities of the heroic characters and there haven't really been a ton of memorable villains. That's not to say that most of them haven't been good, it's just that Thanos is one of those villains that's just on another level. He's not interested in wealth or influence, he has practically infinite amounts of that as it is, but what he wants is control on a scale that affects reality. Very few characters in comics really measure up to that as most are after wealth, power or control on a level that Thanos already has and one of the only ones to really measures up is Darkseid from the DC Universe, which isn't surprising considering Jim Starlin, the guy who created Thanos, based a good deal of Thanos on Darkseid.

The potential downside of this whole thing could be the sequal to Infinity Wars that's due out in May of next year. Anyone that's familiar with the Infinity Gauntlet storyline, which is really what this whole thing is based on, and knows anything about basic story set up is that Thanos is going to come off pretty much unstoppable in Infinity Wars and that he's miraculously brought down in the sequel and that someone uses the assembled Infinity Gems, or Stones if you prefer, to undo whatever it is he winds up doing for Infinity Wars.

If you're not familiar with the whole Infinity Gauntlet, the Gems, etc. then it might be best not to read this as I don't know how much of the comic storyline will be used in the film so this may accidentally contain some movie spoilers. The Infinity Gems/Stones are six artifacts whose origins have been altered in the movie, which is okay as it doesn't really take anything away, and each of the Gems has the potential to give a wielder complete control over a specific area of existence:

Mind Gem - The Mind Gem grants the user vast telepathic and telekinetic abilities or, in the case of those who already have those powers, enhance them even further. When used at full potential, the Mind Gem can allow the user access to the thoughts of every being in existence, even simultaneously. In the comics, in order for the Gem to reach its full potential, it has to be used in concert with some of the others but I doubt that'll be brought up in the movies.

Power Gem - The Power Gem allows the user to enhance any and all physical capabilities limited only by the imagination of the user. The Gem also allows the user to control and manipulate all forms of energy for any purpose that's, again, limited only by the imagination of the user. At full potential, the Gem can access all the physical and energy power that's ever existed or ever will exist. In the comics, the Power Gem is often used to bolster the effects of the others and help them to be used to their full potential.

Reality Gem - The Reality Gem essentially allows the user to alter existence to any degree he or she wishes contrary to any scientific laws. At full potential, the user can alter reality on a universal scale in any way. For instance, if the user wanted to create a galaxy populated entirely by gorgeous females made entirely of cotton candy, he/she could do so.

Soul Gem - The Soul Gem allows the user to control, steal or otherwise manipulate the souls of the living or dead. At full potential, the Gem allows the user to control all forms of life anywhere for any purpose.

Space Gem - The Space Gem allows its user to exist in any location, traverse any distance immediately via teleportation, rearrange space, move objects anywhere in reality and alter the distance of anything contrary to any physics laws or theories.

Time Gem - The Time Gem allows its user to see into the past, present or future, or even all alternate timelines, AKA string theory. The Gem also allows the user to slow, speed up, halt or essentially manipulate time to any degree based on his or her imagination and will.

So basically, if you're a being who collects and wields all these stones, you're basically omnipotent. Each Gem/Stone is a different color, though I'm not entirely sure off the top of my head which color goes with which stone. For the movie, I'm willing to bet that the overall powers of each Gem/Stone have been toned down as such imagination boggling power doesn't really work well in settings outside of comic books or Japanese anime.

[SSJPhenom]

To follow up with your description of the Infinity Gems:

The Mind Gem: Currently in the possession of Vision. It's what gives Vision his powers of flight, tangibility, and energy manipulation. He can also read thoughts and manipulate them, although he doesn't do that much. The only time he's done this was when he went inside of Ultron's 'mind' and purged him from the internet. It's expected that Vision is going to lose the Mind Gem at some point in the film and when he does, I'm interested to see if it kills him and if not, what powers, if any, will he have. In the comics he never had the Mind Gem. He simply had a solar gem that absorbed sunlight to give him his powers.

Power Gem:. The purple gem that showed up in the first Guardians film. As seen in that movie, the wielder of just that gem alone can destroy entire planets with but a thought. Currently in the possession of the Nova Corps on Xandar. Probably Thanos' first stop in the film.

Reality Gem: Showed up as the Aether in Thor: the Dark World. The Dark Elves were going to use it to purge all light from the universe. That alone shows how powerful it is. Was in the possession of the Collector, but after his library exploded it is not known if he still has it or not.

Soul Gem: Hasn't appeared yet in the films. Fan theories are that it is either in Wakanda or Heimdhal has it.

Space Gem: Showed up as the Tesseract in the first Captain America and Avenger films. Was last seen on Asgard before before Asgard was destroyed by Surtr. Trailers have revealed that Loki stole it.

Time Gem: First appeared in Dr. Strange as the Eye of Agamatto. Dr. Strange is currently still in possession of it.

Can't wait to see this flick.

[Jack-Hammer]

As to the potential plot of the film itself, I don't know how much they'll use from the comic storyline itself, or if they'll use any of it. In the comics, Thanos wanted the Gems for the purpose of giving a grand gesture to Death itself, who usually takes the form of a robed female skeleton in Marvel, by wiping out half the population of the universe. In the MCU, they've very much toned down or left alone much of the supernatural or metaphysical aspects of some of the comics. For instance, the Asgardians are essentially extra terrestrials rather than interdimensional beings who're connected to Earth with Gaea, the Elder Goddess and life force of Earth itself, being the matriarch of all the godly pantheons ever worshipped throughout the planet's history.

If the movie delivers some emotional moments and Thanos comes across like the ultimate badass, then the movie will ultimately serve its purpose. If it's just a big, loud CGI bash, then it'll be a huge letdown but that's never been the strategy for the Marvel films so I have high hopes.

[Big Nick Dudley]

This isn't going to be for indy fans. It's going to be Transformers with characters we actually like. Don't go in with the wrong mindset and ruin it for yourselves.

[Y 2 Jake]

Admitted Marvel cynic holding his hands up and saying that was fantastic.

[SSJPhenom]

Admitted Marvel cynic holding his hands up and saying that was fantastic.

You've seen it? But how, he asked with excitement in his words.

[Y 2 Jake]

It was released 0.01am today in the UK.

[SSJPhenom]

Damn you and your being in the future. So it was really good? What would you rate it?

[Y 2 Jake]

I think the UK, maybe Europe, always get them earlier.

I could nitpick the he'll put of it but that's me not being a huge fan of the series. I think there's been more misses than hits since the first Avengers.

I could've watched it again immediately after. ☆☆☆☆☆

[SSJPhenom]

That's awesome. As big a fan as I am of the MCU, the only movie that I could've watched again immediately after would've been the first Avengers. So you saying that you could watch this one immediately after (let's be honest, you've not been very positive about the last few MCU films) makes me very very excited for this one. I might not make it to tomorrow. Can't watch the early screenings tonight because I have to work tomorrow. I do, however, only have to work a half day tomorrow because, *cough cough*, I have a doctor's appointment ;).

[Lee]

I enjoyed it, lots to nitpick too but I very much enjoyed it. Weirdly the two Marvel fanboys I went to see it with weren't too keen on it.

I will say this though:


Just adding this in so it doesn't show on the preview as well. Doo dooo dooo!







They really need to work out where humour goes. There's quite a few serious points that are suddenly discredited by a random joke.

[klunderbunker]

I thought it was great. I was shocked when I checked my watch and I was over two hours in. This feels like the stakes are through the roof and having Thanos basically as the main character was very interesting. Great stuff and pretty easily the best Marvel movie yet.

[Y 2 Jake]

I enjoyed it, lots to nitpick too but I very much enjoyed it. Weirdly the two Marvel fanboys I went to see it with weren't too keen on it.

I will say this though:


Just adding this in so it doesn't show on the preview as well. Doo dooo dooo!







They really need to work out where humour goes. There's quite a few serious points that are suddenly discredited by a random joke.

Agree wholeheartedly

[Jack-Hammer]

Of the MCU movies, I probably enjoyed this one the most as I thought that everything just sort of really came together in unique ways. I thought a few of the characters did get a bit "left out" but I honestly expected that and it didn't happen to anywhere close to the degree I expected. Thanos was essentially the main character here, which was a unique and novel approach to a comic book adaptation, and Brolin did a great job with the character. In the comics, Thanos is a badass but he's also sometimes portrayed as having downright human frailties and I thought the movie did a great job of nailing both of those aspects down. They establish Thanos as a badass early on in the film:

Thanos kicks the Hulk's ass so thoroughly that Hulk is traumatized by it. For a while during the movie, Banner is unable to affect a transformation into the Hulk. Loki tries to barter for Thor's life by handing over one of the Gems and is then strangled by Thanos.

At certain points in the movie, Thanos' motivations for doing what he does come off in a way as though he truly believes that what he's doing is for the greater good, even at great cost to himself:

To obtain one of the Infinity Gems, Thanos has to sacrifice someone that he legitimately and deeply loves. so he tearfully kills Gamora.

If I had one real complaint about the movie, it's the placement of some of the humor in the movie as some of the jokes or humorous sayings come during a time that can undermine some of the more dramatic moments. Maybe that's intentional as the studio and filmmakers didn't want the movie to come off as too morbid or too dark. Considering the story and the villain involved, I personally don't mind some morbidity and darkness but I can understand that such things can impact the box office take. I've read in some articles that the production cost of this movie is as high as $400 million so even if I don't personally agree with it, I can understand the strategy for the studio trying to keep things from getting too dark.

On the whole, however, the movie accomplishes what it ultimately sets out to do in strong fashion. There may be some points in which you feel that you're expecting something to happen that never quite does and that's to be expected since those expected somethings will most likely take place in the sequel, which is due out in May of next year. This movie could've been a world class clusterfuck but they pulled it off in spectacular fashion. I give it a 9 out of 10.

[Big Nick Dudley]

It was exactly what it should have been. Best of The Avengers movies. Cannot compare it to the smaller scale Marvel films. Those films have the advantage of not having 376 characters to figure out. This was a spectacle, and should be evaluated as so.

[CyberPunk]

I loved this freaking movie! I've followed the MCU from its inception and while I understand it doesn't really adhere to the comic book lore a lot, I was able to look past it and appreciate the spectacle it was. Thanos was every bit they were setting him up to be and the heavy moments really seem to be carrying the weight that last few MCU movies weren't. The stakes were ever so high and it delivered spectacularly.

Of course, a few characters were kinda there to make up the numbers and some characters felt shortchanged, but it didn't really affect my enjoyment of the movie. The cliffhanger really leaves me looking forward to the next part of the MCU.

[SSJPhenom]

What a great film. Easily the best of the Avengers movies and quite possibly the best of the entire MCU. Thanos has easily become the best villain in the franchise. They always say that the best villains are the ones that believe what they're doing is right and that they're the good guys. Thanos was awesome and terrifying. Whenever he was on screen I was in fear for the other characters.

The story was awesome, the character interactions were awesome, and that damn ending was awesome. This had the most stakes of any MCU film and you can tell that nothing is going to be the same after this.

[Lee]

Thanos is a lefty and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

[Jack-Hammer]

Current estimates put Avengers: Infinity War with a debut weekend total of $250 million domestically, breaking the record put forth in December 2015 by Star Wars: The Force Awakens' domestic total of $247.9 million. Internationally, the film put up another $380 million for a worldwide total of $630 million, giving it the 2nd highest international opening to Fate of the Furious in April of last years, which was $443 million. However, Fate of the Furious' opening weekend included China, which is reported to have made up roughly $42% of the film's entire international audience.

The actual weekend totals usually come out on Monday, sometimes Tuesday if it's a holiday weekend, so it's possible Infinity Wars did more than the estimates or less. To put things in perspective a bit, the big screen adaptation of the Justice League grossed a worldwide total of roughly $658 million for its entire theatrical run so Infinity Wars has done almost as much business in 3 days as JL did in 17 weeks.

[SSJPhenom]

When can we talk spoilers on here? I know we have the spoiler button, but there's so much that I want to talk about....

[Slyfox696]

When can we talk spoilers on here? I know we have the spoiler button, but there's so much that I want to talk about....I'd say before talking about spoilers openly, give it at least another weekend. That's not a rule, just common courtesy. If you do want to talk about it with spoilers, use the spoiler tag, but please have plenty of placeholder text before the spoiler tag and even a "Spoilers - Read at your own Risk" alert before it, just so the front page doesn't ruin any spoilers.

As far as the movie goes, I thought it was pretty entertaining. I think all the build-up and hints about characters turned out to be a little cheap, but we'll see what happens in part two. Other than that, I enjoyed it.

[Smally]

I enjoyed this but wasnâ??t too keen on how it was structured, for want of a better term. Hell of an ending, the post credits scene was perfect, and I get the feeling that watching this back to back with Avengers 4 will tell the full story and be amazing. Well done for making Thanos the main character too, excellent move

Also, did anyone else mark out at who gave instructions about the Soul gem?

[Jack-Hammer]

Also, did anyone else mark out at who gave instructions about the Soul gem?

It was a nice surprise and it gave at least some closure as to what became of the Red Skull following the end of the first Captain America movie. I'd like to see the explanation expanded in the sequel, such as how exactly he came to be the keeper of the Soul Gem/Stone and somehow using his knowledge to bring Thanos down. It would've been all the cooler if Hugo Weaving had reprised the role but I've read reports saying that he was reluctant to play the character again. The actor playing him here is named Ross Marquand; I have no idea who he is but he plays a main character on the Walking Dead.

I also thought that it was kind of cool that Thor's new weapon appears to be something of a cross between Jarnbjorn, the enchanted battle axe he's been using in the comics for the last few years, and the version of Mjolnir used by the Ultimate Marvel Universe version of Thor in that it's a war hammer on one side and an axe blade on the other. It's called Stormbreaker in the film, which is the name of the hammer used by Beta Ray Bill in the comics so I thought it was kind of cool that they added these little tidbits; they might seem trivial but little things like that can matter if, like me, you've followed the comics since you were 10 years old.

[A11]

Had to watch all the credits for a crappy post credit scene. 1 star

[smarkmouth]

Had to watch all the credits for a crappy post credit scene. 1 star

Eh, while Marvel has cultivated a certain expectation, post-credit scenes are always ultimately a bonus and a tease, and nothing more. In that criteria, it's a success. I thought it was a good way to tease... https://img.cinemablend.com/filter:scale/quill/2/8/6/2/7/f/28627f1cb393e26bd26d14a960df182e83269c7d.jpg?mw=60 0

[A11]

Eh, while Marvel has cultivated a certain expectation, post-credit scenes are always ultimately a bonus and a tease, and nothing more. In that criteria, it's a success. I thought it was a good way to tease... https://img.cinemablend.com/filter:scale/quill/2/8/6/2/7/f/28627f1cb393e26bd26d14a960df182e83269c7d.jpg?mw=60 0

Obviously joking, loved the film though i would have changed a couple of the characters that fell victim to the stones at the end

[smarkmouth]

This is why I shouldn't post after 1:30 AM.

[Jack-Hammer]

Infinity War, as expected, continued its dominance at the box office this weekend with an estimate domestic take of $112.5 million. As of this moment, it's taken in $450.8 million domestically and $713.3 million internationally for a worldwide take of $1.164 billion in about 10 days of release.

To sort of put things in perspective, Infinity War will have a bigger box office take than Star Wars: The Last Jedi but I doubt it'll catch Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The Force Awakens was the first Star Wars sequel film since 1983 and it had the absolutely rabid Star Wars fan base; TFA did roughly $2.1 billion at the box office while TLJ pulled in $1.332 billion. My guess is that Infinity War does somewhere around $1.7 to, maybe, $1.8 billion worldwide.

[Big Nick Dudley]

Has it opened in China? I think it gets to $2 billion.

[SSJPhenom]

Yeah, remember, all of this is without China. Once it opens there, we might be looking at the most financially successful film of all the times. If it had have opened there last weekend, it would've broken all of the opening records easily.

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't know if it's opened in China or not, not even sure if it will open in China. I mean, for all I know, the Chinese government may not allow a film to be played in which one of the featured characters is named codenamed Captain America. :shrug:

As expected, Infinity War was #1 at the box office for the third week in a row. Current estimates put this weekend's domestic tally at $61.8 million, which is down only about 45 or 46% from last week. Movies of this type often lose a good 55% or more of its audience each weekend so Infinity War is almost certainly also getting a lot of repeat viewings. Thus far, it's reached an estimated $547.8 million domestically and another $1.060 billion internationally, so it's overall take currently stands at roughly $1.606.8 billion.

So yeah, even if it doesn't open in China, though I have a feeling it will, and repeated viewings keep happening, Infinity War should have no real problem breaking the $2 billion barrier. It's already the fifth highest grossing movie of all time and it still has a ton of momentum going. At this rate, it should wind up passing Jurassic World by the end of next weekend and then it'll be #4 behind Star Wars: TFA, Titanic and Avatar. The MCU has really become sort of THE movie franchise of the decade; as of four of the ten highest grossing movies are Infinity War, Age of Ultron, the Avengers and Black Panther and the MCU films as a whole have brought in a worldwide total of about $16.5 billion.

[Slyfox696]

I don't know if it's opened in China or not, not even sure if it will open in China. I mean, for all I know, the Chinese government may not allow a film to be played in which one of the featured characters is named codenamed Captain America. :shrug:
It has already opened in China:

http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/13/media/avengers-infinity-war-box-office-china/index.html

The movie is huge.