At long last, the film we’ve all been waiting for has arrived.  It’s hard to believe that the groundwork for Infinity War began all the way back in 2011 with Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor.  2012 brought The Avengers which introduced us to Thanos and his quest for those pesky Infinity Stones.

Was Infinity War worth the wait?

I literally just finished watching it about forty minutes ago and I can tell you … YES!  Infinity War surpassed my expectations and satisfied in ways I will address without getting too specific.

As always, I live a spoiler-free life, and I will not ruin this movie for you, I promise.

I’d like to first and foremost give the movie credit for fully realizing Thanos as a character.  This guy has been teased for the last several years, but this is HIS movie.  You get to know him very well and he proves far more complicated than I expected.  Furthermore, he looks great.  Special effects obviously played a big role with this character, yet they are seamless.  He looks to be physically present in every scene, and that’s rare in today’s CGI-obsessed movie world.  I’ve always considered Thanos a Darkseid ripoff and never given him much thought, but he definitely won me over as a worthwhile villain.

Also, they managed to bring us virtually the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Almost every character you know and love gets a moment in this movie.   I’m actually surprised at how much screen time several of our favorite Avengers received.  With story lines unfolding in various locales on Earth and in space, I’m amazed how it all somehow worked.  This is not a cash-grab.  Infinity War has a real story with several characters playing vital roles.

Make no mistake, by the way.  Thanos does indeed bring war with him.  He unleashes carnage, mayhem, and destruction at every opportunity.  This movie revels in chaos and pushes every one of our heroes to their breaking points.  This is the first Marvel movie in which the heroes’ victory is not a foregone conclusion.

Which brings me to my final point: Infinity War has real consequences.  This movie is not afraid to break convention.  It’s daring, bold, and, frankly, a breath of fresh air in a time of supposed cinematic super hero fatigue.  Infinity War has done something different with the cinematic super hero genre, something new.

I left the movie theater in shock.  That’s the highest compliment I can give any movie.

If you’re invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you’ll want to go see this movie as soon as possible.  It will be very hard to avoid spoilers in the coming days.

All right, I have to get up for work in about five hours, so I better call it a night.  Thanks for reading!

(Did you enjoy this review?  Check out Scott William Foley’s short stories HERE!)