‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is fun, silly and incredibly dark

Ten years in the making and the 19th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ has been highly anticipated and praised by many. Grossing a total of $1.9 billion, the movie has already broken records, being released just last month. But does it really live up to the hype?

As a hardcore Marvel fan, I can say that ‘Infinity War’ blew my mind. It made me angry and frustrated, but it was spectacular.

Spoilers ahead!

Marvel fans, like myself, have been anticipating this movie for a long time. I waited a week to see it since I couldn’t go opening weekend, and I went to school wearing earmuffs and a hoodie to avoid spoilers.

The day I went to watch it, I had butterflies in my stomach. I wore my Spider-Man shirt and went out with my best friends. We went early to get the best seats and bought a large tub of popcorn.

As the famous Marvel logo went on the screen, I was practically shaking with nervousness and excitement. It sounds dramatic, but I had waited so long for this movie, and it was finally here. I was expecting to hear the Avengers theme music play triumphantly, like it did in the trailer. But there was just silence.

Haunting, dark music began to play with low brass instruments, along with the distress call from the Asgardians. The intro was unlike any other Marvel movie, and it set a dark tone that would extend on throughout the rest of the film. It gave me chills.

Ten minutes into the movie, I was bawling my eyes out. Heimdall’s (Idris Elba) death broke me. But Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) death hurt the most. It was unexpected and heartbreaking. Loki was one of my favorite characters, and hearing his neck snap and seeing him fall to the ground in front of Thor absolutely destroyed me. I wanted to scream and yell and leave the movie theater.

Of course, Loki stans, like me, are still holding onto hope that the god of mischief is still alive.

Loki and Thor in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.

One of my favorite groupings in the movie is Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Wong (Benedict Wong), and Spider-Man (Tom Holland). Iron Man and Spider-Man are my other two favorite characters, and seeing their father and son relationship continue to build gave me a sense of satisfaction. I also really enjoyed the Dr. Strange movie from 2016, and it was entertaining to see Stark and Strange, two of the most egotistical characters in the MCU, butt heads. I do wish, however, that Wong played a bigger part in the overall storyline.

Later, when they meet Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax, (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff), there is a very entertaining group that loves to crack jokes every five minutes. This movie has a darker tone than other Marvel movies, and these characters together add a more light-hearted aspect to the otherwise intense and grim mood. 

Dr. Strange and Iron Man in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’.

You’d think that superhero movies aren’t that touching, or they don’t really make you cry. But there were many times when this movie proved that wrong. Another scene that made me very emotional was when Thanos (Josh Brolin) threw Gamora (Zoe Saldana) off the cliff so he could retrieve the soul stone.

I honestly never really cared that much about Gamora. She was a main character who everyone loved, but I never understood the hype around her. When she died, I had a heart wrenching feeling that basically told me “You should’ve appreciated Gamora more, because now she’s dead.”

Another moment was when Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) destroyed the mind stone, killing Vision (Paul Bettany), only to have Thanos reverse time and kill Vision right in front of Wanda all over again. I screamed “No!” really loudly in the theater as soon as Thanos began reversing time, and I’m sure others were shocked as well. And of course, Spider-Man’s “I don’t feel so good” that has become a popular meme on social media.

Gamora in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’.

I do think the storyline can be difficult to follow if you are not as into Marvel and haven’t watched the previous films. The second time I watched the movie, I went with my dad and brother. My brother had not seen any of the Marvel movies and my dad had only watched ‘Ant-Man’ (which, by the way, wasn’t even in the film). Despite my explanation of the entire plot of all the past MCU movies, they still couldn’t really follow on.

Another issue with the movie is that I really, really wished Captain America (Chris Evans) had a larger role. He was just kind of…there. Steve didn’t really have an arc, and he didn’t even meet up with Tony (which was something I was anticipating to happen). This is understandable, since ‘Infinity War’ juggled so many characters and storylines (and miraculously met and exceeded standards).

But Captain America is a fan favorite and I, along with others, were definitely expecting him to have a more important role. Then again, it’s a given Steve Rogers will have a key role in the untitled ‘Avengers 4’ movie since he’s basically one of the only people left.

Then, there was Thor. I loved him in this movie. From the beginning, Thor was never my favorite Avenger. In fact, he was probably one of my least favorite heroes just because his story arcs were boring (the first Thor movie had the exact same plot as the first Cars movie).

I’ve always preferred Loki over Thor (still do), but after ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and ‘Infinity War’, Thor has definitely become one of my favorite characters. Thor has lost everything: his mother, father, brother, best friend, and his people. He was so much more three-dimensional as a character, especially in ‘Infinity War’, and I’m excited to see his character expand and grow in ‘Avengers 4’.

Captain America and Thor in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’.

The best part of ‘Infinity War’ was definitely Thanos. The biggest villain in all of the MCU, being teased and hyped ever since the first ‘Avengers’ movie in 2012. My favorite part about him is that he’s vulnerable. He’s not human, but he almost acts like one. When he killed Gamora, the audience saw tears in his eyes. He loved Gamora, and he didn’t want to kill her, but he did it for the “greater good.” The audience felt sympathy for Thanos. Marvel also did this with Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) in ‘Black Panther’, and that’s what makes these characters such great villains.

Thanos’s reasoning for killing half of the universe is that the universe has finite resources, and if he reduces the population in half, all will be good. It makes sense. There have been plenty of articles and social media posts questioning the motives of our heroes and wondering, is Thanos right?

Thanos in the end credits scene of ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015).

I could go on and on about this movie. ‘Infinity War’ is the perfect balance between humor and darkness. This movie made me laugh, cry and have a breakdown. It’s an amazing film with very few flaws, and it’s one of the few movies that I want to keep going back to the movie theater to watch and waste my money on. I cannot wait for Avengers 4 next year, and until then, I’ll keep binge watching ‘Infinity War’ theory videos on YouTube.

Go watch it if you haven’t yet. Seriously.