Keep it Reel: 'Avengers Infinity War'

By Marc Woodfork

Earth's greatest defenders are back but this time, they're in a fight with their biggest threat yet.  By far, "Infinity War" is Marvel's most ambitious film to date -- a massive project that includes the franchises favorite superheroes.

We know the story: supervillain Thanos is seeking universal domination by acquiring all six of the infamous infinity stones. The biggest question Marvel had to answer was how they were going to pull off including so many heroes into a film and creating a cohesive, intriguing, compelling and a fun movie.

Once again Marvel pulled it off.

Infinity War is easily the best of the bunch, even better the year's biggest hit, "Black Panther".  The film is a game changer.  Not only does the film start with a bang, it keeps the momentum going throughout.  There really isn't a dull moment.   It sinks its hooks in and doesn't let go with a well-written script that doesn't dumb up the dialogue with cheap, cliches or one-liners.  The filmmakers do a great job of giving substance to the villain Thanos, a character who could easily have been written as a very typical bad guy with the typical bad guy syndrome.  Thanos actually has a method to his madness or a legitimate reason for wrecking havoc across the galaxies even though his anger is misdirected.

The real magic in the story is how the filmmakers were able to mix all of these characters together and still maintain their individuality and personalities that we all love about Marvel superheroes, a daunting task that was pulled off extremely well.

Of course, I have to mention the action sequences.  In most action scenes that have so many characters and so many things thrown at you, it can become daunting and very hard to follow.  Not the case with "Infinity War". It's easy on the eyes and very straightforward.  They don't morph into something like a WWE battle royal.  "Avengers: Infinity War" sells itself.  It's everything you expect and much more.

Bravo Marvel.  Well Done.