Avengers: Infinity War arrives after ten years of buildup, with another film still to come before presumably there’s a different phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The question is, does this deliver?

Luckily I can say the answer is largely yes! Thanos is definitely front-and-centre in this film too, and Josh Brolin can’t be praised enough for how well he plays this villain (I don’t think there can be any more winging about MCU villains not being so good anymore 😛). It goes as far as him being a protagonist, though the “good” characters are typically brilliant too.

Obviously, this includes Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr, as responsible a character now as Stark could ever be hoped to be). And Thor’s brilliant, Chris Hemsworth playing him with more loss than someone ever should have, yet very funny too!

This crosses over into the Guardians Of The Galaxy, because it’s amazing how true those characters, Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and Groot (Vin Diesel), feel so true to themselves in spite of this massive, culminating film. T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), even feels like he crosses over naturally, so props all round!

If there’s anything bad to say though, it’s that at times, the film’s epic scope feels like a distraction. Obviously a beast of a movie such as this is very hard to make, so I respect that, though regardless I can’t ignore that point.

All round however, Anthony and Joe Russo (otherwise the Russo brothers), as the directors almost couldn’t have done better. Same goes for Marvel Studios, and I so can’t wait for the sequel.