AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

SYNOPSIS:
The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos (Josh Brolin) before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe. A despot of intergalactic infamy, Thanos will stop at nothing to collect all six Infinity Stones in his quest to wield unimaginable power and his twisted will on all of humanity.

Review by Louise Keller:
If a movie can be defined by the strength of its villain, Avengers Infinity War is a giant. Towering over the spectacle is Josh Brolin's evil despot Thanos, whose striking capture motion performance and physicality comes close to stealing the film. He's a gigantic, power hungry warlord with a chin sculpted like overlong piano keys. He reveals an unexpectedly soulful side, too.

The film is an extravagant mash-up - a dense tapestry into whose digital fabric our Marvel superhero favourites are woven. It's a frenzy of fun and action and directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo have directed this operatic aria with energy and humour.

Ten years in the making, the film is a celebration of 10 years of Marvel's Cinematic Universe and 18 films; beginning with Ironman (2008) and ending with Black Panther (2018). At the worldwide box office, it represents a collective total of $13 billion dollars.

The plot involves Thanos' mission to collect the six Infinity Stones (different coloured baubles representing the elements of Mind, Soul, Power, Space, Reality and Time) so he can erase half the universe.

The integration of superheroes including Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth's Thor, Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange, Tom Holland's Spider-Man, Chris Evans' Captain America is no mean feat. There's humour as Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner struggles to morph into his green counterpart The Hulk. Add Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther in Wakanda and Zoe Saldana's glamorous Gomora plus her android half-sister Nebula (Karen Gillan), whose link to Thanos is key to the plot. I like the way the filmmakers play with proportion and perspective: Peter Dinklage's Eitri fills the screen.

My favourites moments involve Rocket ('the rabbit'; Bradley Cooper) and Groot ('I am Groot'; Vin Diesel) from The Guardians. They are adorable and offer priceless moments. As we watch our favourite superheroes do their bit in the conflict that follows, it is hard at times to know who is fighting whom. But it doesn't seem to matter as we emotionally leapfrog from one reality to the next. Action with a Capital A.

Frenetic signposts lead us to the climactic sequences. There are surprises and shocks and there will be many different reactions to the film's ending. Let me simply say this: there is more to come.