Revisited - Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

So in this Revisited, I want to talk about a movie that was out not too long ago but seems to have been forgotten. In my opinion, I think it's a better movie then Endgame. Sure Endgame closes out the first 20 years of the MCU well enough but it seems more of a nostalgia trip with numerous callbacks then a standalone film. Infinity War was that Standalone film that brought the MCU to new heights and on top of that, introduced us to one of the best villains the universe had to offer in Thanos. It was not only epic and adrenaline filled with its beautiful action scenes and moments but all in all heartbreaking and bittersweet. It was the foundation in which Endgame came off of and what a foundation it was.

Avengers: Infinity War is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to 2012's The Avengers and 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the nineteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and features an ensemble cast of epic proportions including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, and Chris Pratt.

In the film, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy attempt to prevent Thanos from collecting the six all-powerful Infinity Stones as part of his quest to kill half of all life in the universe. The film was announced in October 2014 as Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1. The Russo brothers came on board to direct in April 2015, and a month later Markus and McFeely had signed on to write the script for the film, which draws inspiration from Jim Starlin's 1991 comic book The Infinity Gauntlet and Jonathan Hickman's 2013 comic book Infinity. In 2016, Marvel shortened the title to Avengers: Infinity War. Filming began in January 2017 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, with a large cast consisting mostly of actors reprising their roles from previous MCU films, including Brolin as Thanos. The production lasted until July 2017, shooting back-to-back with a direct sequel, Avengers: Endgame. Additional filming took place in Scotland, the Downtown Atlanta area, and New York City. With an estimated budget of $316–400 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made.

Avengers: Infinity War held its world premiere on April 23, 2018, in Los Angeles, and was released in the United States on April 27. Brolin's performance was praised, as was the emotional weight of the story, the visual effects, and action sequences, but the film was criticized for relying on previous MCU films for its story. It was the fourth film and the first superhero film to gross over $2 billion worldwide, breaking numerous box office records. It became the highest-grossing film of 2018 and the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time both worldwide and in the United States and Canada. The film's visual effects were nominated at the 91st Academy Awards, 24th Critics' Choice Awards, and 72nd British Academy Film Awards. The sequel, Avengers: Endgame, was released in April 2019.

Having acquired the Power Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones, from the planet Xandar, Thanos and his lieutenants—Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight, and Corvus Glaive—intercept the spaceship carrying the survivors of Asgard's recent destruction.[N 1] As they extract the Space Stone from the Tesseract, Thanos subdues Thor, overpowers Hulk, and kills Loki. Thanos also kills Heimdall after he sends Hulk to Earth using the Bifröst. Thanos and his lieutenants depart, destroying the ship.

Hulk crash-lands in the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York City, reverting to the form of Bruce Banner. He warns Stephen Strange and Wong about Thanos's plan to kill half of all life in the universe, and they recruit Tony Stark. Maw and Obsidian arrive to retrieve the Time Stone from Strange, drawing the attention of Peter Parker. Maw is unable to take the Time Stone due to an enchantment and captures Strange instead. Stark and Parker sneak aboard Maw's spaceship while Wong stays behind to guard the Sanctum.

In Edinburgh, Midnight and Glaive ambush Wanda Maximoff and Vision in order to retrieve the Mind Stone, which is in Vision's forehead. Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Sam Wilson rescue them and they take shelter with James Rhodes and Banner at Avengers Compound. Vision asks Maximoff to destroy himself and the Mind Stone to keep Thanos from retrieving it, but Maximoff refuses. Rogers suggests they travel to Wakanda, which he believes has the resources to remove the Stone without destroying Vision.

The Guardians of the Galaxy respond to a distress call from the Asgardian ship and rescue Thor, who surmises that Thanos is currently going after the Reality Stone, which is in the possession of the Collector on Knowhere. Rocket and Groot accompany Thor to Nidavellir, where they and Eitri create Stormbreaker, a battle-axe capable of killing Thanos. On Knowhere, Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis find Thanos with the Reality Stone already in his possession. Thanos kidnaps Gamora, his adopted daughter, who reveals the Soul Stone is on Vormir in order to save her captive adopted sister, Nebula, from torture. On Vormir, the Stone's keeper, Red Skull, tells Thanos that he can only acquire it by sacrificing someone he loves. Thanos kills Gamora, earning the Stone.

Nebula escapes captivity and asks the remaining Guardians to meet her at Thanos's destroyed homeworld, Titan. Stark and Parker kill Maw and rescue Strange. Landing on Titan, they meet Quill, Drax, and Mantis. Strange uses the Time Stone to view millions of possible futures, seeing only one in which Thanos loses. The group forms a plan to subdue Thanos and remove the Infinity Gauntlet, which he uses to house the Stones. Thanos appears and justifies his plans as necessary to ensure the survival of a universe threatened by overpopulation. Nebula arrives soon after, and helps the others subdue Thanos until she deduces that Thanos has killed Gamora. Enraged, Quill attacks Thanos, allowing him to break the group's hold and overpower them. Stark is seriously wounded by Thanos, but is spared after Strange surrenders the Time Stone to Thanos.

In Wakanda, Rogers reunites with Bucky Barnes before Thanos's army invades. The Avengers, alongside T'Challa and the Wakandan forces, mount a defense while Shuri works to extract the Mind Stone from Vision. Hulk refuses to fight after losing to Thanos, so Banner fights in Stark's Hulkbuster armor. Thor, Rocket, and Groot arrive to reinforce the Avengers; Midnight, Obsidian, and Glaive are killed and their army is routed, but Shuri is unable to complete the extraction of the Mind Stone from Vision before Thanos arrives to retrieve it. Maximoff destroys the Mind Stone and Vision, but Thanos uses the Time Stone to reverse her actions. He rips the repaired Mind Stone from Vision's forehead, killing him. Thor severely wounds Thanos with Stormbreaker, but Thanos activates the completed Gauntlet by snapping his fingers. He then teleports away.

Half of all life across the universe disintegrates, including Barnes, T'Challa, Groot, Maximoff, Wilson, Mantis, Drax, Quill, Strange, and Parker, as well as Maria Hill and Nick Fury, although Fury is able to transmit an emergency signal on a modified pager before turning to dust.Stark and Nebula remain on Titan while Banner, M'Baku, Okoye, Rhodes, Rocket, Rogers, Romanoff, and Thor are left on the Wakandan battlefield. Meanwhile, Thanos watches a sunrise on a peaceful planet.

And thats how the film end and I still remember watching it for the first time as the credits rolled with my mouth open wide. I had the same feeling when in Endgame, where Steve faces the whole army alone and wounded as all of the MCU comes to his aid. It brought a tear to my eye, seeing what filled my childhood on the major motion picture is not only stunning but mesmerizing. Both are great films and should mostly be considered as one big epic then two separate films. However, Infinity War was better in quality and with the arcs of each separate characters. Its a movie worth watching again. This has been Revisited, thanks for reading. Ricardo signing off.