The wait is almost over. Thanos will finally arrive this Friday when Avengers: Infinity War premieres in theaters.
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And while the directors Anthony and Joseph Russo have made it clear that Thanos Demands Your Silence, some fans are still curious about whether or not the movie actually lives up to the hype.
Well, now that the review embargo has been lifted, outlets and writers who managed to see the film already have revealed their thoughts on the Marvel Studios crossover event. And, as you’d expect for a 2-and-a-half hour superhero movie, the reactions range everywhere between “epic” to “way too long.”
But overall, the response to Avengers: Infinity War is pretty positive. So if you were worried that the movie might not have been able to withstand the massive expectations of fans, don’t be.
We’ve compiled a review roundup for you, so you can see what prominent film critics and reviewers are saying about the beginning of the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And of course, we’ll start with ComicBook.com’s own Brandon Davis.
WARNING: *Mild* Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War below…
Brandon Davis – ComicBook.com
Avengers: Infinity War upends the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as promised. It’s a spectacle unlike any movie before it, offering a ferocious narrative which fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will love but the average or young moviegoer might have a bit of trouble with. It is dark, it is fun, and it is bigger than anyone could have imagined. It substitutes some of the focus seen in previous Marvel films with wider-ranging narrative to create a sprawling, jaw-dropping, utterly relentless epic.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Chris Nashawaty – Entertainment Weekly
“Avengers: Infinity War gives the fans what they want…and a few things they might not”
What saves Infinity War from being just another bloated supergroup tour – and what will end up being the thing that blows fans’ minds to dust – is the film’s final stretch. Let’s be clear, when it comes to hand-over-fist cash cows like the Marvel films, any time a character is put into any sort of serious jeopardy, you immediately have raise an eyebrow and roll your eyes a bit. All of these characters are such lucrative intellectual properties no studio, no matter how daring, is going to put them into too much jeopardy. … Still, there is something thrilling about watching just how much fun the Russos and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are having messing with the fans here. Even if, in the end, that little subversive act of freaking them out only lasts until the next sequel.
Rating: B
Todd McCarthy – Hollywood Reporter
“Marvel hits the jackpot again.”
Without giving anything away, the climax is startling in its gravity and no Marvel fan will leave before the long final credits scroll gives way to the traditional kicker tease at the very end, which amplifies the ending by serving up even more questions, not answers. This will achieve the desired result of making millions of fans debate what it all means until the next installment. All we know for sure is that just one identified character will return.
No question about it, barely two months after the release of Black Panther, Marvel (and Disney, of course) has returned with another of the most expensive films ever made that will pull off another of the biggest commercial hauls of all time. This franchise isn’t going away anytime soon.
No Rating
David Edelstein – Vulture
“Avengers: Infinity War Will Dazzle, Stagger, and Rile You Up”
Audiences by this point have so much feeling for these characters that the Russos get by with a lot of undistinguished work. People applaud at the first sight of Wakanda, as if cheering its very existence. And while Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa and his marvelous women warriors have nothing particularly novel to do, merely seeing them again so soon (with Black Panther still in some multiplexes) is a treat. With Alan Silvestri’s score pulling out the stops and our heroes fighting for — and, in some cases, losing — their lives, the final bruising scenes on the planet Titan seem nearly Wagnerian in their grandeur.
No Rating
Eric Kohn – IndieWire
“A Decade of Marvel Movies Collide in One Epic Showdown After Another”
Infinity War moves so fast and runs so long (over two and a half hours) it seems intent on exhausting even the most committed of viewers. But even as the movie forces audiences to submit to so many cataclysmic events, the directors manage to direct the cascading mayhem to a unique kind of cliffhanger. As it turns out, Thanos’ refusal to give up reflects Marvel’s own multi-year ambition, with the movie concluding on such a jarring note it demands people remain interested in the years of movies scheduled to open over the next decade. Hopefully, they’re worth the effort, because Marvel has developed an unprecedented degree of confidence about its ability to hold audiences’ attention. Consider the post-credits scene. Viewers must sit through a mesmerizing list of locations, drivers, executive assistants, and accounting departments for a few minutes of additional material. This time, the epilogue suggests that no matter how dire the scenario circumstances of the next chapter, the show will always go on.
Rating: B
Owen Gleiberman – Variety
Of all the things that have ever happened in an MCU movie, there will be much chatter about the ending of Infinity War. It is dark and spooky and, in its way, chancy and shocking. Do any of our beloved characters die? Well, yes. But, in fact, the ending is so audacious that you realize it’s all an elaborate card trick. Despite what it shows us, these movies are rarely about more leading to less. Count on the sequel — due one year from now — to demonstrate that more, in the MCU, will lead only to more.
No Rating
A.O. Scott – New York Times
“It’s Marvel’s Universe. We Just Live in It.”
But where you end up may not be where you thought this was going. The final act, including the post-credits sting (to infinity and beyond, as it were) brings a chill, a darkness and a hush that represent something new in this universe. Infinity War is the first half of the final installment in the series, and it concludes with a premonition of finality. Its intimations of grief and terror feel shrewdly attuned to what is happening in the actual, unmarvelous world. But those emotions can also be folded back into the movies themselves. This universe is coming to an end. And then where will we be?
No Rating
Scott Collura – IGN
Using the strength of its powerful and interesting villain to set the stakes higher than ever, Avengers: Infinity War successfully brings together the past 10 years of Marvel movies into a largely effective cocktail of super-heroic dramatics. The fact that it manages to give nearly every member of its admittedly overstuffed cast at least a moment to shine is its greatest feat. Sure, it ends on a cliffhanger, but those final moments elevate the entire series in a poetic, if horrific, coup de grace.
Rating: 9.0
Eric Eisenberg – CinemaBlend
Avengers: Infinity War was a project literally conceived to have all the pressure in the world riding on it, but really in the end it’s not exactly challenging to see why it works. It’s arguably the best writing and directing teams that Marvel Studios has hired orchestrating one of the greatest ensembles (in terms of both talented actors and beloved characters) ever put together in the history of cinema. It’s a unique, exceptional achievement that somehow leaves you both fully satisfied and desperate for more, and ranks among the best adventures we’ve seen yet from this stellar franchise.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Scott Mendelson – Forbes
“Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War Is Only Half A Movie”
Avengers: Infinity War may be the biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far, it is nowhere near the best. It is esssentially set-up for whatever comes next year. But it works as big-scale entertainment. And, come what may, I’m willing to presume that the Russos are merely table-setting a finale for the ages.
No Rating
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