‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is the culmination of everything that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has built up for the past 10 years. Ever since Nick Fury broke into Tony Stark’s House at the end of ‘Iron Man’ back in 2008, a universe has been building, and it all ends here. Infinity War has to balance 25 main characters and still make a coherent film. The film exceeds all expectations and is truly a masterpiece. Let’s talk about the plot first. Thanos, The Mad Titan sets out to collect all six infinity stones and the Avengers have to team up with the Guardians to take him down. The plot is divided into four parts: Iron Man’s team taking on Thanos in Titan, Captain America’s team in Wakanda fending off Thanos’ army, Thor along with Rocket and Groot searching for Eitiri and Thanos reuniting with his daughter Gamora while searching for the stones. All stories work in different ways. Thanos’ storyline hits all the emotional beats you expect, whereas Titan’s storyline is comedic but also showcases magic. Thor’s story is basically an expositional story, and Wakanda’s storyline showcases action and cinematography the way you expect it to be in a Joe Russo movie. Chris Hemsworth delivers his best performance as Thor, and Benedict Cumberbatch gets to shine in the spotlight in visually stunning action set pieces The performances are exceptional, the standouts being Josh Brolin for his intimidating yet relatable performace as Thanos, Tom Holland as he juggles comedy and emotion brilliantly, and Captain America who is as good as you would expect at this point. Also, Chris Hemsworth delivers his best performance as Thor, and Benedict Cumberbatch gets to shine in the spotlight in visually stunning action set pieces. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany have a very compelling love story as well in the middle of all the chaos and destruction. Others deliver too in their respective roles. Action is where Infinity War shines most. It is unlike any other, from Hulk battling Thanos in the very opening, to the battle of Wakanda, and The Epic Finale in Titan. The special effects are also the best that I’ve ever seen. Thanos is entirely made of CGI and looks extremely realistic. The film takes the best parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the humour of ‘The Guardians’ and the grit of ‘Winter Soldier’) and mixes them together in this goliath of a movie. One of the worries going into this movie was that it would have an inconsistent tone due to the fact that this is the first time a serious character like Captain America meets with comedic characters like the Guardians. However, The tone never feels inconsistent or jumbled and is like one cohesive story. The pacing is also balanced. ‘Thor: Raganrok’ had a very brisk pace and never let you breathe and take in everything. ‘Captain America: Civil War’ had a slower and methodical pace. ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ finds the balance between both and is both slow and brisk whenever the plot requires it. The ending of the film is quite controversial and some may not like it. Without spoiling anything, I have to say though, the ending is quite possibly the best ending to any film ever. All in all, the movie is near perfect for me. There’s a slight complaint in regards to a spoiler, so I can’t mention it here. In the end, Infinity War is a comic book fan’s dream, and if you’re remotely interested in comic book movies, you should go out and see this one. I’m giving infinity War a 97% rating. Published in Daily Times, May 6th 2018.