5/6/18 Avengers: Infinity Wars, not yet nominated, 2018
I poached the above picture from my brother's Instagram page. He was instrumental in me seeing Avengers: Infinity Wars so soon after it opened (only a week instead of two months like for The Black Panther) because he nagged me so much; he was so concerned that I see it, he offered to send me the money. Isn't that sweet? So I went last weekend, sat through 20 minutes of trailers and finally the show started. It isn't critical to watch all of the preceding Avengers-related movies, you can still enjoy the story, action and effects, but if you don't remember the origins of the different Infinity stones and other details (the Collector, who is Gamora's father, etc.), it wouldn't hurt to watch them. It's hard to review a movie that is so 'new' and not give spoilers (yes, there are some people who haven't seen it yet). I will tell you Thanos is one bad dude and the screenwriters give us almost all of our favorites in movie: Peter Quill and his team of Guardians of the Galaxy; Dr. Strange; Spider-Man; Black Panther; and of course, The Avengers. I was worried it would be heavy on characters that they wouldn't be able to get them all in the story, but somehow it works. There are a couple of different story lines that break up the characters so they're not tripping on one another, and they take place in Wakanda, New York City, and a few other planets and galaxies. It's action packed with great effects, and that comic book humor that I love so much (that DC movies have not quite perfected). My one qualm (or the only I've held onto) is with Groot. Why? Why? He/It was kind of purposeless in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 as he was re-growing from the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, and he really remained useless here. Maybe you could argue he was helpful in the big fight, but I would shake my head. But, aside from that, I did really enjoy it. It was over two hours and fifteen minutes, so it's long, but it didn't really feel like that. I cannot wait until next year for the sequel (yes, sequel).
