Infinity War draws its strength from the relationships between its characters, new and old. Seeing Downey Jr’s Iron Man verbally sparring with the likes of Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange and Pratt’s Starlord, Thor and Cap and meeting the Guardians and all the reunions are almost all masterfully written. Given the more serious overall tone, the inclusion of the typical Marvel Humour could have upended it but thankfully is used sparingly and effectively, drawing mostly from those interactions. Unlike GotG2 or Thor Ragnarok, the Russo’s don’t feel the compunction to end every exchange with a punchline, able to tell when a joke not only works but when it wouldn’t. Taken in the tone of a galaxy ending cataclysm, having witter banter so prevalent may be further evidence for some that the humour of the MCU is its main goal.

The biggest draw back is its limited narrative, as you leave the cinema reflecting back on the two and a half hours you’ll find much of the film is a void where things are going on, but nothing is really happening. This is due to the film essentially being back to back, extended action scenes. We open with one in space, briefly introduce some heroes on earth who are pulled in to an action scene, which leads that same group to somewhere else for a much longer fight scene. Whilst that happens, another action scene happens in Scotland before the huge set piece finale. In between the only character we really follow is Thanos, exploring his relationship with his daughters, his motivations and even what he plans when he succeeds. Of our regular heroes it is Iron Man and Thor who get the closet things to a story arc. Other characters have moments, Scarlet Witch and Vision for example, but most are set dressing. Given when Infinity War was originally announced it had both a part one and two, it seems a good guess that this is still a part one and with that in mind setting up the character of Thanos here before having the second part follow our heroes much more closely is an understandable creative decision. If you watch this as the first half the final act of the entire MCU, then all the action is justifiable in that sense, but a casual viewer will likely the find the massive amounts of time spent watching CGI people bang in to each other more than a little tiring.

For the die-hard Marvel film fans this will likely be as satisfying an experience as they will find – all of the heroes they’ve grown to know over 10 years finally joining up, the arrival of long teased big bad Thanos and the stakes he brings with him. After some light spinning of the wheels in the stand-alone adventures Infinity War will feel like both the end of an era and the beginning of something new for the franchise. Casual viewers, who haven’t spent ten years drawing lines between each background Easter egg and drawing up speculation on who will survive Thanos, will likely feel more than little “outside looking in”. Infinity War will serve as the poster child for non-stand-alone viewing, requiring the viewing of serval other titles to fully appreciate and understand it. If they hadn’t watched Thor: Ragnarok, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Guardians and Spiderman, many scenes won’t carry the same impact as they do for the die-hards and the extended battle scenes may serve only to remind them why they didn’t invest in the first place. Regardless of individual investment, is undeniable that this is an unparalleled success in terms of film making and storytelling. To combine so many different writers and director’s visions in to one cohesive narrative without the characters feeling drastically different between appearances is so impressive as to almost warrant the creation of a new word to describe it. Hats off you Marvel, Kevin Feige, Russo’s et al, your works will be long discussed and analysed in annals of film making. If only Disney had handled Star Wars with the same care and attention….