Marvel’s highly anticipated film smashes box office records

By Frank Portillo

The biggest film of all time, “Avengers: Infinity War,” is a relentless roller coaster ride of emotion that never lets up.

It has obliterated box office records and has claimed the spot as the highest grossing opening weekend film of all-time, surpassing “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

In total, the film grossed $641 million worlwide,which is $100 million more than the previous record holder.

Kevin Feige deserves all the money in the world for his construcion of this masterpiece of a cinematic universe.

His vision has carried over for 10 years and he’s like the modern-day Stan Lee.

From the opening of the film all the way to the end, fans will cry as they witness the culmination of the 18 films that comprise the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The third “Avengers” film brings almost all of the characters from the 18 different movies together to fight against the mad titan Thanos (Josh Brolin), who has been hunting down the Infinity Stones since the first installment.

Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely showed off their abilities to balance a large roster of characters in “Captain America: Civil War” and they were certainly the right people for this job.

Balancing about 24 characters, it never feels as if one character gets the short end of the stick.

They waste no time showing why Thanos is, by far, the biggest threat that the heroes have ever faced.

In the first five minutes of the film, the writers make his motivations clear.

Thanos makes a lasting impression on the audience by killing off a fan-favorite character in the most brutal fashion.

His actions set the tone for the rest of film as he sets out to collect all of the Infinity Stones, which would give him the ability to wipe out half of the universe’s population with only a snap of his finger.

Brolin was perfectly cast as Thanos.

His deep voice brings the character to life and makes the character intimidating.

His voice, just like Robert Downey Jr.’s, becomes synonymous with his character.

Speaking of which, Downey Jr. comes to play in this movie.

He shines just like always as Tony Stark/Iron Man, especially in his scenes alongside Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland).

The best aspect of the movie is the interaction between all of the different characters.

With 18 films, each entry has a different tone. Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors, nail the different tones and even distinguish the different characters with different theme music when they appear on-screen.

Director of “Guardians of the Galaxy” even chose the song for the Guardians’ first appearance.

Humor and intrigue stems from watching all of the different personalities collide.

One of the most exciting parts is Captain America’s (Chris Evans) first appearance on-screen.

Having not seen him since the end of “Civil War” will cause audiences to cheer like crazy. Watching him in action again is simply amazing.

From a story standpoint, it’s so beautiful to see the progression of all of the characters. From “Iron Man” all the way until this film, the change in all of the characters is clear in this culmination of everything that’s come before it.

Vision (Paul Bettany) and Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) have finally developed a relationship that fans of the comics can appreciate.

With a runtime of almost three hours, this film never feels as long is it actually is.

It is so engaging and fun that it wouldn’t be difficult to sit through another two hours.

There is never any filler material, which will be a problem for people with small bladders, causing them to miss key information.

“Infinity War” resembles “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” in tone, which is funny considering that the film was referenced by Spider-Man in “Captain America: Civil War.”

Like “Empire Strikes Back,” this film ends on a dark and bleak cliffhanger that will leave fans, who have loved these movies and characters, emotional well through the ride home and wondering what the hell they just witnessed.

During some moments, it can even take on a horror feel.

Particularly when Thanos arrives on screen to bring dread to the audience.

Not all of the film, however, is dark in tone. Humor is peppered in throughout the heartbreaking moments.

Sometimes the jokes come right after emotional moments, which will cause crying audience members to suddenly break out into laughter.

The action set pieces are also amazing.

Watching all of the different characters unleash all of their abilities will be a treat for Marvel fans.

There is one post-credit scene for the movie that carries over the film’s dark tone, but ends on a hopeful note.

It will leave fans in serious anticipation for the next untitled “Avengers” film, which is slated to release in May 2019.

Fans who haven’t yet seen the movie should make sure to take tissues to the theater.

Having waited six years to see the heroes face off against Thanos, this movie does not                                  disappoint at all.

Speculation arising from a possible deal with Fox regarding its characters integration into the universe are completely unneccessary, as Marvel studios has plenty of stories to tell with its roster.

Clocking in at 156 minutes, “Avengers: Infinity War” is rated PG-13 for intense sequences. of  sci-fi violence and action throughout, language and some crude references.