Avengers: Infinity War Movie Review

The most anticipated movie is here! Marvels: Infinity War  came out April 27, 2018 and was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. This film is already breaking box office records as the biggest opening weekend ever. Despite the overload of characters and hasty fight scenes, Infinity War surpassed expectations and left the audience in definite surprise.

If you have been following The Marvel Cinematic universe as I have, then you know that  Infinity War was ten years in the making starting with the movie Iron Man back in 2008. No one really knew back then that the movies proceeding the first one would eventually lead to a sensation that people have come to adore. Speaking from my own experience the ride has been amazing and each movie gets a little more exciting and mesmerizing as the last. Infinity War was everything I could have hoped for and I give the film a thumbs up👍.

Lets move on to what makes this movie such a hit. * Spoiler Alert from here on down*


Just in case you missed that I'll say it again. *SPOILER ALERT*



Infinity War has a pretty easy plot to follow. We get quickly sucked into a game of keep the Infinity Stones away from Thanos at all cost. The Infinity Stones are powerful gems from different parts of the universe. Thanos plans on using them to wipe out half of the universes population so that resources on planets aren't depleted from overpopulation. The story line of the characters were mainly dependent on the locations of the Infinity Stones and their ability to help protect them. For example, Vision and Dr. Strange  were both in possession of a stone therefore some of the bigger fights centered around them.

Despite the concept of the story line being easy to follow, to say the plot was perfect would be incorrect. Incorporating around 23 main heroes that can star in their own movie in one film can be difficult, and that number doesn't even begin to make up half of the cast. Here are a few example of the story falling through the cracks. There was no explanation on how Thanos knew where each Infinity stone were, he sent his children to Earth and they automatically appeared in the cities Vision and Dr.Stranger were. Also, why is Vision struggling to fight the children of Thanos when he has the power of one of the Infinity Stones? There are arguments that could be made, but the fact that I have to stop and question it says something about the film. Overall, the plot has a few flaws, but nothing too jarring that can't be overlooked.

Moving to a more technical aspect of the movie, the writing of the film didn't give rise to a hateful view of Thanos. His choice of resolving the issue of overpopulation is obviously incorrect, but he genuinely saw the need to try to help the world. Thefore, making him more relatable than anything else. The editing between each story line was seamless. There were many side stories going on, but I was never confused about which characters the audience are supposed to be focused on. For example, one scene we are with Thor, Rocket and Groot on Nidavellir to get the battle axe, Stormbreaker to kill Thanos. In the next scene Peter, Gamora, Draz and Mantis are on Knowhere looking for Thanos.

To continue, the character interaction was fluid, seeing the characters come together in this film was impressive to watch. The Guardians of the Galaxies light hearted humor and the Avengers witty commentary created an atmosphere that wasn't completely depressing for the situation at hand. The characters in this movie all had major roles to play for the over all plot of the story.

Looking at some of the characters, Iron Man leads one of the bigger side stories in protecting the Time Stone along side  Dr. Strange, Spiderman, Peter, Drax, and Mantis. Seeing Ironman take charge of individuals that aren't used to him taking lead is amusing to see. Also, Spider man and Iron man have a great dynamic that I love watching time and time again.

Another great pairing was Rocket, Groot and Thor. They had  great moments that I wasn't expecting. For example, the scene where Rocket and Thor talk in the spaceship about whether or not Thor is up to the task of facing Thanos after all he has already lost. I really enjoyed seeing Thor being vulnerable about everything that has happened to him and his people. I think the way Rocket handled it went very well. 

To Continue, Thanos and Gamora's father-daughter relationship left much to be desired. Gamora had some great acting moments, but the belief of his love for her was a bit difficult to swallow. Lastly, seeing Captain America and  Black Panther together wasn't anything new since they have met before.  Nevertheless, seeing all of Wakanda's army fight along side a good portion of the Avengers like Black Widow, Falcon, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Vision and the Winter Soilder was very impactful and  awe-inspiring.

The pairing of heroes Marvel came up with were seamless. I was worried about the overload of characters in one movie, but every side story that occurred made sense. The ideas were carried all the way through to the end which I really enjoyed.

Overall, I only had a few problems  with the movie, like the fact that Hulk refused to fight after the  opening scene. This was frustrating, but understandable to an extent. I think Bruce Banner and the Hulk are going through a character ark where they are working together more instead of fighting over complete control.

Regardless, there's much to say about the movie. The end of Infinity war was the most shocking. I expected someone to die, but I wasn't expecting half of the cast to disintegrate. A lot of people were angry at the loss, some where taken by surprise, either way I think no one was expecting it to leave us in such suspense. I can't begin to think of how the Avengers are going to fix this problem, which is a great way to keep people engaged and talking about the movie.

Despite my feelings toward the end I think it's safe to say that marvel hit another home run on this one! Tell me what you guys thought of Infinity war in the comments below!

Kimi No Na Wa - Your Name

Two lives twisted into one in the most unbelievable way imaginable. Kimi No Na Wa, better known as Your Name in English, was an unexpected pleasure that I highly recommend to anyone.  In America, the movie was released April 7, 2017 and was directed by Makoto Shinkai.

Your Name  was centered around Mitsuha  a girl who lived in Itomori town in Japan and a boy named Taki who lives in Tokyo.  During the first watch of the movie there's a lot of mystery as to what is actually going on between these two characters. I thought that was one of the most exciting parts of this movie was trying to put the puzzle together. For that reason, I wont  ruin the ending, but the first watch was definitely the best.

 The story was pretty unique and original the characters switching bodies wasn't what left me in awe, but the way that the story resolved was well written and left the audience wanting more.The characters were great and I felt all the roles were played well. Mitsuha and Taki both had best friend that were supportive of whatever they did no matter how weird it sounded.  Of course, everything pales in comparison to the stars of the movie, Mitsuha and Taki's dedication to find each other was heart-shattering and inspiring. Since the story is told from both perspectives, there's a lot of going back and forth between them. Every here and there it got confusing, but not too confusing that you cant figure out the sequence eventually.

The animation style for Your Name is beautiful and the songs are laced into the movie  with perfect timing that leaves a lasting impression. Overall, its a magnificent movie  that will go down as one of the upper tier anime movies

The Show Amongst Many - The Greatest Showman Review

This movie was definitely an eye catcher and  a crowd-pleaser. If you went to see the movie The Greatest Showman for a good time

chances are you did and if you didn't then chalk it up to a chance and call it a day. Lets get the ball rolling. The Greatest Showman was directed by Micheal Gracey and released on December 8, 2017. The movie was loosely based on the story of Phineas Barnum's life. The movie explains how he eventually came up with he idea of entertainment and how he created the circus. Although, the movie isn't a very accurate portrayal of his life, and I don't believe it was meant to be, it was still  a very entertaining show for the family. Professionals were pretty harsh on this movie, but that didn't keep the audiences from falling in love with the story, dancing, and songs.

The Greatest Showman takes place in New York, starting off strong with one of the staple songs "The Greatest Show" capturing the audiences attention immediately. The circus is in full lights, color, and action when the story slowly backtracks from there. The vision is very encapturing, I was fully invested into the young P. T Barnum and the dream he was trying to accomplish. He believed in it and I believed too, it was exciting to see how he would achieve it. Despite the struggles he faced I was, for the most part, rooting for him the whole way through.

For a more in-depth look I'm going to highlight the main characters, the songs, a few technical aspects and then the story as a whole.

The man himself, Phineas Barnum is  one of two charters we see actually grow up and get a before and after idea of the person he used to be and becomes by the end of the movie. He is played by Ellis Rubin as a young boy and Hugh Jackman as an adult and is definitely one of the shining beacons in the movie. Briefly, his dream as a boy was to create something unique, different, and creative that really changed people. Not trying to be a major spoiler, but growing up eventually he accomplishes that despite any pitfalls along the way and creates the circus. His struggles seemed real, the hardships to provide something more for his families when he came from nothing is relateable and gets people emotionally invested. I enjoyed the vision Barnum created, it was believable and seeing the show in its full swing during the song "Come Alive" was amazing and everything I hoped it would be. For all the excitement that comes in the first half of the movie I believe it begins to fall the moment Barnum loses sight of this very dream.

After a few bad choices ,like reject his original performers in favor of appealing to a more prestigious audience, I became  less engaged with the movie. I did not like how he handle the fame that came his way, and I thought he got very little punishment and backlash for the poor choices he made. I felt like he fell off his high horse, but didn't fall hard enough for me to feel justified for what he did. I also believe he could have avoided a lot of his situations, for example his wife, who was played by  Charity Barnum played by Skylar Dunn as a young girl and Michele Williams as an adult, left him after the newspaper scandal. If he would have communicated with the people around him a bit more she might have understood the hole he felt the need to continuously fulfill with success.

Here's an idea he could have spoken to  his original performers of the circus and explained  I don't maybe something along the lines of "Hey guys this is a different group of  people I'm trying to appeal to, it will really benefit us, but I haven't forgotten about you all though" What do I know, that might have been too easy, so I concede. At the end of the day P.T Barnum was the star of the show and appreciate his role in the movie.

Barnum starts the circus alone, outside of the support of his wife and two girls, but doesn't end it alone. His partner in crime was Phillip Carlyle played by Zac Effron. He is a rich  playwright who knows his way around a prestigious crowd. He is a major reasons as to why Barnum is able to appeal to audiences like the queen of England. I like the progression of this character and how he started off as a rich snob who sort of humbled himself the more he hung around the original circus performers and associated him self with them.Barnum did the complete opposite and became more pompous as the movie progressed. Carlyle was an interesting character and I enjoyed his relationship development with one of the original circus performers Anne Wheeler played by Zendaya. The relationship was arguably rushed for the time span that they knew each other, but it didn't detract much from my enjoyment of seeing these two actors together and I believe they did a good job.

Jenny Lind played by Rebeca Ferguson was a Swedish singer and was Barnum's ticket to appealing to the upper class. After hearing her song "Never be enough" he convinced her to join as one of his acts and his career soared to new heights. This is when, for me, the movie was starting to falter. I understood the success she brought, but I could not agree with Barnum for dropping everything and following her on a tour for fame. I also felt like the semi-relationship that was dropped between them wasn't very believable, so when she quit it felt a bit dramatic.

Lettie Lutz one of the recruit for circus and probably the most influential. Her act was the bearded lady with a powerful voice and she was played by Keala Settle. She was another star in this movie that helped it really come together. She was fun to watch and was at the forefront of fighting for the original circus performers every time. Her song "This is me" is a staple and another very recognizable song from this movie. She sings this along with the rest of the performers after being rejected and its powerful and the message really resonates.

On a different note, some questioned the authenticity of the movie. Outside of the fact that P.T Barnum did create the circus, the accuracy is hit or miss at some points and completely not there for others. If you go in to the movie looking for historical correctness you might be disappointed, but if  you go in for an entertainment you will find it.

Overall, I believe that The Greatest Showman is a tremendous family film that I would recommend to anyone looking for an easy watch and a good time. I bought what P.T Barnum was selling because like he said:

"The noblest art is that of making others happy"
- P.T. Barnum


What's your favorite song from The Greatest Showman? Let me know in the comments!