****This review may contain slight spoilers, so be cautious when reading****

Come in with a knowledge of Marvel and leave a little confused about how they’re planning to wrap it up.

That is a general feeling pervading Marvel’s newest installment in the Avengers franchise, Avengers: Infinity War. The movie brings together all of the superheroes and a lot of other characters previously introduced over the 19-film Marvel Character Universe (MCU) in order to fight the biggest threat to our universe–Thanos and his quest for all six Infinity Stones.

In the weeks since its release, Marvel fans have flocked to theatres, making it one of the highest-earning and most popular movies in history. Reviews have been astounding as well– Infinity War records a 9/10 on IMDb and 84% on Rotten Tomatoes.

But for all the good reviews, is it really worthwhile to watch at the theatre?

First things first, it is a necessity to have decent knowledge of the previous 19 movies. Infinity War launches viewers directly into the Marvel universe with little-to-no background or refreshers. This can definitely make it difficult for people who aren’t as familiar with the subjects to enjoy the movie, as they will constantly be wondering what is happening and why. Overall, though, fans who are familiar with Marvel (and specifically versed in newer movies Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok) should easily be able to understand most of the innuendoes and Easter eggs.

After getting over that hurdle, the movie is really good. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo do an outstanding job of weaving each hero’s storyline into the larger ideas. The Russo brothers bring every major hero–and a lot of the minor characters–into the overarching storyline. They manage to do so without any jumbling of scenes or confusion over why the heroes are there. This in itself is an extraordinary feat, but even more exciting for Marvel fans is the excitement of getting to see all of their favorites on the screen in one movie. And the Russos seem to be aware of this; they give each hero a fitting role and allow them an almost equal amount of screentime when the moment fits. This really helps to create an engaging movie for every kind of fan, chock full of laughter, gasps, and tears from the audience.

The Russos also include really cool cinemagraphic shots for the artistically inclined fans. The camera angles are very intriguing throughout the entire movie, which are especially pronounced on the big screen. Because of these, it is probably better not to wait until Infinity War comes to the home screen: a movie theatre is a much more appropriate place to watch.

As with all Marvel movies, the ending is the main feature. For all the action and jokes thrown into the previous two hours, the last thirty minutes really capture this. The storyline doesn’t follow that of a normal superhero movie, or even of Marvel’s normal ventures. And there’s a good reason for that: the second half of the war will be depicted in a currently-untitled sequel due May 3, 2019. The Russo brothers use this to craft the ending–they leave it important enough to ensure that fans flock back but mysterious enough to spark the mill of theories about what will happen next.

Avengers: Infinity War remains balanced between humor and despair, heroes and villains, too much and not enough. It is the culmination of all the superheroes Marvel fans love and a fitting one at that.

5/5 stars