10 years ago, no one could have predicted that the ambition of Kevin Feige the president of Marvel Studios would pay off the way it has. Yet here we are 18 films in and over $10 billion deep.

“Avengers: Infinity War” is the 19th film entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, directed by Joe and Anthony Russo (“Captain America: Civil War” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”) and stars Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Pratt as Star Lord, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, with Vin Diesel as Groot and Josh Brolin as Thanos.

Beginning right after the end credits stinger in “Thor: Ragnarok”, Thor, Loki and the asgardians come face to face with Thanos who is scouring the universe for the Infinity Stones. Bodies soon hit the floor and their brawl sends Bruce Banner smashing down on earth and warning The Avengers of the coming threat.

With their backs against the wall and their ranks scattered, the team seeks to stop Thanos from completing his long awaited conquest of annihilating half of the universe in order to achieve what he perceives to be peace and tranquility.

Beginning a film with a gut punch is a sure fire way to get your audience’s undivided attention, and “Infinity War” does just that. The opening 15 minutes establishes heavy stakes and foreshadow an emotional payoff that will undoubtedly the most hardcore MCU fans to their core and leave their jaws on the floor long after.

The film is uplifted by some truly beautiful cinematography and visual effects, making this entry on of the most beautiful looking films in this franchise. The shots of the Titan and even the jungles surrounding Wakanda are both beautiful realized and rendered.

In addition there are great pairings of characters you didn’t know you wanted to see interact. A particular standout pairing is Thor with the Guardians of the Galaxy, much is mined from this when both him and Star Lord’s alpha male personalities clash.

Within the tense moments that land there is great character interplay that helps solidify this rousing adventure. One of which is the battle on Titan where Iron Man and Spider-Man take the fight to Thanos which culminates in one of the most emotional scenes in this entire franchise and on that you will not see coming.

Speaking of the diabolical threat, Brolin gives a truly amazing performance as Thanos. While the villain isn’t exactly fully realized as three dimensional, he certainly has the screen presence and menance that carries him through the film.

As for some of the drawbacks, this film suffers from two problems.

First, the film is trying to present itself as a big and grand adventure, but falls short. This is mainly due to the fact that through most of its runtime we continually flop back through three locations (all of which have been disclosed in the trailers, but for the sake of accidentally spoiling I won’t say here).

This can sometimes undermine epic fights but is not a complete loss. Second, this is clearly, despite what the filmmakers have led us to believe, a film that is indeed a part one of a two part story so there isn’t really any definitive finality within the narrative. Needless to say it ends on a cliffhanger, albeit an emotional and unexpected one.

Despite those two hiccups, the movie is fun with enjoyment for both die hard and casual fans of this franchise. It will easily become one of the most talked about entries in this franchise if not the genre of comic book films themselves. The lasting effects will undoubtedly leave your anxious for the next installment hitting theaters in just a little over a year when “Avengers 4” opens on May 4th, 2019.