To take a 150-minute film, cram an entire comic universe of characters into it, and come out with a cohesive, exhilarating plot is a Herculian feat.

Brothers Anthony & Joe Russo have brought together a beautiful, masterwork of a film that works not only as one of the best superhero movies of all time, but as an emotional, heartbreaking action-drama.

Josh Brolin is going to have an insane summer, with his one-two punch performances as Thanos here and also in Deadpool 2 as Cable. His Thanos has an emotional centre, and is one of the greatest MCU villains of all time.

Each actor brings something extra to their limited screen-time here, but standouts include Tom Holland, returning as Spider-Man, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange.

Everyone comes together to create a near-perfect film, with flawless action sequences, surprises abound and an emotional core not often seen like this.

The only downside to Infinity War is the cop-out ending, which only works because we know this is a two-part story.

But overall, this first iteration is quite possibly the best ensemble film done in a very long time.

4/5 Stars