Plenty of movies are just movies; few are experiences. After ten years and 18 movies of cinematic build-up, “Avengers: Infinity War” lives up to the hype as an exciting and emotional experience.

In 2008, Marvel Studios launched the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) with their debut film Iron Man. Four years later, during a post-credits scene in “The Avengers,” fans got their first glimpse of Thanos, the ‘Mad Titan.’

Fans familiar with the character knew he’d be on a mission to collect all six infinity stones. Each stone controls a different aspect of the universe (space, mind, reality, power, time and soul).

The first full length trailer featured Gamora (Zoe Saldana), adopted daughter of Thanos, explaining that for as long as she knew him, he only ever had one goal, to wipe out half of all life in the universe.

“Infinity War” revolves around just that: Earth’s mightiest heroes banding together to stop Thanos from acquiring the infinity stones and achieving his goal with just a snap of his fingers.

Directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, this film manages to give the star studded cast of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and more a fair amount of screen time that aligns with the importance of their characters to the plot.

Seeing certain characters finally interact with each other such as Iron Man with Doctor Strange/Starlord or Thor with the Guardians of the Galaxy was a real treat. The action itself had the audience in an uproar that only a movie like this could achieve.

Josh Brolin stands out by portraying Thanos in a way that might make you feel bad for him. He may be a villain, but he’s also someone who has experienced a lot of hardships and does what he does because he believes it’s best for the survival of the universe.

Without giving too much away, the opening scene really sets the tone with death and destruction all around. The balance between comedy and drama are enough to make you believe that the heroes will come out on top but never feel 100% certain.

Hope, despair, love and desperation are elements that fit well into this film but loss and sacrifice are the ones that help drive the story in directions that the audience may find surprising or even hard to witness.

It was never a secret that multiple characters would die, it was just a matter of who and how. There have been so many theories as to what would happen but none of the one’s I’ve read had it all figured out.

It’s hard for me to come up with anything that I didn’t like about this movie because it has it all. You’ll laugh, cheer, and more than likely, cry.

I’ve often seen movies advertised with quotes from major publications claiming that you’ll be “on the edge of your seat.” or taken for “a rollercoaster ride.” This is the only movie I’ve seen that deserves that kind of recognition.

As someone who usually doesn’t see movies twice in theaters because I don’t think it’s ever worth it, this is definitely a rare exception. 5 out of 5 stars from me.