Avengers: Infinity War (2018) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Anthony and Joe Russo

Starring:  Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johannson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper (voice), Vin Diesel (voice), Dave Bautista, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Peter Dinklage, Benedict Wong, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Pom Klementieff, Tom Holland

Listing the cast members may take longer than writing the review for Avengers: Infinity War, but even with all of these characters to remember, the movie does a splendid job of keeping the plotlines and the characters straight.    There are even helpful titles to tell us where various characters are.   The Lord of the Rings series could have used this and cut down on the confusion.

But, Avengers: Infinity War isn't simply a triumph of keeping things organized, but it also gives us a villain with depth and dimensions.  This adds an extra level of intrigue to his scenes.   Thanos (Brolin) is indeed a very powerful villain, but he also feels love, regret, respect, and sympathy.   Not that these distract him from his goal of wiping out half of the population in the universe, but he even does that more of out of necessity and practicality in his eyes than sheer evil intentions.    We pretty much know what to expect from the Avengers themselves, but there are a few surprises with them also.

The Avengers and The Guardians of the Galaxy are trying to stop Thanos from possessing six infinity stones which would help him reach his goal.    He believes wiping out half of the universe will allow for more evenly distributed wealth and resources.     Ebenezer Scrooge wanted to see the surplus population decreased.    Thanos would tell Scrooge to hold his beer while he took it a step further.   I wouldn't dream of revealing what happens, but this entry in the Marvel Universe deserves credit for allowing its story to go to the dark place it needs to go.

Of course, there is CGI galore and action bulging from all parts of the screen, but Avengers: Infinity War still finds space to tell a story and present us with the most complex villain of the series so far.   Thanos looks like a purple hulk with strength to spare, but his conflicted feelings towards characters like Gamora (Saldana) and Nebula (Gillan) allow his scenes to resonate with us more than just a giant baddie who will inevitably get his ass whipped.    Or will he?   This is the first Avengers film in which the outcome is not etched in stone and its people are allowed to grow at least a little.