They can't kill off Spider-Man because the MCU doesn't even own him. There are many deaths that cannot happen which does diminishes the shock value of the ending. Although anybody with a brain would see that the snap will be reversed in some way. TESB ends bittersweet but this is just dark. It ends with a mass disintegration which is honestly even sadder and much darker than TESB.
The heroes get their butts kicked from one end of the universe to the other. This could be best described as The Empire Strikes Back portion of the MCU so far. It is amazing that this works as well as it does. The heroes of the MCU struggle to stop him. Thanos is collecting the six Infinity Gems for his Infinity Gauntlet to execute his evil plan. The Avengers face their most powerful opponent yet in Thanos. Overall, an excellent film and one of my standout viewings of all the films seen so far from the first half, and overall, of 2018. It's tightly directed and dynamically and rousingly scored. It's beautifully and atmospherically designed, slickly filmed and edited and the special effects, not overused or abused, are some of the most extravagant and spectacular for any film seen recently. 'Avengers: Infinity War' is not an exception.
Marvel never disappoints when it comes to the production values. It's all intelligently handled and the humour didn't feel misplaced or inappropriate to me, this is a Marvel film that delivers on the spectacle and thrills while also having brains and heart. 'Avengers: Infinity War' hugely impresses in the script too, with snappy banter, hilarious quips (along with 'Thor: Ragnarok' this is one of the funniest Marvel films, Thor has the best of it), tension and an emotional poignancy not seen to this extent or as strongly in Marvel films. The climax is truly epic, in scale, spectacle, thrills and emotion. Basically it's a non-stop thrill-ride and tautly paced, with some reveals that leaves one gasping, twists that genuinely shock, rousing entrances and some of the finest action sequences of any Marvel film or any film recently, that are truly exciting and big in scale without being too noisy or exhausting. Yet it didn't feel sprawling and managed to make sense and never lose engagement. Likewise, the story is very eventful with a busy main story and several subplots.
They hold a lot of intrigue and manage not to be too sided and true to character. There are a lot of characters here, but somehow on the most part it didn't feel like there were too many (a big danger with films with many characters and a trap fallen into quite a lot). Robert Downey Jnr, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth are also standouts of a near-uniformly great all-star cast. Thanos is easily one of the best Marvel villains along with Hela, one of the most interesting and of surprising complexity where he is a threat but one can see his point of view. Speaking of Thanos, Marvel have tended to underwhelm with their villains, underwriting them and giving them vague or inconsistent motivations. A big shout out goes to Josh Brolin, who makes for a menacing and melancholic Thanos. However, the rest of the cast are spot on. Black Widow is the only character to me who felt underdeveloped and Johansson struggles to do much with it. Scarlett Johansson also has far too little to do, with too short screen-time. It may very well have been leaving room for a follow-up, but to me it's always been dangerous somewhat to do that just in case a follow-up doesn't happen.
More could have been done with the very end, which felt like it ended a little too suddenly without resolving everything to full effect. Can totally see why it has been so positively reviewed and it deserves the positive hype from personal opinion, though would hesitate in calling it flawless or one of the best films ever.
Would also go far to say it's one of Marvel's overall best, and a perfect example of how to do a superhero film and how to balance a large cast of characters and a lot going on. 'Infinity War' for me was the best one, or the one enjoyed most. Loved the first 'Avengers' film, while 'Age of Ultron' was more problematic and generally a lesser Marvel effort though still having a good deal to admire. It is very easy on the most part to see why they are highly regarded critically, though those more critical of their work have raised criticisms that can be agreed with by me. Have found myself liking or loving a lot of Marvel's previous work, while finding a few faults with most.