Director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise battle AI onscreen and offscreen. They’re winning. For now.

In the final instalment that closes down a sum total of 22 movies, directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo assemble the ravaged lives of the Avengers to deliver a knock-out saga that’s high on spectacle and fan-service, but even higher on the interactions and emotional payload. Loss is immeasurable, be it for the superhero gang or its audience.

Captain Marvel must be the first superhero who faced vicious, non-alien attacks even before she made her onscreen debut. And in this Anna Boden-Ryan Fleck helmed project, there’s an element of grace and humanness, a struggle to match superhero power with emotions that aren’t always the right guiding compass. It also mirrors all that is wrong in today’s more connected, more polarized world. Even as it entertains and gets in its messaging, the movie has a far bigger battle lying ahead. No, not the ‘ Avengers: Endgame’, but the one awaiting it offscreen.

The latest outing in the IMF saga has return director Christopher McQuarrie spin an incredible action thriller that’s packed with ridiculously intense and fantastic action sequences and a tight plot that also ties in some of the earlier installment’s threads. Plus, the equally fantastic Tom Cruise with that ridiculously handsome face and that hairline and Henry Cavill with that jawline.

“Avengers: Infinity War” scores high on the entertainment dashboard with the funnies and action, even as it mildly ignores some emotional heft, making it a checklist exercise of the previous 18 MCU outings – it’s sure to send you scouring for them to connect the dots.