"Avengers: Infinity War" - SPOILER ALERT

I have come to embrace the fact that I cannot fully appreciate nor understand most movies after watching them just one time. Maybe that's why it's taken me this long to even want to watch them on a regular basis. "Avengers: Infinity War" is no exception. After watching it the first time, I felt overwhelmed and confused. Too many main characters and too many different things happening that didn't, in my mind, connect. I liked it despite this, but I didn't completely get the hang of it.

Thankfully, the second time was more of a charm. After watching it again, I saw it for the entertaining and engaging movie that it is. It has all the elements that make most Marvel movies great - a strong cast, captivating cinematography, edge-of-your-seat action with a purpose, an enaging plot, heartfelt emotion, and signature MCU humor. This time, I understood the plot and appreciated the necessity of all of the Avengers coming together. That was one indication of how powerful their enemy was.

"Infinity War" begins with Thor in distress, much like Ragnarok began, but with short hair this time. Ugh. Stop torturing my Thor and make his hair grow back, please!

Moving on...

As I've mentioned before, Loki has always been a favorite character of mine. So, I was horrifed when he was killed off very early in this movie. Oh, well. At least he lasted this long, and who knows. Maybe he'll return in another movie. MCU is always full of surprises. I was also sad to see Heimdall die, but his last good deed to send Hulk to Earth sure was an epic one!

Hulk drops by (quite literally) the residence of Dr. Strange and warns him of the monsrosity named Thanos. It confused me that Dr. Strange was not already aware of this mighty villain, or at least that something bad was about to happen. I eventually let it go and thought maybe Dr. Strange doesn't know everything after all, or that he's still learning. By the next scene, I was over it.

Marvel really knows how to add a bit of somewhat real-life quirkiness to their action-packed adventures. I recently read that Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance in some of the MCU movies, so I was on the lookout for him in this one. I immediately spotted him (even the first time I watched it), as Peter Parker's (and friends') bus driver. I will eventually have to go back and watch the previous movies at some point, if only to look for him.

In the midst of all the action, quirkiness, and humor, there are also powerful, emotional scenes. One of the most poignant ones was when Wanda was extracting the stone from Vision. I have to admit, I had captions on at this point so I could clearly understand what everyone was saying. (Sometimes I can't even understand Thor!). Vision was reassuring Wanda that it was going to be alright and that he loved her. I was touched by how much he was helping her through that difficult action.

One of my favorite scenes involved Thor (of course), but it wasn't anything he did or said. It was when Groot grew limbs and formed a handle for Thor's new hammer. Teenage Groot scored major points with me for doing that! And it wasn't just that he saved Thor (that in itself was awesome), but it was also that throughout the movie he was glued to his little, handheld electronic game, making him look like he didn't really care much about anything else. This single action proved there is so much more to him than video games. I was so proud of him for the way he saved Thor!

I have come to really appreciate the way Marvel has formed the character of Groot. I loved the adult Groot when we were first introduced to him and I was upset that he was gone so soon. It bothered me, at first, that he was simply replaced by another Groot. Whether this is the same Groot or not, (is there a hidden message in "I am Groot" that it really is the original Groot himself?), I love the somewhat backwards take on the evolution this character.

Thanos was made to be a classic villian in a superhero movie. There were aspects of him that looked human, but overall, he was basically a monster. This made it easier for me to not root for him. (I suppose one could argue that so is Hulk, but in that case, there's Bruce Banner, plus, Hulk uses his powers for the greater good. Not so much Thanos!) There was one moment when I felt like Thanos had some humane emotions. For one brief second, it seemed like he regretted disposing of Gamora. Of course, that remorse didn't last long and at the end of the movie when he's basking in his glory in the midst of a beautiful sunrise, there is even a smirk on his face indicating how proud he is of his epic accomplishment.

But was it really an accomplishment? He has the stones his possesion, but are the folks who disintegrated really gone? I'm not convinced they are and I'm curious to see how they return. Even without knowing that there is more after Infinity War, there are clues. Firstly, they crumbled into a million pieces, but it's not clear that they died. They could just be in a different dimension. Secondly, it would be wrong to kill off the Black Panther so soon after he became king. (O.k. Maybe that's not really a "clue".). Finally, in the post credits scene, Nick Fury sends a signal. So I believe help is on the way. Time will tell! And I'm glad I don't have to wait a year to find out!