The film Avengers: Infinity War has been in the making for ten years, and fans are expecting the absolute most. And while it was certainly a fun and engaging ride, anything with that high of a standard is bound to disappoint in some aspect, and Infinity War is no exception. The concept of putting together so many successful franchises into a single movie was bold, and the film did it justice, but it had to make many sacrifices along the way.

The first major issue derived from the very essence of what Marvel was trying to do with the film: there were too many characters that had been left spread across the universe, and Infinity War had to get them all whittled down into two groups, while still leaving enough time for those two groups to have meaningful and enjoyable fight sequences. This dilemma left Disney with two options: make a seven-hour movie, or cram seven hours worth of plot lines into a roughly two-and-a-half hour long movie.

They chose the latter, and the beginning of the film suffered because of it. Keeping track of each and every storyline became very tedious at times, but in the end, they provided thoroughly enjoyable interaction, but rushed scenes between characters that people had been wanting to see together for years.

This problem was also seen in the emotional moments of the film. Infinity War killed off two characters that had been around for years in the first five minutes of the movie, and the audience was given just seconds of grieving time before the film was swept away into one of the many other story arcs. The dark scenes were quickly replaced by much more lighthearted ones, and any emotions that had been present moments before were immediately lost.

However, the lighthearted moments were the ones that showed through and stayed true to the Marvel name. The cinematic universe that Infinity War was tying together was born in Tony Stark’s (Iron Man’s) quick wit and dry humor, and it’s been evolving the comedy and storylines that it has at its foundation in ever since. Infinity War had several laugh out loud moments that made audiences forget that some aspects of the film weren’t quite what had been expected.

But, there were several moments that held true to the hype. At least twice, audiences audibly gasped or cheered as certain characters made their dramatic appearances, and it was in those moments that the true purpose of the film was made clear. It was meant to be an exciting, impactful, and fun culmination of eighteen previous films, each of which had their own die-hard fans and beloved characters. Audience members were able to find (almost) all of their favorites from over the years interacting in new, thrilling ways, and that is what made Avengers: Infinity War one of the most successful box office movies of all time.