AVENGERS  INFINITY WAR  3.0 ***

      This year the Marvel Cinematic Universe ( MCU) turns 10 years old, and Infinity War (the 19th film in the MCU series) represents the culmination of  a carefully constructed story that started with Iron Man. With the exception of a few characters, the gang is all here (about 35), and an effort is made to give everyone a  role or at least a moment. It's not an easy task, but Infinity War (with it's 2 1/2 hour runtime) does manage its cinematic roll call reasonably well. At times the massive cast comes at a cost, as characters fall out of the story for large stretches of time, but the film itself never stops to catch its breath. 

A BIG mean, ugly purple dude named Thanos scours the universe for the precious crystals to fit into his snazzy metal gauntlet, intent on using the massive power of the stones for his own horrible scheme. If he can get all the crystals he will have the power to and will eliminate half (1/2) of the population of the Universe which he believes is the only way to save the Universe. It is up to the assembled team of brave superheroes (most all of Marvel’s Avenger characters and the Guardians of the Universe team) to try and stop him.

For the best part of two hours I was reasonably entertained by what unfolded, despite not knowing the backstory to several of the characters. The plot was pretty easy to pick up, the action scenes were visually impressive, and there was never a lull in pace. It is a “super” slick, big-budget popcorn fodder designed to appeal to the masses, but which hardly qualified as revolutionary or indeed, all that memorable. Eventually, I could feel tedium creeping in from the repetitious massive battles. And then the last act was a BIG downer…a shocker in a bad way to me.

 If the MCU movies have had a consistent criticism it’s the villains, but that's not an issue here. Thanos is not only impressively rendered physically, but he's got a depth and a mission that go beyond your standard baddie. Our heroes are the same characters we've grown to love, and it was nice to see a few of them known more for their humor get some dramatic depth.  

There's a lot to like about Infinity War, but for me the whole was less than the sum of its parts.