"Tell him about the dance-off to save the universe."

Rating: 9/10 (5 September 2018)

Compared to the first two Avengers movies, I've rated this one a solid '9' against a pair of '7's' for the other two. The prequels felt more like getting the most out of all the destruction that the super-heroes could inflict on their cosmic adversaries. That formula's still at work here but it seemed a lot fresher with the team-up between The Guardians and The Avengers, while Thanos (Josh Brolin) brought a decidedly different dimension to his role as an intergalactic enforcer. Some might even call his mission honorable, in as much as he wants to save the universe with his philosophy that "If life is left unchecked, life will cease to exist".
Fresh on the heels of "Thor:Ragnarok", the Marvel and Disney folks do well here to keep the humor in place while dramatic events unfold throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Thor (Chris Hemsworth)/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) dynamic was especially played well, and it was a hoot to see Thor accept Rabbit's, er..., Rocket's (voiced by Bradley Cooper) claim as captain of the Guardians.
Where the film loses a point for me has to do with the inconsistency with some of the principal characters. Depending on which prior movie you care to cite, Thor and Doctor Strange have been positioned as the most powerful entities in the Marvel universe. However here, they were dispatched rather handily in the early going by Thanos's minions. There's also the quite literal overkill that occurs near the end of the story with the disintegration of heroes like Black Panther, Doc Strange and Spidey, along with the entire Guardian team. You know they have to make a come back in the follow up sequel(s), so it seemed like an almost cheap attempt to elicit pathos from the audience. By my count, at least fourteen Marvel characters met their demise in the story if you include Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his partner in the after credits scene.
Once again, and I can't help it, but kudos to Stan Lee, Marvel comic writer and originator of many of these characters, for his bus driver cameo near the beginning of the picture. His one line was particularly apropos: "What's the matter with you kids? You never seen a spaceship before?"
And oh yes, don't want to forget this little tidbit. There have been any number of movies with scenes set in New York City in which the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center are in prominent view prior to the events of 9/11, but in this flick, there's a quick glimpse offered of the new One World Trade Center rising from the city skyline. I thought that was very cool, and even better that it wasn't in the path of the New York City dust up.