Bordering on a comedy, "Infinity War" is overhyped, lacked direction, but at times impressed

Rating: 6/10 (3 May 2018)

"Avengers: Infinity War" may well have hit the consumer sweet spot formula: the all-important kiss to boost the box office, heavy emphasis on comedy, loads of explosions, and a story that enthralls above all else.
That being said, this latest installment plays it safe and rode on a long hype train spanning back over a year - Infinity War opts for the tried and true with the odd tweak thrown in, it's ambition is to be an amusing superhero popcorn flick, nothing more, nothing less; and on that count - it perhaps succeeds.
Not really accessible to new viewers of the franchise.
Infinity War is not for the entry-level viewer (if you want to fully understand it, at least) - lacking accessibility, it offers little explanation of the prior plot to the newly introduced - 31 movies have led up to this in one way or another: to an all-out fight for control of the most powerful items in existence, the infinity stones.
Infinity War assumes you haven't been living under a rock and have seen (at least some of) the previous movies, to some viewers this will be a deal-breaker.

So, for those reading who have no prior investment in the universe and its characters - this may be a disappointing watch. To those who have seen previous films, it still may be disappointing - the story is nothing to shout about.
Great CGI.
No, really, I will praise the special effects. Staggering stuff, and no doubt what helped make it one of the most expensive films of all time to produce.
Too many characters.
The Russo brothers were tasked the impossible job of covering a very broad cast of some 35 characters to the best of their ability within the 2 hours and 40 minutes run time, and to say the least, they were stretched thin.
For the average fans, more characters is a major selling point - to those more concerned with the fluidity of the film-making and storytelling, it didn't work. The story felt somewhat fragmented as the plot's focal point kept shifting to accommodate the sheer number of characters.
It bordered on a comedy.
For some that's okay, in a film that is meant to be a culmination, the big showdown of epic proportions - I was surprised how dependent on comedy it was. I would have liked more story-building dialogue and character development instead. It didn't match the vibe of stopping a dude (Thanos) that could potentially kill trillions of people.
While some of the slapstick humor was welcome, at times it went too far, it felt as if it didn't work alongside the serious scenes and situations that it often tried to segue into seamlessly - to no avail.
Geared towards a younger audience.
As a heads up, this movie without a doubt is meant to appeal towards Marvel's biggest target market - kids and early adolescents.
It makes little to no provision for those into well-written, sophisticated plotlines that transcend shooty guns and big explosions.
Most of us have outgrown the cliches.
Poor ending.
Most of the audience remained seated in the cinema expecting some closure, but the credits just kept rolling.
A poor cliffhanger ending that just tries to sell the next film.
Overall 6.4/10