Sometimes more is less

Rating: 7/10 (30 April 2018)

Unpopular opinion: the Avengers movies have been suffering from the law of diminishing returns. The solo movies still work brilliantly, but the giant ensembles started collapsing under the weight of characters and plot lines right around when Ultron showed up. This one faired slightly better for a few reasons. First, the giant cast divided and conquered, allowing for A, B, C, D, and E plots - and each story worked pretty well. Second, they have introduced so many new (and funny) characters to the MCU that this edition was infused with some fresh energy and laughter. Buuuut...there were still too many characters. A movie like this cannot reach the heights of Homecoming, Ragnorok, or Black Panther. Less is more. So this film inevitably succumbed to being more about setting up future franchises than about the characters themselves. It was fun and intense, but I'm looking forward to when the stories get smaller and more focused again.