What we've all been waiting for

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2018)

I can't help but think of 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' after watching 'Avengers: Infinity War.' The two of them may have been made by Disney, but they are worlds apart when it comes to giving the fans what they were after. The latest 'Star Wars' may have been okay, but it was generally disregarded by many die-hards. However, despite the Avengers - technically - pumping out more films in its franchise and therefore potentially suffering from fatigue regarding its premise, it's been hailed as a classic - and for good reason. It shows that, despite having numerous previous (and dare I say similar?) outings, a sequel doesn't have to be stale.
I suppose there must be some people out there who have never seen an 'Avengers' movie before (or even one from the Marvel Cinematic Universe), so, for the two of you, this is the third outing where Earth's mightiest superheroes are forced to come together to defend the planet from an alien, hell-bent on wiping out 50% of the universe.
You may be thinking that this is just another modern action film, filled with computer-generated special effects and scripted one-liners. And you'd be right. However, I always find that computer-generated battles are only bad if the effects are bad and they drag on and scripted one-liners only don't work if they're forced and there's no chemistry between the actors. I'm pleased to say that, although 'Avengers: Infinity War' has both, they only add to the proceedings.
With a cast as big as is needed to bring characters from every Marvel movie together, there's always going to be a couple who don't get quite as much screen time as some of us would like. However, you should really expect that and realise it was going to be difficult for the writers to please everyone. Personally, I've always been a fan of Robert Downey Jr's portrayal of 'Iron Man' (I don't think I'm alone on that one), so I was happy to see that he was - possibly - given the most screen time out of anyone.
However, no matter how good the goodies are, they need a good bad-guy to fight. The Marvel movies have often been criticised for a lack of real threatening baddies (Loki excluded), so we finally get to see he who has been in the background for so long, Thanos. And he's worth the wait. He's a bad guy we can not only love to hate, but also - in a strange way - see that he has a point, or at least a point of view from his own perspective. Josh Brolin portrays him brilliantly and you'll forget that most of him is computer-generated after a while.
Yes, 'Infinity War' is part of the overall franchise, but you don't really have to have seen every previous movie to 'get' everything that's happening here (obviously, the more Marvel movies you've seen the more you'll get out of this one, but it's not essential). I suppose if there is one complaint of mine it's that I know which characters are truly in danger here, due to the actors' contracts either due to expire, or only just being picked up. Either way, it's a definite improvement on the previous 'Avengers' movie, as the 'Age of Ultron' felt strangely 'meh' for one that should have been so much more.
If you like the MCU, you'll like this. If you like action film, you'll also love it. It's - sort of - a family movie in that a lot of families will go to see it, but, either way, it's so epic in scale that most should appreciate it for the sheer spectacle it is. Poor Justice League - it never really stood a chance.