Give this man a shave!...

Rating: 8/10 (26 April 2018)

I'd taken a break from seeing Marvel movies at the theatre, since last year's offerings didn't appeal to me, but having enjoyed some of the previous solo movies and half-enjoying the previous two Avengers movies, I thought I should give Infinity War a go for the characters who I *did* care about, knowing full-well that time would also be spent on characters I didn't care about.
We begin with Thor, Loki and the film's big bad, Thanos. It feels like Thor's gotten more screentime here than he did in the previous Avengers movies. Surprisingly, his main interaction is with Rocket from the Guardians of the Galaxy, who he calls "Rabbit". Like in Age of Ultron, Thor shows up towards the film's end, seemingly with a way of defeating the villain...but that doesn't quite work out this time. I enjoyed Thor's first movie, but am disappointed with what they've reduced him/his movies to.
Tony is...Tony. If you still like him by this point, chances are you're never going to *dislike* him (no matter what he says/does), but as someone who's never been a fan of RDJ's mumbled-speed-talking a-hole of a character, I just mostly tune out when he's eating up screentime/cracking "jokes". The brief scene spent with RDJ and Paltrow just made me wish they'd spent the screentime on something/anything else. His relationship he's developed with Tom Holland's Spider-Kid will probably tug at the heartstrings of people (especially near the end, where Peter reminded me of the Tenth Doctor's exit from Doctor Who), but I personally find the kid's whole "Mr. Stark"/referencing "really old movies" shtick tiresome.
Mark Ruffalo's acting early on (when he's describing the severity of the situation to everyone) feels off, Hulk doesn't show his green face again after losing a fight to Thanos in the opening scene and Banner looks ridiculous with his head poking up out of the Hulkbuster armour at the end during what is supposed to be a very emotional/serious scene. Haters of his 'relationship' with Scarlett Johansson's Natasha (sporting a new blonde hairdo for some reason) probably won't appreciate the all-too-brief acknowledgment of their past when they meet up...but *I* appreciated it.
A now-bearded Steve Rogers/Captain America seems to have less screentime here than he did previously (despite the fact that he should've been owed *more* screentime after his third solo film was hijacked by Tony and friends) and has suffered a similar fate to Thor for me. Most of what I once enjoyed about Steve's character in his first solo film has been stripped away...though he's still more likable than Tony and I'm still on Steve's side. He shares a hug/brief exchanges with Bucky, but that's about it. I was disappointed that the 'brother-like' relationship Steve was developing in Civil War with Wanda was dropped here (as was her other 'brother-like' figure, Hawkeye, entirely).
The other Stephen, Doctor Strange, is Tony's new verbal sparring partner, as they immediately clash (thanks to Tony's inability to go without snarking/insulting others for even a minute). I wish Strange's Cloak of Levitation would've beaten the snot out of Tony instead of just giving him a slap when he disrespected an ancient artifact. Nevertheless, that cloak is still awesome. Not so awesome? The GotG. I'm not a fan of their characters, their movies or their brand of 'humour' (I think John C. Reilly's character summed them up best in their first film: "What a bunch of a-holes."). The only one I half-like (Karen Gillan's Nebula) is sadly wasted. She's tortured, then awesome, then gives Star-Lord some upsetting information which causes him to muck up their one real chance they have at defeating Thanos. Not fun when someone lets their PERSONAL FEELINGS get the better of them IS IT, TONY?
While others probably don't appreciate the characters of Wanda/Scarlet Witch and Vision, or the actors' performances, I've always liked Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany in the roles and their characters' relationship. I thought they made the most of their screentime/what they're given and enjoyed the time we spent with them (especially when Wanda started to kick major butt. Plus, despite her feelings for Vision, she ultimately does what needs to be done...though she's robbed of that sacrifice). As I expected, they're given short shrift and it feels like nobody really cares about them. Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther hasn't much to do. Danai Gurira's Okoye makes more of an impression (I liked/appreciated the scene where she and Natasha helped Wanda. Too bad the film's ending means we won't get to continue seeing them be awesome together).
Other characters get moments here and there, but Thanos takes up a large percentage of the film. Josh Brolin's given more material to work with than the last few Marvel villains I've seen, but personally I would've rather spent more time with the Avengers, as I didn't feel for Thanos no matter how often he looked sad/cried, since he wanted to kill half the universe's population.
Some of the action is hard to follow, the film cuts back and forth between many different characters/plots and the cliff-hanger ending elicited a "WTF?" reaction from the audience I was with. This film was never going to please everyone. There'll be those unfairly critical of it, but also those overpraising it. I enjoyed parts of it. Other parts? Not so much.
The problem with trying to cram so much together was that certain characters felt shortchanged. Also, I think the film overdid the 'deaths' throughout, which felt like they existed merely for 'shock value'. The large number of 'casualties' suggests that most, if not all, will be undone in the next film. Disappointingly, the end credits haven't anything interesting/special to look at. The after-credits scene doesn't offer much except the promise of hopefully something better yet to come with next year's Captain Marvel. Until then, here's hoping Ant-Man and the Wasp gives us a palate cleanser after this rather depressing installment.