Good, but not great considering the hype/wait

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2018)

First off, the ratings for this movie are so inconsistent, it appears you are either a "Marvel fanboy" or a hater with ratings of only 1s or 10s; with limited information on why these ratings are justified or on people focusing on one minor issue.
I found the film to be pretty good, engaging for the most part, and allowed most of the characters to shine. However, considering the near ten year wait for this film I expected damn near perfection, although probably unfairly.
There was nothing glaringly wrong with the film, just inconsistencies, similar to that of Thanos' powers, which is probably to be expected when a film has over 30 main characters!
Speaking of Thanos, it was a refreshing change to have a villain whose background and motivation is explained and relatable, in the sense it was not "I have to kill the Avengers because the plot demands it". Unfortunately, (I am not a comic-book nerd before I get shot down), Thanos' seemed overpowered from the start, trivializing his conquest for the stones. Unfortunately, whilst Thanos was great, his henchmen were laughable. They were unexplained faceless characters, using characters in the loosest sense, ill explained and boring to watch. Again their powers seem to change to suit the plot, which was irritating. The comedy was spot-on for the most part, although one of the villains death's was an unintentional funny, reminiscent of Palpetine's death in Robot Chicken Starwars.
Whilst most of the film was engaging, there was a lot of shifting between plot lines, as the story/team were broken into pockets across the universe. A smart move for a film with so many characters, but some plot lines were extremely dull and I was wishing the film would shift back again (sorry Cap/Vision). Whenever Thor/ Guardians on the screen it was at it's best, and I was hoping the film would turn into a GOTG/Thor crossover exclusively.
The final moments were unexpected, *SPOLIERS* not the fact that Thanos succeeds in his plan but in the way it was done was touching, and a surprising death toll to our heroes. Although, it all boils down to a huge fist-fight battle with nothing really clever going on. Yes there is the stuff with Vision, however he is unlikable and under-powered, possibly with the viewer baying for his blood. I believe one of the lines the Cap says to him is "we don't trade lives" tell that to all the Wakanda's dying needlessly just to save him. Unfortunately, you know who isn't going to die and makes the second film somewhat predictable.

Overall it is a typical Marvel film, nothing to shout about but a fun day out and I would suggest that you go and see it, unless you have children under 8 as you will have to console them for weeks to come. 8/10.