Finally another triumph for Marvel

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2018)

As someone who mostly enjoys the MCU, Phase Three has been really hit or miss for me. On one hand I loved Black Panther along with this film, but was very disappointed by the dismal Civil War which hardly brought anything new to the table and I absolutely loathed the nonstop comedy and horrible character writing for the main villain in Thor: Ragnarok. You can imagine I was a little cautious about this film, but it managed to exceed my expectations.
First and foremost, I would like to thank the directors/writers for finally bringing another great villain to the table. Unlike the majority of Marvel villains who are just evil for the sole purpose of being evil and are mostly carbon copies of Loki (cough, Hela, cough), Thanos is actually a great character who not only has motivations but is a villain who you can root for at times. And at the end, he actually wins.
I was also impressed by how the Russos handled the comedy in this film - so much better than the God-awful Ragnarok which was practically destroyed by its own comedy. Here the Russos not only knew how to use humor but they also knew when to tone it down. Most of it came naturally by nature of the situation and wasn't just one-liners thrown in for the sake of one-liners.
Thor's arc in this film is exactly how he should have been handled in Ragnarok and his banter between Rocket and Groot was great. His arrival in the Wakanda battle was perfect and they did a great job establishing his motivations for wanting revenge against Thanos. Doctor Strange also had some great action scenes here and he was so much more memorable in Infinity War than in his own movie.
From a narrative standpoint, I can understand how this movie would be considered a failure among nonfans/critics because the film doesn't really get enough room to breath when it comes to characters like the "Secret Avengers" (Cap, Widow, Falcon, Bucky, etc.), but given how much Civil War made me not care for them and given how bland most of them are (save for Cap who I hope gets more moments to shine in Endgame), I wasn't disappointed by that. Thor and the Guardians had enough time and those characters were part of the main plot points here. The entire Outrider battle in Wakanda was just as chaotic and eyesore-inducing as your average Bayformers film, but thankfully it got much better once Thor arrived. Otherwise the only thing I was a bit disappointed by was that the Black Order were honestly lame villains that might as well have been disposable canon fodder aside from Ebony Maw who had some really cool scenes.
Overall just really well done, and unlike Age of Ultron and Civil War which were mostly soulless "Avengers Junior" episodes that began the way they ended, this movie actually leaves you feeling like there was a real consequence at the end. While I have concerns for Endgame, I am just happy that I can add Infinity War to my top 5 favorite MCU installments.