Another Brilliant Chess Move

Rating: 8/10 (30 April 2018)

I was so anxious and anticipatory of this movie that I bought tickets for it a month in advance. I couldn't wait to see the culmination of the various chess moves Marvel had been making over the last 10+ years. How could this movie be anything short of spectacular?
OK, I'd be lying if I said it was spectacular but it was darn good. One of the biggest questions I had going in was how Marvel would showcase the numerous talents. How could they possibly give adequate screen time to the important characters such as Captain America, Thor, Iron-Man, Spider Man, Hulk, Black Panther, Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy? Not to mention the secondary characters such as Vision, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Falcon, War Machine and others. Then, what kind of villain... no, super-villain could Marvel cook up that would require the assembly of such talents?
To the first question: I think they gave proper focus to the right characters. Some characters were more important than others and some had doper fight scenes than others (ahem, Iron Man, Spider Man, Doctor Strange) but they all got in on the action.
To the second question: Thanos was not just a super villain, he was a super badass villain. He was so bad that even his henchmen could've been primary villains. Thanos was legendary status. He wasn't some amorphous super being, nor was he a science experiment gone wrong or just some very powerful maniac. Thanos was a force and his demeanor made him that much more sinister. He carried himself like he was destined for greatness and the steps to that greatness, however brutal, were just the necessary steps to get to where he needed to be. He was impressive to say the least.
The movie was excellent even if it wasn't quite what I expected. We got to see some major upgrades from Iron Man and Spider Man. We got to see Avenger-like team work with cross-over characters. We got to see boss level heroism and self-sacrifice.
We got to see major moral dilemmas. And we got to see an inter-galactic plot. If you haven't seen the movie then prepare yourself and don't be angry with all that happens just be patient because this movie is just one more brilliant chess move by the MCU.