194. Avengers - Infinity War; movie review

AVENGERS - INFINITY WAR
Cert 12A
149 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat

"Shouldn't we sit through the credits to see if there is a clue about what happens next?", I inquired of Master W who tends to know more about superhero movies than his dad.
"Yes, although I thought this was the last Avengers film," he replied, claiming that he had heard that Chris Evans has said his time as Captain America was over.
So, Master W, Mrs W and I sat for what seemed an eternity through lists of digital editors, hairdressers and asset managers to reach a minute of action which left us none the wiser.
A week earlier a pal had rated Anthony and Joe Russo's Avengers - Infinity War 10/10 but even my son reckoned that it was worth two marks fewer.
I agree. There are elements which set this movie apart - not least the number of superheroes who are gathered in one picture - but I think you would have to be a Marvel devotee to rate it as highly as my friend did.
The superfans will, no doubt, admire how strands of different Marvel stories are pulled in the same direction.

But, I felt that it was a bit of a shame that we only had a sprinkling of my favourites - Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Iron Man (Robert Downey Junior) and the crew from Guardians of the Galaxy.
The be fair, the film's writers have manage to weave together a plausible scenario for the superheroes to be fighting a common enemy in the shape of Thanos (a CGI-enhanced Josh Brolin).
This super-powerful giant is obsessed with hunting down six infinity stones which will enable him to kill half of the universe's population at the click of his fingers.
I couldn't work out why half as opposed to a quarter or a third but I am sure Avengers geeks will understand that as much as they will enjoy the nuances of the plot and how they link to previous movies.
I suspect that I have watched all of the superhero films but my memory for movie detail is addled and so I had no idea of the relevance of some of the nitty-gritty which Master W felt was important.
Therefore, I judge the movie as a standalone in which I know the characters and have moderate background knowledge of previous plots (similarly to when I watched the Harry Potter franchise).
In this regard, the storyline did keep me engaged (although Mrs W dropped off), the special effects are possibly grander than any movie I have seen (hence the tortuously long credits) and I laughed out loud five times.
Humour is a critical element of these movies for me and Avengers Infinity War has just about enough.
But its ending is really where the movie took a step backwards for me.
I can imagine the devotees huddled in corners giving their appreciation and speculating over what comes next.
Meanwhile, I turned to Master W and mouthed "what the hell was that?"

Reasons to watch: It has more superheroes than any other movie in history
Reasons to avoid: Mrs W would say "same old, same old".

Laughs: Five
Jumps: Two
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10

Director quote - Joe Russo: "The reason we distributed fake scripts to the cast is that it is very difficult to censor yourself and some people are better at it than others."

The big question - What the heck happened at the end?

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