Almost too much of a good thing? Like a clips episode done right but it’s still a clips episode.

I need to say two things right off the bat. First, this is better than the last Avengers movie that tried to be all deep and introspective and made me learn some math about falling cities. Second, I still enjoyed this movie. Come on, even the worst Marvel movie is still worth watching unlike the best attempts made by DC.

I liked getting to see all my favorite characters but it came at a cost. At times the movie felt like it was jumping around too much to cram in every cameo possible. I wouldn’t have cut any of it because it was fun, but it did cost the movie a bit as it tried to build tension and urgency across many planets, teams, and moments of fan service.

Thor and the Guardians should be a non-cannon spin-off because that was consistent entertainment. Dr. Strange and Iron Man didn’t work as well for me mostly because Dr. Strange’s powers are difficult to reconcile with other heroes. The groundwork laid between Stark and Peter Parker, though, paid off in an amazing moment of, reportedly, improvisation.

It almost would have been better if this had been two movies so that they could have spent a little more time diving into the bringing of the different groups together and then focused on the large battle. Plot wise, it wouldn’t have balanced well, I know, but big moments got played down because Thanos had to collect all the stones and then fight an entire big battle against heroes who each had their own stories to resolve as well and it was just too busy.

Did I like the ending? I’m of two minds about it *snaps* I’m of one mind about it. Sure, it makes me go see every single movie that will come out in the next forever years until the world reboots but we shall have to see what cast they cobble together and how they handle the sword hanging over everyone. Can they even manage non-beat Thanos movies from here?

Verdict: 4/5, Way better than the second and pretty solid. You probably can’t follow this without the rest of the movies to fill in the gaps.