It's finally happened: My dad has had his fill of superhero movies, for now at least. Black Panther was only two months ago, after all. I think it's just as well that he didn't come to this one, partly because it's hard to sit through 150+ minutes without a break (I barely made it myself -- good thing the credits ran long enough to let me catch the scene afterward) and partly because he doesn't retain as much memory of prior Marvel Cinematic Universe entries as I do. This one does hark back to several.
Previously lurking in the periphery of the series was brawny alien Thanos (Josh Brolin), now all the more powerful for having acquired one of the six artifacts known as Infinity Stones. Some Guardians of the Galaxy already had the misfortune of knowing him, but only when he defeats the Asgardians at the start of this movie do any of the (ex-)Avengers learn of him. He's out for more Stones, two of them on Earth, and plans to use them to kill half the universe, not counting the many people he and his army have already killed. Thus, Earth's mightiest heroes reluctantly put aside their Civil War rift to combat him, while the Guardians respond belatedly to Asgard's distress signal. I think the only living MCU action heroes who don't play a part this time are Hawkeye and Ant-Man, off on some other business and presumably out of contact.
Understandably, there isn't nearly as much infighting as usual in the face of a threat this big. The Guardians and some terrestrial heroes briefly face off, but only until they learn that neither party sides with Thanos. That doesn't prevent the fun of watching these larger-than-life personalities bouncing off each other for the first time on the big screen. Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), for example, both have big egos. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) tends to clash with everybody other than Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and, as it turns out, Spider-Man (Tom Holland) but feels especially jealous of Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Thor has more respect for Rocket (Bradley Cooper), even if he calls the pseudo-raccoon "rabbit."
Despite all my hyperlinks above, you don't have to remember all kinds of things from previous MCU movies to get the gist of what's going on. It helps that Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) is finally back after two to three years and needs to catch up on what he's missed. And of course, characters who never met before highlight each other's most noticeable qualities.
At no point do all the heroes come together in one place or even on one planet; nor do they all meet. Battles are pretty well distributed: some against Thanos alone, some against a handful of elite minions, and some against basic cannon fodder. Things do not play out as frantically as I expected, and that's probably for the best.
Some of the heroes appear to be more awesome than ever before in the series. Others leave me wondering why they're not bringing their all when it really counts. Vision (Paul Bettany) might have an excuse; he's become more humanoid, which could mean a reduction in powers. Banner finds his Hulk side uncooperative, presumably due to not being a single-handed match for Thanos. But Star-Lord? Unarmed Thor? Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen)? It's almost as if the writers didn't watch all of the previous movies.
A note on Thanos: I used to assume that his only motive was a love of death and destruction, befitting his name. This seems to have been the case in his traditional comic book appearances. But modern cinema is not so keen on unrelatable villainy, so he's become the ultimate well-intentioned extremist instead (possibly inspired by Watchmen). Having come from an overpopulated planet that paid the price, he believes that the only way to "save the universe" is to halve its population by force. "Genocide," tho spoken by one hero, is not the right word for his aim; he's not targeting any demographic for total annihilation. Indeed, he insists on randomness for a semblance of fairness, albeit giving priority to sparing those who do his bidding.
You may have gotten the impression that A:IW is almost a grand finale for the MCU, after ages of buildup. Unlike The Avengers (2012), however, it doesn't try for a satisfying ending. Viewers in my theater applauded several moments of heroes making big entrances or kicking butts, but very few clapped as the end credits arrived. I recalled afterward that the A:IW title was going to include "Part 1" until someone decided that that wouldn't sell as well. So while I won't call it an appetizer along the lines of Captain America: The First Avenger, it certainly means to get you anxious for dessert.
Like other reviewers I know, I find it hard to rank on the MCU list (not that I still do that regularly). Let's just say I had more fun with A:IW than with Age of Ultron but not more than with TA. In a way, it actually makes me more eager to check out the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp, which will probably stand on its own better and provide a little relief.
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