Avengers: Infinity War

***Moving ending, but the least of the Avengers movies IMHO*** RELEASED IN 2018 and directed by Anthony & Joe Russo, "Avengers: Infinity War" chronicles events when the Avengers team-up with several allies to defeat the cosmic despot Thanos, whose goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones to attain unimaginable power and radically solve one of the Universe's most challenging problems. The story focuses on Thanos, Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy, especially Gamora, as well as Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man. The rest of the cast members are more peripheral, e.g. Black Widow, Captain America, Black Panther, Vision and Scarlet Witch. This is easily the least of the Avengers trilogy. Not to mention "Captain America: Civil War" (2016) and "Thor: Ragnarok" (2017) are significantly more compelling and all-around entertaining. Actually, all three Thor flicks are palpably superior, as is "Iron Man 2" (2010). If you haven't already, I encourage you to watch these movies prior to viewing "Infinity War," as well as "Black Panther" (2018) and the two "Guardians of the Galaxy" flicks (2014/2017); otherwise you'll likely be lost because all these movies lead up to this one. "Infinity War" is certainly an ambitious comic book movie in that it notably juggles so many super-beings, but this lack of focus isn't conducive to suspense or great drama. It's merely decent with overkill CGI. The big battle in the closing act with the easily slaughtered four-armed dog-creatures is curiously dull; moreover, the attempts at humor sometimes feel forced and fall flat, but several jokes are laugh-out-loud funny, e.g. "Rabbit." Thankfully, the film adds moving drama and gets extra points for a bold, poignant climax, which sets up the 2019 sequel "Endgame." THE MOVIE RUNS 2 hours, 29 minute and was shot in New York City, Scotland and Philippines with studio work done in Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia. WRITERS: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. GRADE: B-