“Avengers: Infinity War” (PG-13)

Almost 10 years since the debut of “Iron Man” and the birth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe under the auspices of Marvel Studios, the long-awaited gathering of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and beyond are assembling for “Avengers: Infinity War,” an ambitious yet ultimately underwhelming superhero extravaganza. While the gathering of nearly two dozen Avengers worked wonders for “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016, the addition the Guardians of the Galaxy and the full reveal of the cosmic supervillain Thanos has led to an overstuffed film that is forced to water down even the most basic of a plotline as it trudges through its 2 hour, 29 minute run time.

The set-up for “Avengers: Infinity War” has been a long-time coming: Thanos (the voice of Josh Brolin), the all-powerful alien hell-bent on destruction who was first introduced in the after-credits scene in 2012’s “The Avengers,” is on a straight-forward mission. He possesses a gauntlet that has room to hold six Infinity Stones – the combination of which will give him the power to wipe out billions of beings in the universe. Some of the stones are hidden in distant worlds, but two that he is seeking are in the possession of a pair of superheroes on Earth, which means the Avengers, who were left fractured by different ideologies at the end of “Captain America: Civil War,” must regroup if they’re to thwart Thanos’ plan. That means sacrifices will undoubtedly be made, changing the makeup of humanity’s greatest guardians forever.

VIDEO: Watch Tim’s review with Zac Lashway on “KARE 11 News at 11.”

Directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, perhaps the biggest obstacle “Avengers: Infinity War” faces is trying to find a meaningful way to incorporate several iconic characters under one giant umbrella without cheating viewers of brilliance several of the superheroes showed us in their individual films. The directing duo does their best by breaking the conglomerate into smaller teams, but the problem there is, some groups and subplots far stronger than others.

While the roster of actors for the film boasts talent across the board (among the cavalcade of stars are Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chadwick Boseman, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana), it no doubt is a tough act to follow the always-great Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, who along with Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk) and Benedict Wong (Dr. Strange’s assistant Wong) — who provide the film a stellar action segment early on. Naturally, a film is going to suffer when all the air is let out of that balloon and we don’t hear from the group for at least another half-hour, which contributes to the film’s pacing problem.

Is “Infinity War” a disaster? Not by any means, it just feels like Marvel Studios has finally pushed its luck too far and produced an uneven film that has far too many peaks and valleys, occasionally made confusing by the introduction of new worlds that will be lost on everybody in the audience apart from the faithful readers of the original Marvel comic books. True, the visuals are spectacular as expected in “Infinity War,” but long gone are the days where audiences can merely be wowed by eye candy alone.

One sensibility “Infinity War” has maintained, fortunately, is the sense of humor that has been a benchmark for most of the Marvel movies, and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in the film. That’s a good thing considering “Infinity War” is by far the darkest Marvel Studios film to date, where the teases of major characters dying are finally realized. Thanos by far is Marvel’s most ruthless villain to date, and he doesn’t think twice about dispatching his adversaries in quick and decisive manner. In an odd sort of way, though, the quick deaths will make audiences feel cheated because after knowing some of these characters for so long, you’d expect much more fanfare in their exits than you actually end up getting.

There’s one other issue with the film, which won’t be revealed here, regarding one of the Infinity Stones and its power. It will no doubt be addressed in the untitled fourth chapter of “The Avengers” set for release a year from now, and it’s a plot detail so crucial that it could end up making “Infinity War” seem irrelevant. With any luck, Marvel Studios will hold steady and continue the path this storyline is on if they want “Infinity War” to hold a significant place in the studio’s short, but illustrious history, no matter how lesser of a film it already is compared its predecessors. Ultimately, the willingness to embrace change, no matter how dark it is, is the best thing “Infinity War” has going for it.

Lammometer: 6 (out of 10)

AUDIO: Tim reviews “Avengers: Infinity War” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show” (segment begins 2:30 in).

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.

Copyright 2018 DirectConversations.com