AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

* * *

(Death, darkness and a few laughs)

If you are a Marvel Comics fan, you've already seen this movie at least twice. Wait for John Pannozzi's Review, which will certainly be more in line with your thinking. My review is for those who are curious as to what the big attraction is to these dark, deadly, sci-fi superhero epics.

The film is loaded with superheroes, including Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and a dozen more. Josh Brolin plays one mean Thanos, the huge villain whose goal is to destroy half of the universe's population for the "noble" goal of saving the other half from destruction because there aren't enough resources for everyone.

The Avengers regroup, join up with the Guardians of the Galaxy and take on Thanos' army, leading to endless battles. Joyce enjoyed the funny patter and characters of the "Guardians" movies but couldn't bring herself to watching two hours and 30 minutes of metal on metal and thousands of creatures fighting and killing each other.

The special effects are very good. The bi-play between the characters, especially young, naive Spider-Man and egotistic Iron Man, is fun, but there's not enough of it.

It is all about finding Infinity Stones, for whatever reason I never figured out, and stopping the evil Thanos. All of the superheroes have their moments to shine, and the ending leaves half of them, and the world, in a questionable state of being.

I saw the movie with the true fans who knew enough to sit through the endless credits for a hint of what is to come in the next sequel. Curiosity will force me to see it, but surely John will have a clearer perspective.

Rated PG-13 with intense violence, a dark and dreary approach, and some profanity.