So I watched Avengers: Endgame…

It’s unbelievable thinking about the journey that has led us here. 11 years, 21 movies. Kevin Feige, Marvel and all the actors who’ve brought these characters to life truly did something special. And while the MCU will surely continue after this (I mean, we’ve seen the trailers for future films already), this film is the final step for so many of the heroes we’ve  grown to love.

Okay, basic plot: In the aftermath of Thanos’ snap that eliminated half of all life in the universe, The Avengers are left reeling. Unable to accept this colossal loss, they rally the last members they have and hatch a plan to reverse the effects of Thanos’ decimation of the universe.

I kept my description of this film’s plot quite concise because this is a film that you need to go into completely blind to fully enjoy. And, my word, are you going to enjoy this film. It’s everything that you love about Marvel. It’s funny, poignant, has great action and features all the heroes you grew up watching. It still amazes me seeing all these heroes on the same screen. I still remember a time when superhero movies were considered risky and you were lucky to have one released every five years. Marvel truly has changed the game and for bringing all my those fantasies I had as a kid to life, I say thank you.

Now while I really, really enjoyed this film; I have to be honest and say I found it a little bit disappointing. The beauty of Infinity War, wasn’t in just seeing all the heroes from every Marvel film teaming up, it was actually the villain. Thanos was a villain, the likes of which, we had never seen before. Not only was he a physical presence capable of going toe-to-toe with even the most powerful Avengers, he had heart and conviction. We saw him display his conviction through the course of Infinity War. He wasn’t some villain who broods in his lair for the majority of the movie and then comes out to fight the hero at the end; he was an active participant throughout the whole movie and you connected with him in ways you’ve never been able with any other villain.

This connection is what made Infinity War so great to watch. Seeing this all-powerful villain and wondering just exactly how our heroes were going to defeat him. Not defeat a villain that strong but Thanos, in particular. I don’t want to spoil the plot but through the events of the film, The Avengers end up fighting a Thanos who is very different to the one we met in Infinity War. This immediately takes away a huge chunk of tension from the plot. I wanted to see The Avengers beat that Thanos.

I also found this film to be quite inconsistent with regards to its pacing. Certain plot elements are trivialised and dealt with in seconds, while others are drawn out and shown in unnecessary detail. This film lacked the thing that The Russo brothers managed to do so well not only in Infinity War but also in Civil War – there’s no balance. Obviously when you put these many characters on screen, there isn’t time to delve into every character’s journey but it felt like certain characters were marginalised and the effects of their actions swept up without any real consequences or ramifications.

Even though I just threw a bit of criticism this film’s way, I loved this movie. It was worth the wait and thoroughly surpasses its hype. I think the number one thing this film is, is fun. It takes you along for a ride, often down memory lane, and makes you fall in love with all the characters over and over again. Infinity War was a sobering look at our heroes and showed there’s a limit to even what they can do and Endgame is all about hope. Obviously with this being the culmination of all the films that came before there are some dark moments but overall this film is all about reigniting hope.

Every member of this film’s cast merits praise. You can see how they’ve grown and developed these characters and truly own them. It’s fantastic to watch. I recently binge watched quite a few of the MCU movies that led up to this and seeing where these characters began and how far they’ve come is extraordinary. I think watching all those movies really helped me enjoy this one because there are throwbacks to the original movies that I might have missed had I not just recently watched the originals. That’s another great thing about this film, it truly is a love letter to the fans. The film knows that its fanbase has been with it for so long and really tries to the fans a satifsying end that will make them happy. I think the film tries to make us too happy at times but let’s not get into spoilers.

Overall, Endgame is a worthy end to the MCU as we know it. Marvel did something fantastic and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us. Please go watch this and please don’t spoil it. 8/10