Ambitious, bittersweet and spectacular, yet flawed

Rating: 6/10 (26 April 2019)

"Avengers: Endgame" is an ambitious cinematic extravaganza and a bittersweet culmination to an 11-year journey, yet it overwhelms so much in the final act that the audiences fail to detect its flaws. The more you think about what happened, the more you find problems.
As I clapped, cheered and teared up with the audiences, I understood how the Marvel Cinematic Universe became a mega-franchise that continued to create fervent fans through the power and charm of its heroes. This has the best final act in a superhero film. I got chills all over my body and my jaw just dropped in awe in the spellbinding moments, especially in the final action sequences. This is like the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" and "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" of the MCU: a film as epic as the saga it concludes. Not a single cast member wasted this opportunity by giving an awkward performance. Everyone seemed so into it and recognized the pressure of their character to get that single win over fourteen million possible losses. Most of the humor is also brilliantly-placed compared to other MCU offerings that could not crack a joke well.
In its three-hour running time, the film traverses through a very complicated plot, more complicated than its predecessor. As opposed to the relentlessly brash, unending clash in "Infinity War," "Endgame" slows down and takes its time to explore grief and the effects of the previous tragic events to the characters. The plan of the Avengers unfolds detail by detail, from practice runs to jokes. Some of the stretched first act can be cut off such as the one-liners and unnecessary character interactions.
The film's second act struggled to transition from one mission to another-from one tone to another-which undermined the progression of how a particular mission will conclude. In this "Back to the Future" second act, I was ready to deem the film as mediocre and overlong. But once the final battles ensued, the drawn-out build-up truly paid off with action scenes that reminded me of the power of films to create an experience of epic proportions. This is what film as a medium can do, and boy, is it amazing! Terrific action choreography and visual effects in the third act really elevated this film beyond its serviceable middle section.
"Endgame" did give satisfying endings for some of its beloved characters. However, as nitpicky as it may sound, directors Joe and Anthony Russo are too much invested in devising an emotional full stop on a character's story instead of creating a cinematically-cohesive science fiction narrative. A character's story ends satisfyingly even if how it happens didn't really make any sense.
This not how Time Travel works, well if we will consider other popular culture works that explored it. There are a bunch of what can be considered as "plot holes" (you can find them online) in its time travel story and character conclusions, most of which is felt when the audience says "what?" or "why is he/she there?" out of confusion watching a scene. I have read a couple of articles that explained these "plot holes," and none of them really resolved them entirely since the explanations are mostly theorizing based on what was just briefly mentioned in the film. Fans can do all their theorizing, but these "plot holes" are problems in the film's depiction of events and ideas.
Nevertheless, with all its flaws, this is a very strong film due to its sense of awe and ambitious story. Even if I didn't love it 3000, the shock and awe tactic of the Russo brothers still worked.
P.S. Captain Marvel was so under-utilized in this film. I was waiting for her the entire time.