Perfection.

Rating: 10/10 (4 September 2019)

Firstly, I want to state it here now I rarely EVER use such a term as perfection but in my opinion the word has its exceptions and in the case of Avengers Endgame it rightly deserves such a claim or at least that the view could be held for debate, the sheer work put into it alone suggests the admiration the whole crew has for the project and for the MCU itself and credit to them because in my eyes its a work of art, a true masterpiece. I remember distinctly making sure to have tickets booked WAY in advance to be able to see this within the first day of its release (this is in the U.K) the same goes to its DVD release and having the break between the two viewings its allowed me to evaluate the film and all its twists and turns with a much deeper insight. Therefore here is my personal critique of it and warning there will be spoilers regarding major plot points.
Right from the beginning I got the feeling the film although obviously the second part to Avengers Infinity War was going to be different than its predecessor and I realised that from the start comparing the differences, AIW began with Thanos retrieving the Infinity Stones whereas AE began with the aftermath of the disintegration of half of the Universes' lifeforms, i.e Clints' family being wiped from existence which to add was a brilliant choice into a visualisation of how far the snap had reached across the Universe and how many people's lives were going to be seemingly changed forever. The instant pain you felt for Clint is heart breaking and to make it worse you understand that although you connect with the character that's just one family throughout the cosmos. The follow up between Tony and Nebula being stranded in space was also a great choice as both characters surprisingly gel well together with both clutching onto the last bit of hope they have left after their defeat and trying desperately to hold on as along as possible.
Captain Marvels appearance was shocking as well as you didn't expect them to be saved so soon which you could argue being a nudge into plot development yet it works as you get to see them reunite with those they didn't see in AIW (Tony with Steve & Natasha/Nebula with Rocket) etc. It was also a correct decision to show Tony's anger towards the Avengers (Steve in particular) for letting him down not being there and for not listening to him when suggesting a armour around the world, you can see in RDJ's performance just how devastated Tony is and how defeatist he has become from the battle with Thanos which is truly convincing and seeing Steve trying to console him to no avail is also saddening, this is where things start to pick up as Tony has gave up entirely and unable to fight the rest of the Avengers and others go on to track down Thanos which was clearly a decision you didn't see coming this early on in the film, they manage to track down Thanos and with the added help from Captain Marvel they manage to control Thanos's power and surround him (too easily in my opinion but I guess they knew what to expect this time and he didn't have the Infinity Stones anymore so...) after Thanos tells them he destroyed the stones Thor's swish kill from nowhere beheading him with Stormbreaker completely threw me off and utterly was shocking and still satisfying with his "I went for the head" remark, I remember seeing that moment for the first time and I truly had no idea where they were going to go from there as we obviously all had our own preconceived theories by then, to then see the five years later go across the screen, well...
From then, you see the true devastation Thanos has left in his wake with the support group held by Steve, the missing posters printed everywhere and large memorials to those lost in the disintegration and the remaining Avengers trying to move on years after, you sense they're all still too broken and just trying to deal with things the best they can Steve and Natasha are the worst of and its not until the re-emergence of Scott with the help of a little furry friend do they begin to realise there may still be a chance to redeem themselves and save those lost.
The 'time heist' was extremely satisfying and was well thought out and crafted, I don't understand why so many people as I've seen had problems with it? It wasn't that hard to work out... Your present self can't change your past selves actions to change your future selves outcome, it doesn't work like that that's why instead of changing the actions that were already cemented they changed those actions from ever happening in the first place by retrieving the stones before Thanos.
Anyway, it was well executed and seeing a few familiar faces and a couple surprise ones was that more satisfying.
Now, what really pleased me with this film although the wait for it was lengthy it was well worthwhile was the final showdown between all of the MCU characters we've grown to love through the years and Thanos and his army, I just thought it was spectacular, truly stunning, one of the best final showdowns I've EVER seen and I don't say that with ease, believe me.
I apologise for going into too much detail here about the plot movements and everything there's a reason to it, basically from the start up to this point you get the old testament of which is featured in many films past and present, the face off between the believably un-defeatable foe, the minor loss or in this case huge loss, the aftermath (this phase) the realisation that there is a way back from the defeat and a shot at redemption and the courage to fulfil that destiny, now of course with all movies the chances are that the protangonists are going to win but what Marvel does so well and this film the proof of that is always maintain the disbelief in that theory, maybe not completely but always have a curveball or two to surprise even the most hard pleasing of viewer, who would've honestly called Thanos being killed within the first act? Let's be honest.
The writing, the screenplay, direction, acting, set pieces, set designs, visual effects and everything else make this a thrill to watch from start to finish, yes you can pick it apart and find faults with it but if we're being honest with ourselves that's just down to our own opinions on how it should've been and not giving enough credit to the monumental task the Marvel team had to face with this film, especially with the success of AIW and all the other films in the franchise for that matter, let alone the die hard fans they had to contend with, you can't please everyone but I truly believe if you re-watch this film with an open mind no matter how you felt about it beforehand and just take a moment to notice how much creativity, detail and effort must of went into it all you'll see it differently and hopefully with the same appreciation that I do, I understand we all wish certain things turned out differently, don't get me wrong I do as well, I believe they shouldn't have killed off Natasha (I know she's getting her own feature film set in the past but still) I understood Tony's, of course sad but you could see he was passing on the mantle in a way? Same as Steve but yeah, Nat's death hit me harder because I thought it could've been left out really? Maybe replacd by Nebula? To redeem herself for all the times she tried to kill Gamora? I don't know I guess the writers have their own reasons.
Overall I see the potential the Marvel team saw with such a daring and risk taking project and they pulled off the impossible, to make a highly suspenseful, hugely enjoyable, showstopper of a film with a HUGE ensemble cast and MANY moments the fans will NEVER be able to forget, the culmination of 22 films all worth their own spot in the list.
Perfect.