The Dark Knight Rises of the MCU

Rating: 7/10 (26 April 2019)

Avengers: Endgame is truly the end of the era for the MCU. The conclusion 11 years in the making that all Marvel fans have been salivating for (myself included). This could (potentially) be the last time we see some of our favorite heroes we've spent 11 years with on-screen. No pressure! Does it come together in a satisfying way? In many ways, Avengers: Endgame is the conclusion we've all been hoping for, but when it comes to the plot, there is certainly room for improvement.
Following the shocking and bold ending of Infinity War, Endgame leaves our heroes sulking for a majority of the first hour over their loss to Thanos, and rightfully so. The opening scene alone sets the tone for the emotional rollercoaster we are in for here. This is a display of Endgame's greatest strength, which is emotional weight. Seeing our characters in fear and desperation in the first hour of the film added to the continuous urgency prevalent here. These emotions only enhance the grander scenes of the film, when there is massive pressure on the characters to be flawless in their various missions.
The buildup of the first two hours creates an unbelievably striking third act, where everything comes together in the most beautiful way imaginable. The action is better than ever, and everything fans could have wished for is here, including Captain America wielding mjolnir while shouting "Avengers Assemble", Thanos getting his ass kicked, and even Valkyrie riding a pegasus (hell yes to that!). The Russos have done an excellent job of creating a truly unpredictable film, which constantly leaves the viewer surprised and in awe. Sure, many fan theories speculated that time travel would play a key component in the film, but the actual sequence of events is far more complex than we'd been guessing.
Interestingly enough, the film is able to juggle some of the most emotional scenes of the franchise along with humor to create a mostly successful cocktail. Bruce Banner's merge with The Hulk was a welcome addition to the film, as well as "Lebowski Thor", even though that joke ran its course a bit long for my taste. I'm not sure if anything was quite as good as Captain America whispering "Hail Hydra" to the Shield/Hydra agents in the elevator though.
There is a lot to love in Avengers: Endgame, and especially if you've been following the franchise since the beginning. However, the film is not flawless. There is one major problem in the film that holds it back from ranking among the best films of the MCU, and that is the incorporation of time travel. We all knew that time travel would play a key role in the film, but what we didn't know was how sloppy the rules would be. Banner and The Chosen One explain how time travel works in a certain way, but the film often contradicts that and chooses its own route. Sure, someone could argue that "this is a superhero movie, don't think about it too much", but I'd argue that X-Men: Days of Future Past has shown that time travel can be executed pretty much perfectly in a superhero movie. That film did a much better job of sticking to a specific set of rules rather than just choosing what's most convenient for the plot. Since time travel plays a huge role in the sequence of events in Endgame, the Russos s**ting the bed with this really hurt. I don't want to get into the actual time travel, because I'd turn into that picture of Charlie Day from Always Sunny when he's obsessed with the conspiracies, but here's a link that clearly explains what the film is conveying and how it is actually executed:
This is why I compared this to The Dark Knight Rises in the title. The film is much more character based than the previous installment, has some of the best moments of the franchise, and is genuinely surprising (albeit, Endgame's surprises are much more satisfying), the massive plot holes in the film take away from what should have been the best film of the franchise. I enjoyed the film a lot, but as someone who likes thinking about films in depth, I was left pretty cold by the execution here. If you're able to look past these major continuity issues, you'll probably love the death out of this movie. As much as I wanted to, I just couldn't.