An underwhelming conclusion to an epic saga

Rating: 3/10 (13 May 2019)

I am a long time fan of the MCU. I had a lot expectations going into this film. But Avengers: Endgame was a complete letdown. It was very hard to live up to the hype that the movie generated. But it could've been done in a much, much better way
I'll start off with what was good in the movie. The technical details were amazing, in true Marvel fashion. The background score and visual effects were almost flawless. It started off well, with good pacing, and the final battle scene was really well done. There were a lot of moments, especially during the time travel portion of the movie, which pay tribute to 11 years of Marvel films and it genuinely shows us the legacy that Marvel created.
That brings me to the bad parts. Endgame seemed to be dedicated to these moments. As nostalgia invoking as these moments are, they do absolutely nothing to further the plot of the movie. I also felt that the tone was too humorous for a movie about people dealing with heavy loss and defeat. The time travel rules of Endgame, which creates an alternate reality rather than affecting the main timeline, felt a little too convenient as it prevents their actions in the past from having any effect on the present. The movie got a little slow in the beginning and I was bored during this portion. I have never been bored watching a Marvel movie and this says something about the epic conclusion to the Infinity saga. But the pace picks up during the time travel portion.
Coming to characterisation, Tony Stark was the only character who had a proper arc. His relationship with his family along with the amazing performance by Robert Downey Jr. made his ending all the more heartbreaking. Steve Rogers strapping on his broken shield and standing up to Thanos in his 'I can do this all day' manner was a reminder of why we love him. But his ending was forced and completely betrayed his character. Even Chris Evans' performance (honestly I can't even imagine anyone else playing Captain America) cannot save Steve Rogers from bad writing. We have seen him say goodbye to Peggy in Civil War. And after five or so movies of not even mentioning her, Peggy is his only way for a happy ending? This is a complete disservice to Peggy's character which was developed in Agent Carter. We see Steve pining after his long lost love rather than mourning his friends whom he lost in the snap. This completely discredits the relationships he formed in the 21st century and his relationship with Bucky. Thor was shown to be completely depressed and lonely. After what he has been through, this is completely justified. But he contributes nothing to the team despite being one of the original six Avengers and the fat jokes started becoming distasteful after a while. He was a well loved character among the fans and the writers didn't even give him a proper conclusion. Natasha's character was treated horribly. Hell, she didn't even get a proper funeral. Hawkeye having a family helps us connect more with his character. But that's all his character has got going for him. Professor Hulk felt kind of bland. I missed his trademark anger which was portrayed so well in the previous movies. Nebula, Rocket, Scott Lang and Rhodey had pretty good characters despite not having much of an arc. The female characters (besides Natasha) didn't have much importance to the story and I felt that the final showdown with all the female characters was put there as a part of a political statement more than anything else. Don't get me wrong, I love strong female characters. But spending a whole movie without giving them enough screen time and then showing a badass 2 minute sequence with all of them is not female representation. Even Captain Marvel, being one of the strongest heroes, had very less screen time. And finally coming to Thanos. Thanos was a nuanced, relatable and, at some points, reasonable villain in Infinity War. But all that character development regresses in Endgame. In Endgame he is presented as a generic villain who is evil just for the sake of being evil.
Endgame had its moments, but as the epic finale to which 22 movies have been leading up to, it is a complete letdown. Given, that to make a movie with proper characterisation and character arcs for so many characters in under 3 hours is a hard feat to attempt, but we have seen Marvel do it before with Infinity War. Endgame was all lazy writing and cheap fan service. It could have been the epic conclusion, the fans and the characters deserved but it ended up being a huge mess of wasted potential.