Thor save us from this unsatisfying story and script

Rating: 5/10 (30 April 2019)

I saw this last evening only a few hours after seeing Infinity War which is now streaming. There is certainly a markedly different pace in the second film even though I understand they were filmed together. Infinity War is fast paced throughout whereas Endgame feels quite uneven. I do not believe the long slow scenes in the beginning and end will repay repeated viewings. And there are too many characters that only the fans could keep up with. At the outset, the acting is marvelous, given that much of the acting was probably done in blue screen isolation. 10 for that. The special effects were pretty good though there were some lapses in the imitation of reality. The Bruce/Hulk character felt at times like a two dimensional character or a big balloon, as strange as that sounds, and didn't seem to convey a real person. Hank Pym as a young man, especially his hair, also seemed less convincing. The effects were at their best in the faster moving sequences. An 8 for that. I thought the darker colours in the final battle made me think of other films such as Lord Of The Rings and Justice League.
The biggest weakness of the film was the script and story, particularly affecting Thor. However, the most glaring problem, which eliminated all suspense, was the time travel gimmick. It was impossible to get excited once we knew that everything could be changed with time travel, even death. It's pseudo-science at best, and speculative. The film stretched the normal levels of disbelief to such an extent that-I stopped believing. How did Rocket get the liquid stone from Jane, did he knock her out, and how did Captain America reinfect her? How did he return the stones to the exact second? How did he get the soul stone back? The soul stone had no power in the film except to take a soul, and that's it. How does Cap return it? Does he say here you are ready to take another soul. That's a moral dilemma for Cap. Did he free a soul, and did he go back far enough to save the Black Widow? Did he marry the Black Widow after breaking up with Peggy a week after their dance? That's speculative but that's time travel. So Loki now has one of the stones, as the stone would have been returned to the 1970 timeline as if nothing had happened. But the later timeline where they lost the stone to Loki will still happen. And Thanos dies early and doesn't succeed in the Infinity War film. And Quill does not kill his father, who can now destroy the universe. Nebula kills her past self but continues living, how? So none of the films are worth watching again.
The Hulk hides for no reason in Infinity War, but then in this film Bruce/Hulk is too smart to fight? And how could he be a scientist with those huge fingers on mobile touchscreens? The character of Thor was badly treated in this film. In the first Thor film, he was willing to risk his life knowing he had no powers and would in all likelihood lose, to save others. Yet in Endgame the character languishes for 5 long years, and is still a joker. Yet, he had known loss, his parents, his home, his planet, prior to this and had recovered sooner. Endgame was like the Thor from the beginning of Thor 1. One of the best scenes in Thor Ragnarok was where Odin tells him he is not the God of Hammers, he is the God Of Thunder, power. What a great comeback. Yet in Endgame, he seems powerless without his hammers. Captain America does more havoc to Thanos with one hammer than Thor does with two. Thor nearly kills Thanos in Infinity Wars when Thanos had all the stones. But in Endgame, when Thanos does not have the gauntlet, Thor barely leaves a scratch on him. In Infinity Wars, Thor and Hulk are easily defeated. Yet Iron Man and Captain America can restrain him for short periods. Are there others from the same species or planet as Thanos? Two of his kind would win. No Hulk Smash, no super Thor, they should have left them in space.
*And for the fan blobs rating this review down, I would rather be an unpopular thinker than a popular clone.