Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Rating: 7/10 (28 January 2020)

Directed by Anthony Russo & Joe Russo. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Rudd, Karen Gillan, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Brie Larson, Zoe Saldana, Tessa Thompson, (voice) Bradley Cooper. (PG-13)
Three hour payoff for the days-long superhero movie parade that came before (twenty-one releases total, but is anyone really grasping to, say, the second Thor movie for continuity?); it certainly opens better than "Avengers: Infinity War" by virtue of its start-off point--rather than dizzily jumping through several reckless storylines and dozens of characters right off the bat, it starts at an elegiac pace, re-establishing the few survivors and reflecting on the loss and ruin that has shattered so many of their lives. Then it's down to the effects-driven action business--fetch quests aplenty and a colossal final battle. Convoluted at times, unevenly paced throughout, and a bit heavy on the illogical fan service and curtain calls, it's still a movie destined to satisfy its target audience (as crowd-pleasing a crowd-pleaser as there has ever been). Assembly-line in nature, but crafted with more love and pathos than the average product, it may not be able to escape its status as "blockbuster punctuation," but at least it provides a sense of closure that previous Marvel Cinematic Universe entries often lacked. The actors, from the major players to the cameos, all do solid work, far more grounded than one would expect from comic book cinema; for some, it will be their swan song, so it's nice to see them go out on top.
69/100