Epic Finale to the Avengers Saga

Rating: 8/10 (27 April 2019)

To incredible fanfare and hype, "Avengers: Endgame" has arrived. I am happy to say that the film most definitely lives up to expectations, and offers audiences a thrilling, emotionally stirring, and incredibly satisfying finale to the Avengers saga. While it's not completely perfect, it's undoubtedly a great film and far superior to last year's "Avengers: Infinity War." While I know that many people loved "Infinity War," I dissented from them due to the excess of "filler" in the narrative that made the film seem simultaneously overstuffed and not completely satisfying--with the exception of the film's ending, which was one of the biggest cliffhangers in modern film history.
The film picks up as the stakes from the shocking ending of "Infinity War" are a clear reality. and the Avengers must figure out how to defeat Thanos. I'm not going to say much else regarding the plot, but what I will say is that the film's emotional core relative to other comic book films is what truly elevates it. The action scenes are no longer just entertaining action scenes, but battles with real characters that audiences truly care about and have gone on a journey with for many films and many years now. This emotional core is enhanced by the film's score and cinematography, which are both generally understated yet also beautifully impactful at the same time. The film is consistently entertaining and paced incredibly well, and never drags despite its 181-minute runtime. There are plenty of twists and turns that even many serious fans probably won't be expecting, as the Russos do a great job with trying to subvert audience expectations. The performances are all great, and much of the cast has grown and changed quite a bit from their earlier days in MCU movies. This film is less action-focused than "Infinity War," and that works to its benefit since so many important plot points are generally emphasized over action. Make no mistake, the action (and especially the climax) is excellent in this film when it happens. But "Avengers: Endgame" shows us that there is even more to Marvel films than those moments, no matter how thrilling and entertaining they may be. Despite its relatively minor flaws (some inconsistencies and fallacies in its narrative structure,) it's a truly fascinating exercise in watching all of the puzzle pieces of the MCU be put together, and it will be interesting to see where Marvel movies go from this point. 8.5/10
Note: I saw this film in Dolby Cinema. The picture and sound quality were generally strong, but this was not one of the best Dolby presentations I have come across.