A breathtaking Homeric battle

Rating: 7/10 (24 April 2019)

This is probably one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the moment, with Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019). The previous opus of the Avengers series, Avengers: Infinity War (2018), had left 'us' high and dry, in the depths of the abyss, while the latest episode of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain Marvel (2019), gave 'us' back a glimmer of hope.
In short, I saw it in Paris this morning and I enjoyed it. It's an efficient blockbuster. The script and the manifold plot twists permanently keep the audience spellbound and breathless. This movie is one of the funniest and one of the most spectacular of the complete Marvel Cinematic Universe saga, not to mention an astonishing Computer-Generated Imagery, despite manifold script weaknesses that I will partially reveal below, within a dedicated post-script.
Otherwise, a very unusual observation, at least within Paris: the audience has repeatedly applauded, at least 7/8 times, including the very beginning and the end of the movie, conveying an uncontrollable impatience, like a collective catharsis boosted to the extreme. And a female teen, about 17/18 years old, not far from me, cried. Literally! The audience was obviously made up of fans conquered beforehand... and that was part of the show!
So Marvel, what's next? I am probably addicted and certainly impatient!
As a post-script, a few remarks, annoyances or even irritations:
1) First, a tiny spoiler as a favor. You will get absolutely nothing at the very end. Contrary to the Marvel habits and customs, there is no post-credit scene.
2) The first half-hour is an immeasurable disappointment. While Thanos had, in the first opus, undertaken a Herculean task, a titanic challenge, a Homeric Odyssey in order to gather the 6 infinity stones and "bring balance to the universe" as a demiurge, in the second opus, he contents himself with a miserable and lonely life such as a peasant from the Middle Ages, because "the stones served no purpose beyond temptation". Wooooow! Literally incredible.
3) Who understood this quote from Tony Stark to Steve Rogers? "It's the EPR paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might have wound up pushing time through Lang". Honestly, I do not know if we need an IQ above 250 or below 60 to understand this quote...
4) During the manifold fights versus the Avengers, we do not really see the difference between Thanos with the 6 infinity stones and Thanos without: his power seems unchanged!
5) Time travel exists fundamentally in two versions: a change in the past will or will not have an impact in the future. Even if the first category is the most representative with classics such as The Terminator (1984) or Back to the Future (1985), Avengers: Endgame (2019) clearly belongs to the second category.
6) For their time heist, the Avengers break down into 3 separate teams to join 3 distinct time-spaces in which there are 3 Thanos. One Thanos in each space-time: New-York in 2012, Asgard in 2013, Morag+Vormir in 2014. During 60 minutes, we follow these 3 concomitant stories. The Thanos from 2014 discovers and understands the whole intrigue thanks to his daughter Nebula. Nevertheless, the Avengers are able to switch from one space-time to another one, thanks to a protective suit, a GPS bracelet and a capsule containing Pym particles. Thus, these three elements are specially designed by Tony Stark, with the posthumous help of Hank Pym, for such an expedition and are a priori mandatory for the way in and the way back. But we do not really know how, the Thanos from 2014 will go back in time with his faithful right-hand man Ebony Maw, the whole armada and a huge spaceship. Wooooow! Even alone, this time-travel should be impossible.
7) For the time heist in Vormir, why Natacha Romanoff and Clint Barton have to go first through Morag, with James Rhodes and Nebula? The Avengers could have splitted the whole team in 4 instead of 3 from the start, right? So, why 3 teams instead of 4? Knowing that I see no reason for this detour via Morag, I think that the scriptwriters were desperately stuck and were looking for a way for the Thanos of 2014 to recover a free fast-pass, i.e. a protective suit + a GPS bracelet + a Pym capsule. Those of the mortal remains of Natacha Romanoff. Except that the Thanos of 2014 was absolutely not aware of the presence of this corpse on Vormir. In any way!
8) The scriptwriters have combined two ultra-complex concepts, i.e. time travel and quantum realm, in order to optimally cheat the audience. Indeed, when Tony Stark and Steve Rogers are back in New-York, they are magically able to time-travel from New-York in 2012 to Camp Lehigh in 1970 without the help of any quantum tunnel device...
9) .... and so on ... and so on ... The screenwriters had obviously bigger eyes than belly! In short, this is a typical pop corn movie: turn your brain off, and then, and then only, enjoy the show!
10) At last, a two-penny question: where did they find inspiration for the hairstyles? A moronic soccer player for Clint Barton, undoubtedly. Without forgetting Carol Danvers, or how to disfigure a sex bomb with a pair of scissors?
That's all, folks!