The fastest three hours of my life

Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2019)

Avengers End Game
So after twelve months of fan theories and speculation we finally get to see what happens to our surviving heroes after the events of Infinity war.
End game isn't just a conclusion to that movie but to all the movies from the Marvel cinematic universe.
This is a tall order for Directors the Russo brothers but boy have they nailed it!
End game is a sombre affair as you'd expect after half of all living creatures have been wiped out of the universe.
Essentially a movie that is spit into three defining acts.
The first showing the aftermath of Thanos's actions.
The second act is devoted to the surviving Avengers desperately trying to fight back (delivering fan service by the bucket load) before a satisfying conclusion that will have everyone on the edge of their seat.
End game may not ultimately thrill in the same way as Infinity War did but this final chapter is riveting from a storytelling point of view. It's a much deeper movie than its predecessor.
Only when revisiting Infinity War after End Game do you fully appreciate the amount of creativity that's gone into making both movies.
How the Russo brothers have managed to weave every story and character arc together is commendable.
Trying to decide which movie is best is difficult because I see them as one big five hour masterpiece rather than two separate movies.
I'm trying to remain vague here as I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't yet seen the film.
Just as an insurance policy I've declared that this review may contain spoilers.
What I can divulge is that End Game is three hours of your life that you will be fully immersed and ultimately enjoy.
The lengthy runtime will fly by unnoticed.
Despite the sombre tone there's humour in this film.
The script writers employed by the MCU
are experts in creating witty dialogue and even though this film is serious it boasts more belly laughs than some intentional comedies.
The humour doesn't detract from what's at stake, rather it allows the audience a break from the building tension. Stakes are indeed high and all through the film there's a nagging doubt that The Avengers may actually fail.
It's refreshing that both this movie and its predecessor make believe that the bad guys can win.
Just like in real life there's not always a happy ending.
But after the events of Infinity War the good guys and the audience need that payoff.
Will it come? Well that's something you will have to find out for yourselves.
It's no spoiler to say there will be sacrifices along the way and the MCU will take a different path in the future.
End game is indeed an epic conclusion to all the hours of movies you have invested in up to this point.
It is of course a splendid technical achievement in terms of film making.
The nostalgic second act proves this.
Like its predecessor Infinity War, End Game will get even better with multiple revisits.
Definitely a film that I'm excited to see again.