Beautiful Send Off

Rating: 9/10 (27 April 2019)

Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of twenty plus movies and the follow up to Infinity War. It should be noted that this will not be the end of the MCU franchise as a whole; of course not. It is the grand finale of the Infinity Stones saga. Five years after the events of the previous film, when Thanos succeeded at wiping out half of all life in the universe, the situation is utterly hopeless. Memorials are made as a feeble attempt by the survivors to remember those that had disappeared, and while it is true that things are looking up, such as with whales returning due to the lack of ships, keep in mind that the Snap wiped out half of ALL life in the universe, so that whole thing with the whales is less optimistic especially if they were in danger of dying out before Thanos halved them. However, when the idea of time travel rears its head, it opens the door for the remaining Avengers that maybe they could undo what the Mad Titan had done.
The film was surprisingly moving, not to say that any of the MCU films could never be emotional. Even though society tried to continue onward after the Snap, it proves more difficult because they have to try to move on with the knowledge that their friends and loved ones are gone. The remaining heroes also have their own struggles with having to cope with the fact that they lost. But they are also shown to be completely willing to do "whatever it takes" to undo the Mad Titan's destruction, even if it may cost them dearly.
As for anything else, the action was great as is often the case when it comes to these films, but the third act in particular was probably the best part of the film IMO. How they pulled it off is incredible to say the least. Acting was good for the most part, and many lingering plot threads in the film series and character arcs were fulfilled here.
The only negatives I can think of is how time travel was implemented in the film. While many guessed that time travel would play a key role in the film due to behind the scene footage of the film, there are times when the logic with how time travel is done in the film gets problematic. Additionally, Chris Hemsworth functions as the comic relief in the film. But, I felt that the recurring jokes surrounding him were a little tired and shortly got irritating. And for all the talk that Marvel did in regards to Captain Marvel, she did not even appear that much in the film. She does appear in two pivotal moments, but is otherwise preoccupied. To me, it sounds as though there were more scenes dedicated to her but were likely scrapped from the final product.
Otherwise, greatly enjoyed the film, and I feel that it is a great send off to the Infinity Stones arc. With July comes Spider-Man: Far From Home, which will overall conclude the fourth phase of the MCU. Can't wait to see what else is in store.