Epic conclusion, with a few shortfalls

Rating: 8/10 (27 April 2019)

Like many others, I spent 11 years of my life with this universe. I remember the first time I saw Iron Man, right before I started high school. I have loved everything about these movies. Yes, some were rougher than others, but all in all, each film added to the overall Marvel story, and its the first time we got to see a universe built like this. I will forever be thankful for what Marvel has given us in these movies, but I do have some detailed thoughts on the final film, Avengers: Endgame. This will be a decently sized review, so get comfortable.
To start, I do want to get out there that this film was pretty great when it comes to a conclusion. I felt emotion time and time again for my favorite characters. I laughed, I got choked up, and I cheered very loudly. The dark tone that it starts with is amazing, and you can feel the deep sadness within some of the living characters so it really adds a great tone to the story. I originally wanted to keep this spoiler free, but to get my point across, larger spoilers will be below. If you havent seen the movie yet, go watch first, then come back and give this a read and Im sure you will agree with me.
SPOILERS BELOW:
Thor was saved in Ragnarok and Infinity War with his character development. He has lost almost everything. You feel his pain in Inifinity War when he talks to Rocket on their way to Nidavellir to create Stormbreaker. He fails at the end of Infinity War as well when he doesnt go for the head of Thanos, and you can see the feeling of regret right in his face after the snap. They did this beautifully to Thor, to give him some anger and vengence. It might be a darker plot point, but it served him well with everything he had lost already
At the beginning of Endgame, we see the Thor that we knew for quite some time. He's ready to find Thanos and end him once and for all. They find where Thanos is hiding by tracking the use of cosmic energy from the stones. After traveling to Thanos' hideout, Thor ends him once and for all after he realizes that the stones have been destroyed deliberately so that nothing can be undone. Then we get a time jump to 5 years in the future. This is where things get rocky.
After the time jump, we see things have changed. Some have decided to move on with the fate Thanos created, and others have barely let go of the memories of the fallen. When Ant Man returns and explains the quantum realm time dilemma, they want to develop time traveling capabilities so they can retrieve the stones from different points in time before Thanos is able to get his hands on them. After Tony rejects helping with this idea because he now has a daughter and a happy marraige with Pepper, they go to San Francisco to meet with Bruce, or should I say Professor Hulk.
Before I talk about Thor, Id like to talk about this giant Hulk issue. They ruined Hulk altogether for me. Hulk is now mixed with Bruce's mind and voice because he feels this is the best route to resolve his issue after the gamma radiation poisoning. But hes not the full size of Hulk either. Hes a half man, half Hulk that acts like the weak person Bruce is. With what happens in Inifinty War, why did the Russo brothers decide to go this route with the character? There was so much conflict between Bruce and Hulk, and they decided to just let that go and shift the characters in an entirely different direction. The only real purpose he serves all movie is helping with the science behind time travel once Tony changes his mind to develop the technology. There is also one scene where he uses the stones with Starks's gauntlet because hes the only one who can physically take it, but I mean thats it? Thats all you can give me after years of buiding up love for this character? A giant green, peacful man thats really smart and strong? I was incredibly disappointed by this. It ruined a large aspect of the movie for me. However, that wasnt even the biggest disappointment in this film. Now onto what I started this with.
They absolutely ruined Thor as well. After the time jump, Professor Hulk and Rocket go to a Nordic village thats called New Asgard. Whats left of the Asgardians are living here, and surviving peacefully it seems now. We get to first see Valkyrie who tells Hulk and Rocket that Thor wont agree to see them. So at this point, it would be safe to think Thor has gone into a dark place filled with regret and sorrow. What we actually get though is much, much worse. We get a drunk, fat, and comedic Thor. He has lost himself completely and all the character development went out the window. Again, I have no clue as to what the Russo brothers were thinking in doing this. It wasnt funny, it wasnt smart, it wasnt Thor. The rest of the time, Thor just keeps getting sad and emotional and then telling a joke to try and turn the mood around. This is not the Thor everyone loves, and not the Thor I even like one bit. Hes fat, with long dreads, and a beard full of crumbs. I was hoping they would serve Thor and Hulk justice in this movie, but you get absolutely none from them.
All in all, this is 100% Captain America's movie. They really should have just titled it Captain America: Endgame. Everything about him in this movie is awesome. Hes a true hero with the best leadership skills and Chris Evans performances as Cap will surely be missed. As for other characters, the development and emotion was great. The two biggest issues were just Hulk and Thor. Everything else worked well.
I wish I could write a seperate long ass goodbye letter to Tony Stark, but I dont want to get too carried away, this review is long enough already. All I have to say is thank you to Robert Downey Jr. for pioneering one of the greatest movie universes ever created. Tony Stark will go down as a hero and will be greatly loved and missed. Thank you again to everyone at Marvel who worked hard to give loving fans these 22 movies. You are the real life heros.