Good standalone movie, but not so great as a sequel to Infinity War - click on down arrow for more info

Rating: 1/10 (10 May 2019)

I'm a huge fan of the MCU, and honestly, I think I've watched Infinity War over 20 times prior to watching Endgame. I had high expectations for the sequel, and actually thought it would be deeper than it turned out to be. Endgame is intricate, yes. But intricately shallow. Here are some things I thought would happen but didn't. First of all, I counted on every line in Infinity War, thinking it would imply something greater in Endgame.
Example 1:
When Thanos asked Red Skull "Where is the Soul Stone?", Red Skull responded, "You should know, it extracts a terrible price." Thanos replied with "I am prepared," and Red Skull said, "We all think that at first. We are all wrong."
This led me to think that perhaps in Endgame, Thanos regrets his decision to kill Gamora, and somehow the stone would turn on him or doesn't work the way it should because what he did to her was not really love. He selfishly sacrificed her, and true love is putting someone else's needs before your own. Although this part is sort of redeemed in Endgame when Nat sacrificed herself for Clint (to contrast what Thanos did to Gamora), Endgame still should have shown how Thanos was "wrong" in thinking that he could let Gamora go if he did truly love her. Doing so would have also added another facet his character. However, in Endgame, Thanos was not the same as he was in Infinity War. He had no conviction and became even more ruthless in his avenging.
Example 2:
Dr. Strange told Tony Stark "We're in the endgame now" and "there was no other way" right before he turned to dust.
I had high hopes for Dr. Strange and his creative problem-solving skills in Endgame. I thought he had perhaps sent the time stone to the past or future to do some "work" prior to handing it over to Thanos. But nope, there was nothing. He handed over the actual stone. There was no manipulation of it. There was also no game plan. Dr. Strange HAD NO PLAN! He basically saw his 14+ million possible outcomes that they would win by some stroke of luck, and bet everything on that one chance (which was a mouse hitting some switches in Ant-Man's time machine van). Wouldn't it have been more intricate if he had sent the stone to the past or future to tamper with time, or to somehow orchestrate events in a way where their winning was more premeditated and planned, than merely by some stroke of luck or some random chance?
Example 3
In Infinity War, when Vision offered to die to save half the universe, Captain American told him, "We don't trade lives Vision", and Vision said, "Captain, 70 years ago you laid down your life to save how many millions of people, tell me why is this any different."
I thought Captain America would be the one who would sacrifice himself in Endgame, perhaps the one to undo the snap. He was the one who previously laid down his life for millions and perhaps he should have done it in Endgame.

I'm bummed about a few other things. I couldn't relate to the characters as much as I did in Infinity War. Endgame's characters' interactions felt more scripted and robotic.
I wasn't convinced that Morgan was Pepper's daughter. I didn't sense that connection between them. There was no scene of Pepper tending to Morgan in the movie, except for the end when she held Morgan at Tony's funeral. I didn't feel sad at Tony's funeral. Nobody cried there. Yes, he was a true hero, but there should have been some tears. Maybe they all saw that his death was unpreventable, but still, the loss didn't seem emotionally impactful (to me).
I really did not like what they did to Thor in Endgame. They stripped him of his dignity. I thought maybe they would redeem him by the movie's end, but they didn't. He was still fat and no longer desired to lead Asgard. Back on the alcoholism road, maybe? Thor also had both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker in Endgame, yet he couldn't even strike Thanos (who had no stones to empower him this time).
The melding of Banner and Hulk was underwhelming. It was Hulk's extremity that made him The Hulk. Banner-Hulk may seem like "the best of both worlds," but it made the character too palatable, too compromised, and not exciting or powerful. He wasn't a strong fighter like the Hulk, and he just looked like a green Thanos with glasses. There should have been a Hulk and Thanos rematch to redeem the Hulk at least!
Also, how did Captain Marvel come in just the right time at the beginning and the end to help save the day? That end-credit scene in Captain Marvel where she comes back asking "Where's Fury?" should have been included in this movie. I also think she should have been included MORE in this movie if she is to be considered an Avenger and a part of the team.
And the ending...how did Captain America age after living a "normal" life with Peggy? And even if they did marry, wouldn't he still have looked only 40 years old after she had grown old and died? And what if they had kids? Wouldn't their kids run into Peggy's original kids with her previous husband? Confusing and just odd.
There were a LOT of superheroes in this movie (especially when the snap was reversed), but they all felt like strangers to me. I could not connect with them, perhaps because there was only so much that could be jam packed in 3 hours.
All in all, I thought the movie was good because it was still complex. I loved the action scenes and I enjoyed seeing some characters rekindling with loved ones from their past. However, this movie did fall short in quite a few areas and just wasn't as deep as I had hoped it would be. The time traveling had its own plot holes, and I truly miss Vision and the 2018 Gamora.
I think Infinity War was the better movie. Endgame, by itself, was a good standalone movie, but it wasn't well executed as Infinity War's sequel. Even though Infinity War and Endgame had the same sets of writers and directors, it didn't feel that way. The pacing, plot progression, and division of screen time for actors were handled more aptly in Infinity War, in my opinion.