The Hero With a Thousand Faces

Rating: 9/10 (1 May 2019)

Endgame was an eagerly anticipated event (it is an *event*) in my household: family members who saw it before others were assiduous in not revealing spoilers, such was the reverence for the film and not wanting to spoil it for others. Having seen it, I can now understand why.
I'm so old I remember reading the original Avengers comics, and one of the most satisfying things about Endgame was the fidelity, once again, to the spirit of the original comics and their characters, scripted by Lee and drawn by Kirby or Ditko. This is always a huge relief to a Marvel fan. Evans and Downey can be justifiably proud of the way they incarnated their characters, fleshing out in a very real and human way, the 2-dimensional comic. In fact it is a great effort by the whole cast: there is not one weak performance.
It's one of the best-crafted films I've ever seen: this statement gives you a clue that it is not the crash-bang, thrill-a-minute extravaganza that we've come to expect from the genre. There are many poignant and tender scenes early on as the dreadful realization of Thanos's actions in Infinity War become apparent. The plot lines are clever, not contrived; with the trademark humour intact, as the action builds to one climax after another. I was looking out for the woke scenes and sure enough, they do come, but are immediately followed and tempered by a thrilling affirmation of the triumph and tragedy of the life of the Hero. What more can you ask for?
A truly momentous film. Great, even.