New endings. New beginnings. 65+%

Rating: 7/10 (1 May 2019)

A satisfactory finale to "Avengers: Infinity war", which surprised me, as I scored the earlier film a 4/10 on this site.
Why the improvement? Well, even though I hadn't kept up with the other films in this franchise (i.e. the Marvel Cinematic Universe) before seeing "Avengers: Endgame" (which was no different to how I saw "Avengers: Infinity war", this time I didn't feel as though I was missing important information or events from those MCU films which I hadn't seen. So, even though I hadn't seen the current "Captain Marvel" film and she appears in this film, there just didn't seem to be anything that I was missing by not having seen that other film. That wasn't the case so much with the Ant-Man character, but I wasn't really bothered by not getting the payoff which I presume was intended from him.
Since this is the finale to a sequence of MCU films, I won't bother outlining the story so far...you should at least have seen the previous Avengers films in order to be contemplating watching the finale. So, I'll just note some things which struck me, watching this film...it may, therefore, be more interesting to people who have already seen this film.
General observations:
* Whilst the film was generally satisfying, I doubt that it would stand up well to repeated viewings, as it isn't particularly briskly paced or action-packed (not that these are necessarily bad things, especially given how boring Hollywood films can be when they go down that route).
* I wasn't a fan of the treatment of Thor in this film. Even though I've never read a Thor comic, or watched further than the first film of his own franchise, I have to say that the humour revolving around him didn't work for me. He comes across as a plummy sounding Englishman who watches way too much LA based teen comedies or something. Some of the humour was conceptual, though...in the way that Monty Python can be conceptual...your head recognises the joke but you just don't laugh. I didn't mind his pun near the end of the film though, concerning another MCU franchise. I am curious whether Chris Hemsworth went "method" for this role though, or whether CGI was used instead.
* Another big problem with the film is that it just lacks storytelling smarts, as far as the action sequences go, although that flaw is pretty much endemic to every action film ever made. The second Lord Of The Rings film, I think, conquered that common failing, in that the war scenes displayed military strategy and tactics in a dramatic and engrossing way...but perhaps that had more to do with the nature of the military technology utilised in that story? To paraphrase this point, I'm saying that you don't really get scenes where you feel that your favourite Avenger is kicking goals, so to speak (and as I don't feel particularly invested in any of the characters, this didn't bug me so much). You don't even feel as though they are in mortal danger. All you get is countless thousands of CGI fighters engaged in battle, as is Hollywood's wont. There was a missed opportunity to create drama in those set pieces. For instance, much drama could have been made of Ant-Man's abilities and how they could avert a catastrophic loss of lives amongst the forces of good. You really don't get much on that front though...you see a little bit of tactics but no drama there, whatsoever.
* Connoisseurs of time travel stories might enjoy the proceedings of this film, as there is much meta-discussion about the merits of the logic of other time travel stories known to popular culture. For all I know, the theory of time travel espoused in this film might be as absurd or incomprehensible as that of any of the films that the characters in "Avengers: Endgame" critique. The discussion is interesting nonetheless and I may try to find the script for this film in order to become more familiar with the ideas presented in it.
* CGI plays a big part in this film, as I've already mentioned with regard to the battle scenes. It also plays a part on a more intimate level. For instance, I recognised John Slattery as the actor playing one of the characters in the film. He seemed too young though for it it to be him. I'm not sure whether CGI was used for him (maybe they just used conventional special effects?)...or whether John has discovered a new facial cream with wonderfully restorative properties for his skin. Speaking of John...his character has possibly the most bizarre handshaking technique ever represented on film. It also seems to me that Robert Redford got an even bigger CGI treatment for this film than Slattery did.
* I doubt that anything at all hinges on a comment that one character made in this film, but it sounds like it should..."We deal with it by not dealing with it". I'd be interested to know if the relevant MCU franchise ("The Black Panther") will revisit this comment.
* The comment about Doctor Strange "giving away" one of the Infinity Stones intrigued me. If that was in the previous Avengers film, I've forgotten about it. Maybe I should remind myself of the circumstances of that event? In any case, I'm not sure that this film sheds light on why he might have done that. Or did I miss something?
* Since this instalment of the "Avengers" franchise serves as a bookend, I wonder whether I can be tempted back to the MCU sometime, given that the MCU is very hit-and-miss, and mostly misses, it seems to me. If I can't, then not a bad way to end this fling with Marvel.
* Curious about any lore concerning who may wield Thor's hammer.