Big-budget blockbuster filmmaking at its absolute best.

Rating: 9/10 (23 June 2019)

You know a film is good when it manages to make three hours absolutely fly by. 'Avengers: Endgame' does this in spades, making its gargantuan run-time seem as fast as a snap of the fingers. While it is properly pacy, this doesn't mean that it's a constantly moving, action driven piece in the same vein as its predecessor 'Avengers: Infinity War' (2018). Instead, it's a much more character focussed, dramatic film and in my eyes it's all the better for it. While 'Infinity War' was great in its own right, 'Endgame' feels like a completely different beast all together; the two are undeniably separate entities. The characters have always been what makes the MCU stand out and 'Endgame' arguably has the best character work in one of these films to date. Rather unusually for a picture of this ilk, it is focussed more on that than any action or spectacle, both completing arcs from the entire franchise and establishing new ones in itself. Each of the core players are focussed upon greatly here, which is extremely involving, especially to long-time fans of the series. That's not to say that the film is devoid of any action at all though; it comes eventually and is very much worth the wait. The third act action sequence is probably the most satisfying moment of the entire franchise and proves that Marvel knows how to stage these things very well, while still keeping a keen focus on character. There's also a lot of fan service throughout, but this hardly a bad thing at all. Being able to reference even the lesser known and liked films of the franchise and trust that the majority of the audience will be able to understand is something that Marvel wears with pride here. 'Endgame' is for the fans after all and it never forgets this, yet (unlike 'Infinity War') there's enough groundwork laid out here to make it really work on its own as an individual story, too. Overall, it's an outstanding conclusion to the 'Infinity Saga', satisfyingly wrapping everything up, making it feel like a definitive 'end', yet still leaving you excited for what's to come (the MCU isn't going anywhere any time soon). It's big-budget blockbuster filmmaking at its absolute best and one of the greatest Marvel films to date. 9/10