A Fitting End to an Amazing Saga

Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2019)

The grand finale of the Avengers' saga, which began over ten years ago with "Iron Man," comes to its epic conclusion. Just like the first Avengers movie featured every Marvel character that had had a movie at the time, Marvel's entire cinematic pantheon is involved in this battle, making for one hell of an extensive cast list. With exactly half of those characters being dead at the opening of this chapter (see Infinity War), the survivors find themselves in a desperate state. They've never dealt with defeat on this scale before, and though they do rally and make one more attempt defeat Thanos and restore what was lost, they find that there truly is no coming back from this one. Their defeat is total, and their losses are quite permanent. Over the next few years, they do their best to accept this and move on. A hero thought lost returns unexpectedly, however, bringing with him a chance to turn things around.
Every character has their moment to shine.
For characters whose sagas ended with this movie, adequate time is allotted to bring their stories to a fitting, satisfying close. Tony completes his transformation from selfish billionaire to selfless hero, making the sacrifice play that Cap once said he never could have made. Steve keeps the promise he made to Peggy decades ago, before he made his own sacrifice play. None of it feels rushed or abrupt.
The attention to detail that is paid to each of the unprecedented number of characters should serve as an example for future epics on this scale. Classic lines from earlier movies are reprised, reinforcing the sense of continuity that has been so important in making these characters as beloved as they are, and in maintaining the integrity of the shared universe that they inhabit.
The only negative I could think of is the death of Black Widow. Thanos sacrificing his daughter to get the Soul Stone made sense. Not only was he dedicated to his task, moving forward in his quest with the courage of his convictions, he was also the bad guy. Heartless acts like killing one's own daughter to obtain ultimate power become villains like he. The heroes, self-sacrificing individuals they may be, should have been able to find a way to get the Soul Stone without having to murder a loved one.