Marvel sticks the landing

Rating: 10/10 (27 April 2019)

It's easy to be jaded. So many great shows and movie series build up and up, only to end with a whimper, retroactively stripping the earlier material of much of its quality. They get you to care about the characters, they get you involved in the plot, only to pull a ridiculous left turn or lose their way entirely, hobbling off into oblivion.
Marvel could have joined those ranks. In fact, it was hard to see how they wouldn't do that. With all they'd built up over a decade plus, if they didn't deliver a great finale, it would have cast a retroactive shadow. Thankfully, I'm happy to say, they delivered all they needed to and more, cementing what will become known as the "Infinity Saga" as a generation-defining cultural behemoth that my kids will show their kids just as I've shared Star Wars with my own.
The movie is just over 3 hours, but it very much needs all of that time to tell the story it needs to tell. The scale of this thing is mind-boggling. So many huge actors. So many characters. It could have been a mess.
Instead, it hits all its marks expertly. It is both genuinely funny and genuinely emotional. The action serves a purpose and can be followed. The characters follow unforced, natural arcs that don't feel contrived or predetermined.
The movie focuses on Iron Man and Captain America above all, which is appropriate - they have been the divided (sometimes violently so) heart of the Avengers since at least Civil War, and their somewhat competing visions have shaped everything else. In the end, I left with an overwhelming sense that the story had gone exactly where it needed to go. It was fulfilling. I am in awe of the fact that they pulled this off.