Avengers: Endgame - Movie "Review" - Was it everything we wanted and more?

This film is a 12A, was released on April 25th 2019, and this review will contain NO SPOILERS, I will do my very best and be as vague as possible. 

Introduction 

Is an introduction necessary? I think you've got the idea by now.

Thoughts Going In 

The week leading up to Endgame was a weird one. I'd done my very best to avoid all reviews / discussion about the film so I could go in as indifferent as possible, and on the day of release, I felt a bit anxious. I couldn't even eat my tea I was that nervous. But once I arrived in the incredibly packed cinema and realised I had three hours and one minute of new MCU material ahead of me, and that my questions about Infinity War were about to be answered, I sat back and relaxed. 

The Story 

The remaining Avengers have to find a way to save their fallen comrades. That's all you need to know. 

What I Liked 

To give credit where credit is due, the Russo brothers deserve enormous praise. This is the second time they've made a gigantic, somewhat incomprehensible film feel coherent and make sense. It's amazing how despite the grand scale of everything, it still feels easy to follow and make sense of. I think that's one of the best successes of this film, the fact that it managed to be as coherent as it was. 

As someone who has been a fan of this franchise for a fair amount of time, this film felt very rewarding. There's a concept in this plot which, when explored, allowed for many callbacks and references to previous entries into the franchise. I won't go into much more detail than that but it felt like a reward to see all these things be mentioned and it reminded me of just how fantastic this series is. That and many of them allowed for some great jokes.

The cinematography and special effects are stunning. I don't watch these films and think "wow that's some stunning CGI" anymore because it's so realistic and the world is so well realised that you just accept it as real and you admire it and it allows for you to be more invested in the film. That kind of goes without saying at this point but what I also appreciated was the cinematography. It captures the enormous scale and makes the whole environment feel huge. Despite the fact I saw this on a fairly big screen, I wish I could've seen it in IMAX. That would've allowed for a much more interesting and exhilarating experience.

But, the very best thing about this film, is the emotions. I was holding back tears towards the end. The film took bold risks and the pay off to some of them felt unbelievably satisfying. It is really difficult to talk about this without going into spoilers, so I'll have to expand another time. 

The last thing I'll mention, is that this film contains what I think is one of the best scenes I have ever seen in a film in my entire life. I can't say a thing about it, but it was so phenomenal and glorious, it's almost like my wildest dreams had become a reality. Trust me, you'll know it when you see it, because it's the thing we've all dreamt of. 

What I Didn't Like 

I have few criticisms with this film. My biggest issue is that even though I praised some of the humour earlier, there were sadly a lot of jokes that didn't land. This is a shame because Infinity War got the perfect balance of seriousness and humour, and while this film does get it right for most of the time, there were a lot of jokes that were either played out for too long, or weren't funny. This resulted in a somewhat mixed bag in terms of comedy and tone.

I wasn't fond of certain decisions regarding certain characters, one in particular. I won't elaborate here but I just didn't think that the direction they took this character was the right one. 

As much as these things may seem problematic, they're things I think I can look past and things that I'm sure won't be as bad upon rewatching. I say this because I had similar issues when I first saw Thor Ragnarok, and that has grown to be my favourite MCU ever, so I think the same thing will be applied to this film, hopefully. 

Conclusion 

Wow. I am in both shock and awe right now. They have done it again. Avengers: Endgame is more than just a film. It's a reward, a tribute, an experience, a journey, a thrill-ride, and an unbelievably spectacular film. This was beyond what I could've imagined. I am beyond relief that this film is as great as I was hoping. It is just magnificent. The question that now remains is, is it better than Infinity War and where does it rank among other Marvel movies. Well those are comparisons that I don't feel prepared to make yet as I've only seen this once and my opinion on it is most likely skewed by that one scene I mentioned. So, I will see it again after my exams are over (I'm sure it'll still be around by then) and after that will I make comparisons as well as be fully sure of my opinion. But as for now...

I'm going to give Avengers: Endgame a 9/10 

If you think this review was very shallow, which I know it is, I'll shortly do a spoiler review and be much more in-depth and clear there. Only read it once you've seen the movie though, because as much as you may not care, I don't want to ruin this for you.