I’d like to start this review with an open letter to Warner Bros./DC Comics:
Dear caretakers of the DCEU,
You can stop now. You can pack up your things and call it a day. Thank you for your services.
I cannot imagine any studio topping Avengers: Endgame. It is a satisfying emotional and action-packed roller coaster ride that perfectly wraps up the most expansive franchise in film history. Avengers: Endgame successfully accomplishes the daunting task of tying up eleven years and twenty-one films of the largest shared cinematic universe to date.
Like Infinity War (and just about every other film in the MCU), it is the character interaction that is at the heart of Endgame, but while the entire cast shines, this film belongs to Robert Downey Jr. Downey gives an incredible performance that rivals his best film work. Tony Stark has had an amazing character arc since the first Iron Man, and it’s fitting that he is the emotional centerpiece here.
I had only a few minor issues with Endgame. I’ve said this in the past, but you shouldn’t notice a film’s script structure, and if you do it means it’s off kilter, which is the case here. Because there are multiple storylines being told over the course of three hours that are wrapping up nearly two dozen films (including the first half of this one), screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely had to take some liberties with the classic three-act script structure, and it’s noticeable. The film doesn’t drag by any means, but it definitely could have benefited from being two separate films; not from the standpoint of running time, but rather storytelling. There were also a few areas of the film I would have liked to seen explored a bit more (some trivial and some relatively significant), which they could have time to do had it been two seperate films.
There were quite a bit of fan-service moments, and while they were not only appreciated but also incredibly effective, a few were a bit gratuitous. That said, the closest I will come to a spoiler is saying that Avengers: Endgame contains some of the greatest hero-shots that we’ve ever seen or will likely ever see on film. The film is also not without its share of plot holes and unresolved loose ends, but it elevated every other aspect to such a high degree that it more than makes up for those small issues.
Despite how one may feel after watching this film, the MCU is not quite finished. July’s Spider-Man: Far from Home will wrap up Phase Three of the MCU, with a number of films slated for Phase Four, not to mention the Disney + series we’ll be seeing soon. That said, I don’t envy the producers of any of those projects. Avengers: Endgame will be a hard one to beat.