Film Review: Avengers: Endgame

This review is spoiler free!

It’s been a year since The Snap, when Thanos wiped out half of the universe in Avengers: Infinity War, and here we are, at the end of this story. Of course, we know that there are going to be plenty of Marvel films to come, but this genuinely does feel like a culmination of this era of the MCU. I’m happy to say, that they pretty much nailed it!

This review is going to be fairly brief, and I’m not going to go into any form of plot details, because unsurprisingly, this film is much better experienced without knowing anything.

What I can say though, is that this film feels very different to Infinity War and it is understandable from the start why the decision was made to make these films two separate entities rather than referring to them as “Part One and Part Two.” Whilst Infinity War was a rather action-packed affair, Endgame is a much slower, sombre film. That isn’t a criticism, far from it, and don’t get mistaken, there’s still plenty of action to be had and it is still very much an MCU film in that respect. However, there is an atmosphere and a feeling in Endgame that is very distinct, something which I haven’t experienced before.

Endgame is far more character focused than it’s predecessor, and there is a deepness and complexity to it that I imagine will become more noticeable and appreciated upon multiple viewings. The majority of the characters are dealt with beautifully, there were one or two decisions in regards to certain characters that I didn’t agree with and did bug me, but I’ll get into more detail on that if I do a spoiler review in the future.

Endgame is without a doubt, the most ambitious MCU film in terms of storytelling. It mainly comes off, but there were a few plotholes that become a bit more frustrating the more you think about them. A story this intricate is bound to be a bit messy at times, and this is where Endgame stutters, there are a few certain moments that can be quite confusing and some that are just outright ridiculous. Thankfully, the rest of the film is so epic that these flaws can be completely forgiven.

And that is the word of the day: Epic. Because Endgame is the very definition of the word, and will undoubtedly meet or surpass your expectations on a number of occasions. It truly is a satisfying conclusion to the first 11 years of the MCU, you will laugh, you will probably cry, you’ll undoubtedly be blown away by some of the action, you’ll be cheering at some absolutely incredible moments, and you’ll witness one of the greatest final acts that you’ll probably ever see on screen.  The Russo Brothers have rewarded the fans that have been here since the start, it honours all the films that have come before, without being too cheesy or being a detriment to this story. This is fan service done correctly.

As I said at the start, I know the MCU will live on past this, but this does feel like an ending in many ways… A bloody good one. You’re in for a treat.

I’m finding it difficult to score this film, and I will admit that I think my opinion could change with multiple viewings. But, as it stands right now, I am giving Endgame the below score on the basis that I feel I slightly preferred Infinity War, mainly due to the fact that there were less things that bugged me in that film. With that being said, I do feel once I have had more time to process what I’ve seen, and when I’ve watched it again, that I may be inclined to bump up the score even higher. Watch this space!

In the meantime, get out there, see Endgame, have a blast.

Update: I did decide to up the score after reflecting on the film a bit more and allowing myself to process everything, I realised that the score I had given was too low, and it deserves to have the same ranking as Infinity War, I plan on seeing it again soon and I believe with more viewings I may actually start to think it’s better than Infinity War, as some of my problems with the film initially have been cleared up or addressed, so they’re now not problems in my eyes!

Update 2: It’s been a week now, and I can confirm that Endgame has only gone up in my estimations, as you will soon see in my updated MCU rankings. Also, since this review was posted the soundtrack to this film has been released, and I need to add another point that Alan Silvestri’s score is absolutely sensational, my hat goes off to that man!

I give Avengers: Endgame a 9/10.