I have mentioned before when writing these reviews that I have never been huge into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I have never actively disliked them, but thought that from the ones I had seen that they were pretty average. Enjoyably average, but average none the less. Even after I saw 'Avengers: Infinity War' (2018) I was still not on board and actually had a fair few problems with it. But i'd be lying if I didn't get sucked into the 'Avengers: Endgame' (2019) hype. It felt like a huge occasion of a film and I felt like I had to see it opening weekend, something I have never done with any other MCU film. And I feel like it pretty much entirely lived up to the hype. I really, really enjoyed this film and after seeing it I finally understood why so many people hold the cinematic universe in such high regard. And seeing as I really enjoyed this and was able to get emotionally invested with the film, I can't even imagine what it would be like for someone who has been emotionally invested since day one. The film picks up with the surviving Avengers from Infinity War trying to cope with the huge loss they have suffered and the state that earth has been left in. Despite this they are still attempting to find a way to reverse the damage done by Thanos (Josh Brolin) and when Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), appears at the Avengers compound they believe that they may have just found that solution.
I will start this review with some critiques I do have about the film, because despite my enjoyment of the film it is definitely not a perfect one. The main problem with the film is that it can feel like it is attempting to be too fan pleasing. It is understandable why they did this, but it does mean that the film tends to drag between these big fan pleasing moments. The first half also has a tendency to drag, mainly due to the fact that the plot device that they used to get the plot moving forward is quite confusing and can often times feel a little contrived. Fortunately, the chemistry and characters that all these actors have built up throughout these films means that, despite the film feeling very long, I never felt bored. Everyone bounces off each other really well, and they are able to balance the more down moments with moments of levity very well as well. Biggest shout outs go to Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow when it comes to these more emotional moments. They are the three characters with the biggest development throughout ad have most of the focus on them and they constantly keep you engaged emotionally. Chris Hemsworth is again very entertaining as Thor and gets some of the biggest laughs throughout the film, and it is a film that I found very funny. And, finally, Josh Brolin continued to impress with his portrayal of Thanos. I left 'Infinity War' with a bit of a sympathetic feeling towards Thanos as you could understand what he was trying to do. In this film, however, he goes full on evil and Brolin does really well portraying this and making Thanos extremely intimidating.
Although the first half of the film does have a tendency to drag, the second half flies and is a ridiculous amounts of fun. It manages to be surprising, fun and heartbreaking at the same time and I couldn't look away. The final battle scene is incredible and on such a big scale that I don't think I have felt since 'Lord of the Rings: Return of the King' (2003). It is choreographed and shot much better than in a lot of other Marvel films. Older MCU films had the tendency to have really choppy fight scenes which were shot in close up so that you got the feeling of exciting action happening but you couldn't actually make out what was happening a lot of the time. This film does slip in to doing taht sometimes, but for the most part you see all the action and it is super fun and exhilarating. The special effects throughout the film are done really well, but are especially impressive in the final battle scene. With a battle on this big a scale it is very impressive just how real everything looked and how physical the whole scene felt. It is still just CGI blobs hitting other CGI blobs at the end of the day, but it was fun enough and executed well enough that it doesn't really matter. There is also one moment in this scene which was the moment I fully bought in to the hype and though 'oh wow'. Another 'Return of the King' comparison that I will bring up is that the film does have an ending like that of Lord of the Rings, in that there are several conclusions it wraps up and it can seem like it is dragging again. But they deal with these conclusions in a satisfying way and I can't think of how they could have cut any of it out so I can't complain too much.
'Avengers: Endgame' must have been good because it finally got me on board with the MCU. It is a film that is super, super long but it had to be and it manages to keep entertaining and engaging despite its lengths. All the performances are as good as you would have come to expect from all these actors at this point, with the majority of them having played these characters for over a decade now. They are all engaging and funny and drag you in on an emotional level which makes the more depressing scenes all that more impressive. Despite the first half dragging, the second half is an incredible amount of fun whilst also being heartbreaking and was worth the price of my ticket on its own. It also managed to surprise me and did subvert expectations on several occasions which kept you guessing throughout. The action is also superb and the effects are able to match the choreography to give all the action scenes weight and feel real, despite the abundance of CGI. Overall, this was a very well made and enjoyable film and I had much more fun with it than I thought I might have. I still think 'Iron Man' (2008) is my favourite of the MCU films, but this is currently a close second. So, of course I highly recommend this film, even if a recommendation seems slightly redundant because pretty much the entire world has already seen this film. But, if you are someone who hasn't yet seen it and are teetering on whether to or not, go see it on the big screen. It is made to be seen on the biggest screen possible, and if you can watch it with a crowd of rabid Marvel fans I think your enjoyment may be turned up even more.