REVIEWED: AVENGERS: ENDGAME 9/10 – A+. SPOILER-FREE

The following review contains no spoilers. Click here for my spoiler review.

After Infinity War’s game-changing ending; Avengers: Endgame finds the heroes broken due to their catastrophic loss. Most of the Avengers have assembled at the Avengers base whilst Iron Man and Nebula are stranded in space after getting stuck on Titan at the end of Infinity War. They decide they must undo the Thanos snap whatever it takes.

And honestly where do I begin? I watched this film on Thursday and intended to write the review and release it straight away; but this film is so epic that I can’t even put my thoughts and feelings into words – it’s just such a big job. I have had to wait a couple days to even write this review, just because  that’s how amazed I am at this film – and have no idea how to do so without spoilers. It is a great end to the franchise which continues Infinity War so seamlessly with some incredible moments in the first act and wraps everything up so nicely with an amazing final act – that not only serves justice to the fans but also to these characters that we have loved over the last few years.

I gave Endgame a 9/10; which I’ve only ever given one film (Infinity War). And in my reviews I always explain why I gave that score – this film is no where near perfect and honestly if you tried to or if you got hung up on the wrong aspect/element of the film (because there is so much going on) you could fall into something you just can’t forgive. But that is such a small problem in the grand scheme of things and just isn’t a problem with Endgame; it is so pleasing that you don’t want to nitpick at it and you choose not to think about it too hard because then it would just ruin the fun. The fact the entire marketing campaign sold us a completely different movie (a movie – may I add that is just the first fifteen minutes) just shows how amazingly fresh this film feels.

It really is the superhero movie to end all superhero movies; tying up the last eleven years nicely and giving us scene after scene of pure bliss – giving so much fan service it is amazing. The final forty minutes are just incredible, and the Russo brothers make decisions that genuinely shocks the audience. I said that Infinity War felt like an MCU film whilst; this film is an Avengers film, it focuses on the main six – and they carry so much of the film. Iron Man, Captain America and Black Widow all have great arcs that does so much for who they are as characters. Whilst Thor, Hulk and Hawkeye (who is definitely the MVP and I don’t only say that because he is the best avenger) all have arcs that add so much to their characters. Surprisingly; Nebula gets a great arc in this movie and really shines throughout the movie, Ant-Man is a joy as always but the rest of the cast really don’t have enough to do in order to leave a mark.

But onto the problems. Due to the nature of the movie, many many questions get answered, but it does ask a fair few. Some, I think are intended to be asked but there are some that it doesn’t want you to think about. And their answer to that is literally; ‘ I acknowledge your question, but look over here’. And that is absolutely fine! When it comes to the logistics of the film’s actual plot you almost have to accept it for it is and not wish it to be what it wasn’t. It is the perfect conclusion to a 22 movie arc; where Marvel literally leaves no end dangled. Every plot thread that has been set from these past twenty-two films are tied up and it manages to do so with you having no indication about what the film is. YES – the trailers only show the first fifteen minutes.

Onto the 3 hour run-time. And I think it was perfect, I had no problems with it and honestly it was so refreshing. When I was watching the film I remember thinking “oh wait; there is still about an hour left!’. And, I was so happy – plus the film flies by- just hope you don’t get a family in front of you going to the cinema every twenty minutes (I’m not that upset). However, they could have easily cut about twenty minutes of the film, and I wish they had devoted that time to some of the characters that never really got much screen time, and maybe use that time to a extend certain character’s grievances (there is one in particular that is completely unfair to the character)

Once again; Marvel deserve a round of applause because as a year has passed; everyone had their own theories about what would happen, they all had their own expectations. This tends to lead to some issues because not everything they wanted to happen happens. But Endgame manages to find the perfect comprise and gives us some amazing scenes with an amazing final battle to blow us away. It balances everything perfectly and finds the perfect comprise for all fans who love these different characters.

Adam Zenasni