Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Starring Robert Downey Jr. , Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin

The hype was just too much for this movie. The expectations were set so high because of Infinity War. And I foolishly hoped beyond reason and luck that the curse would finally be broken, and we would get an ending better than the beginning and middle. It always happens. “Part of the journey is the end”. And the end is always the weakest. Return of the Jedi is the worst among the original trilogy, as is Return of the King for LOTR, and Dark Knight Rises for the Batman films. It just is impossible. You can’t make the victory better than the downfall. Now as I lament the end of the MCU, I can’t help but confess I feel disappointed. For sure Endgame is nowhere near as great as Infinity War (although no movie is), but what puzzles me is just how conflicting an experience it is. I’ll do my best to explain this with little to no spoilers, but you should read no further if you haven’t seen it.

The big problem here is the time travel. No movie or story really ever gets it right. The idea of it is spectacular storytelling, but the execution always leaves much to the imagination. Remember Rian Johnson’s Looper? No, of course you don’t. That movie started off so great, then climaxed too early, and ended way too neatly tying up its time looping paradox. This is how it should never be. Endgame relies heavily on time travel, and the multiple timeline scenario. It doesn’t quite work as it should. Man how do I get this point across?

Look, Infinity War is still the greatest movie of our time. Endgame repeats a lot of it, but not in ways we should welcome. Because of the time travel, so many of the events of that movie are seen again, and not in very exciting ways. I was bored and just plain shocked at so many of the decisions being made in the first 2 hours. The tone was that of a goofy parody. After the time skip (and man WHAT A TIME SKIP), the movie just falls apart into a cartoonish joke. Look at what they do to Thor. Hulk (is he Gray Hulk now? Whatever) is some passive celebrity. This is a comedy, but for the wrong reasons.

Did I laugh in Endgame? Sure I did. But I tilted my head in confusion so many times. I don’t get it. These decisions! The opening of the movie alone should have told me so much. It begins abruptly with Hawkeye and his family, and I do mean abruptly. And after that brief scene the Marvel logo rolls with Dear Mr. Fantasy playing. The not so serious tone was set right there. Compare that to Alan Silvestri’s PERFECT brooding score playing lowly over the Marvel logo for Infinity War. We have two polar opposite films. And I don’t know if that’s such a good thing.

Endgame’s earlier scenes do transition to a little dark in nature, and we get a surprise that happens way too quick, way too early, that we know better. But man, WHAT A TIME SKIP. My heart almost exploded out of my chest.

But then we come to the therapy sessions with a cameo from one of the Russo brothers. Then we come to the broken Avengers looking for what cannot be found. And there’s Captain Marvel sporting a super short haircut. None of this is truly compelling. Maybe that’s the nature of stories like this. The recovery from the dark times perhaps must always be lame and sorrowful. But I dunno, I just couldn’t accept the movie I was watching. For a scene or two this might have been fine, but this is the whole first 2 hours. First the weird sorrow, then the awkward and cartoony comedy. And then everything is a joke. Don’t worry, I’ll get to that last hour in a bit.

Infinity War had transcended its genre, and became so much more than a superhero movie, that it was an epic space tragedy. The very best film you’ll see for many years to come. Endgame is trapped unexpectedly in its genre. It IS a superhero movie. And a heist caper. And some neo noir bits in there. Is this what I wanted in an epic conclusion so perfectly set up by its predecessor?

The searching of the stones in different timelines before Thanos gets them is all over the place. The mess I was scared Infinity War would be is what Endgame is, especially in all these sequences. There’s just so much fluff. The film cuts around all of them in a strange manner, in not so good pacing. And I get it, there was too much to accomplish here. They return to and pay homage to each and every single Marvel movie ever made. And while I love the idea of that, in the theater I just sat so underwhelmed. I wished for more! But they didn’t give it to me. not till the end.

As I am being so vague to avoid spoilers, the final hour did wow me at least. There are a few moments to mark our generation with. Endgame peaks at a 10 in its final act, for sure you won’t be let down by it. It’s just that everything it takes to get there lost me. I was painfully aware I was watching a movie. A movie that was too cartoony for its own good.

Josh Brolin returns as Thanos, and it just isn’t the same. There is a reveal that will undo a big problem a lot of people had with Thanos’ plan in the first film. Other than that? His menace didn’t take hold of me like before. I didn’t truly feel anything of his presence, not till Cap and him have their one on one. I’d love to go into more detail, but I can’t. Because I know someone’s gonna read this without having seen the movie, and I’d like at least for everyone to have to seen it before they start disagreeing with me.

People will walk out of this movie loving it, and thinking it’s the best movie they’ve ever seen. It isn’t. It’s the events of the final hour that get their praise, they will forget the first 120 minutes like it wasn’t there, and like it didn’t have major issues. The editing just isn’t there. They hold on shots they shouldn’t, they cut around to people at all the wrong moments. They skip the people who have the most important lines. Ahhhh Iron Man, Cap, and Thor all approaching Thanos is chopped to pieces. The epicness is lost in the telling. And another painful edit away once the fight begins. I was so mad.

I’m so fucking confused about his movie. I dug the very beginning, and I loved the end (I think). But as for the rest? I think I hate it. I hated that all of Alan Silvestri’s PERFECT musical cues and score from Infinity War were shamelessly pasted over and over again in scenes and moments they shouldn’t have been. It doesn’t work. Infinity War was perfectly edited, perfectly scored, effortlessly amazing. Endgame is a mess, with one great hour, and two that try so hard to undo it.

And Captain Marvel’s role in all this? Well, you’ll see. I wasn’t impressed. And Thor! Thor with PTSD devolving into…sigh, you’ll see. But Captain America has the best moments he deserves, and two characters who shared a powerful moment in Infinity War again share another one. And all of this ends with the person it started with.

I appreciate the work that was done here. I do appreciate that I got to see this movie, and see an unprecedented universe series come to a close. But man, there was so much they could have done. All the theories, speculation, endless thoughts about what could happen….and basically none of it did. The time travel is as lame as I feared it would be. And so many things that should have stayed on the cutting room floor. And fuck it, they could have rewritten from the 10 min mark to the 2 hour one.

I should have known Endgame would be nowhere near as good as Infinity War. But I hoped it would be. And maybe I was wrong to walk in with such hope. But I lost sleep thinking about this movie. I had nightmares about everything that could go wrong for weeks and weeks leading up to this. Now that I’ve seen it, I can finally sleep. But I wish that I couldn’t.