Avengers: Endgame

Official Australian release date: 24/4/19. Viewed: 25/4/19.

Directors: Anthony Russo & Joe Russo

Actors: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Rudd

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

{spoiler-free}

‘Avengers: Endgame’ (or “Avengers 4”) is the culmination of 21 films of inter-connected storytelling and while it’s not the best film ever made (although it may end up the highest-grossing), it is certainly a fitting conclusion to one of cinemas most ambitious undertakings. If you haven’t seen enough Marvel films to understand what’s going on (what have you been doing!?), you’ll still probably enjoy this, but a lot of backstory and character knowledge is assumed. This film follows on directly from ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, but it definitely helps if you’ve seen ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ and ‘Captain Marvel’ since then.

OK, some things that will help outline the film, but I don’t think are spoilers: Scott/Ant-Man (Rudd) and Clint/Hawkeye (Renner) get plenty of screen time, seeing as they weren’t in ‘Infinity War’. Natasha/Black Widow (Johansson) and Bruce/Hulk (Ruffalo) also have a bit more to do, which is fitting, giving all the original Avengers time to shine. Thor (Hemsworth) still gets plenty of great jokes. But, as always, this is the Steve & Tony show, with Steve/Captain America (Evans) and Tony/Iron Man (Downey Jr.), reconnecting and leading the Avengers as they try to undo what Thanos (Brolin) did to the universe in ‘Infinity War’.

Plot-wise, I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say there’s some time travel involved. It’s not totally out of the realms of what we’ve seen happen in other films, so you can go along with it. This obviously leads to some funny throw-backs/sentimental moments with other characters. Some of the start/middle is a bit of a slog, but it’s all set-up for the end, and they can’t be too happy & having fun after what happened. The final act is very satisfying, but also quite emotional and sad in parts. It’s handled quite well. FYI: No credit scenes at all, so feel free to go to the bathroom after the 3 hours are up!

Overall: Epic conclusion to a masterful series of films – Stan Lee would be proud.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.