SPOILERS AHEAD!
As an avid Marvel fan from a young age, I couldn't wait to watch the movie that would be the end to 11 years worth of films. On Friday 26th of April, I watched Avengers Endgame and left the cinema feeling utterly broken.
The beginning of this film picks up a few days after the final events of Infinity War. Tony Stark and Nebula are left stranded in space but are rescued by Captain Marvel. After reuniting with some of the remaining Avengers, they find Thanos only to discover that he has destroyed the Infinity Stones. Angered, Thor kills Thanos, this time aiming for the head. As this scene is at the beginning of the film, it leaves you wondering how the Avengers will go about reversing Thanos's actions.
However, the film then shifts to 5 years later. Scott Lang manages to escape the quantum realm with the help of a rat, after being trapped there when Hank, Janet and Hope Pym disintegrate. He then visits Natasha Romanoff and explains how with time travel, the Avengers can reverse Thanos disintegrating half the universe. The film seems a bit slow here, as it mainly just consists of Lang reuniting with his now grown daughter, Cassie, and his explanation of time travel and the quantum realm.
The three of them now visit Tony Stark (personally my favourite superhero in the MCU) to enlist his help. It is now revealed that Tony has a daughter, Morgan, and he refuses to help in fear of losing his child. However, Tony proceeds to mourn for the loss of Peter Parker (a heart-wrenching scene in Infinity War, when a frightened Parker disintegrates in Tony's arms) and Tony eventually cracks the secret to time travel.
Natasha recruits Clint and Bruce Banner and Rocket find Thor on New Asgard. The depiction of Thor in Endgame is something I heavily disagree with and one of the main things that disappointed me in this film. In 2017, Taika Waititi developed the character of Thor as one of ultimate strength, unreliant on his hammer in Thor Ragnarok. The film shows Thor as ready to rule the Asgardians and his character lead many fans to believe that Thor may be the strongest Avenger. However, the Russo brothers chose to portray Thor as "one long fat joke". Thor has hair bordering on dreadlocks, a beer belly and a ragged beard. Instead of being a fit leader to the Asgardians (as he was hinted to be in Ragnarok) Thor is an alcoholic who spends his time playing Fortnite, regretting his decision to kill Thanos. The Russo brother's attempt to make Thor's situation comical just undos Waititi's iconic depiction of Thor in Ragnarok.
After all the Avengers have come together, they all travel back to certain places in time using Pym particles to retrieve the Infinity stones even before Thanos has found them. One of my favourite scenes from the film was when Tony, Bruce, Steve and Scott travel to 2012 New York City and see all the original Avengers assembled as a team. The scene came from the 2012 Avengers film and made me realise how much of my childhood was invested in religiously following the MCU.
However, when Tony and Steve fail to acquire the space stone, they leave Scott behind to travel to 1970s S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters. Here you can see late legend Stan Lee's final cameo in a Marvel film. This part of the film also has 2 more emotional scenes: Tony meets and converses with his father while Steve gets to see Peggy through an office window.
During these events, Thor and Rocket time travel to Asgard on the same day his mother died. They retrieve the Reality Stone from Jane, Thor speaks with his mother for the last time and he also manages to collect Mjolnir. Clint and Natasha travel to Vormir and after fighting over who would sacrifice themselves for the soul stone, Natasha jumps. One of my favourite Avengers (apart from Tony) was Black Widow, as she is perhaps the most underrated, and it broke my heart to see her die before she even got her own film. When the Avengers time travel back to the present and reunite, I felt that her death was brushed over really quickly and that no one except Bruce truly understood her sacrifice.
The events after this point pick up quickly. Banner uses the Infinity Stones to bring back everyone who was disintegrated in Infinity War. Clint's phone starts ringing with a call from his wife which makes you understand that everyone has come back. However, in a turn of events, Nebula from the past travels to the present and transports Thanos to the Avengers, resulting in Thanos bombing the Avengers HQ.
Here is the real plot twist. In a fight ensuing between Thor and Thanos, Captain America is able to lift Mjolnir, proving he is now worthy. To this surprising feat, Thor responds saying he "knew it".
Dr Strange arrives with all the restored Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and warriors from Wakanda and Asgard. One of the iconic fight scenes in the film was when all the female superheroes united to help safeguard Peter Parker. Okoye (one of my personal favourites) alongside Captain Marvel and others showcased the true meaning of female power. All the superheroes fight Thanos' army but Thanos seizes the gauntlet after fighting Steve, Captain Marvel and Thor. However, Tony steals the stones back and snaps his fingers to disintegrate Thanos and his army, saying "I am Iron Man" for one last time. Due to the power of the stones, Tony is fatally wounded and dies alongside Pepper and Peter Parker. This scene has to be the most heart breaking thing I have ever watched in a filmin my life! As a child, I grew up fascinated by Iron Man and would replay the movies until I could quote lines from the film. For any marvel fan out there Tony dying will break your heart.
A funeral is held for Tony after this final battle and his daughter Morgan sees him say that he "loves her 3000" for one last time through a hologram. The teenager present at Stark's funeral is in fact the same boy from Iron Man 3 (Harley Keener), showing Iron Man's journey from start to finish. Following the funeral, Thor makes Valkyrie the new ruler of Asgard while joining the Guardians of the Galaxy in PeterQuill's search for Gamora of the past. Steve goes back in time to return the Infinity Stones and chooses to go even further back in time to marry Peggy and stay with her. In the present, an aged Steve gives his shield to Falcon, appointing him the new Captain America with Bucky's approval. This was the final major thing I disagreed with. Steve chose to abandon Bucky and disrupt Peggy's life (she had married someone else and began a family after Steve was thought to have died in Captain America: The First Avenger). After everything that Cap and Bucky had been through I thought it was selfish of him to leave him for Peggy and then to have the complete disregard for Bucky's future and pass on the title of Captain America to Sam.
The film ends with no post-credits scenes, but rather the familair clanging of metal, the sound of Tony building his original Iron Man suit in Iron Man (2008).
Overall, I felt that the film had not done justice to 11 years worth of movies, as it felt a bit rushed, but had a bittersweet ending to the end of an era.
