This is a *SPOILER FREE* Ten Minute review.
We waited a few days to go see the movie, hopeful that it would not be spoiled by media. It wasn’t. It could’ve been, but we were careful. I am grateful that it wasn’t because seeing the film without expectation really helped me to appreciate the film for what it was trying to do. It also helped me to recognize all that this film was trying to do, and I must say Avengers: Endgame tries to do too much.
The problem with major market film over literature (even comics) is that you are attempting to please too many audiences. You are catering to too many demographic groups in the Blockbuster arena. It is as if everyone and every group needs to have their moment on screen. Avengers delivers very clearly in this respect. Everyone and every group gets their moment. It was far too obvious that everyone and every group had their moment. Still, at the core the story being told is about the original gang of avengers and their journey through this extended phase of the MCU. It is clear that this phase ended with the arrival of Captain Marvel. It is also clear that this film was meant to be a passing of the torch of sorts to the next group of heroes with feature films on the way. This was done far too literally in my opinion. As a result, we wind up feeling like the Russo’s were in fact catering to demographics in a very ‘Yes We Can’ fashion.
Much has been made on the internet of the fact that there is no after credit scene. This is utterly bollocks. The credits themselves are the scene. Stay. Watch. Appreciate the roll call of all the heroes and finally all the workers who made this possible. It isn’t done in the typical fashion of, “Here is a clip from the next film’ however, those clips are not actually ever canonical to the films they profess. They are instead teasers of what might happen. This film has actual credits that applaud what did happen from the start of the universe in film till now.
Overall, Avengers is a must watch. It is a beautifully shot film that does fail as a sci-fi (or even rational) argument, but it works as a comic on screen, and that is all it ever really was.