<Review by: Sailesh Ghelani>

Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo. Starring Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Brolin and many more

Running time: 3 Hours

The 22^ndfilm in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Endgame must deftly unite all the super heroes and tie up all the plots, sub plots and relationships nicely, while also delivering high quality CGI battles, witty banter and a few twists. Thankfully Disney has assembled some very talented filmmakers and actors who pull it off.

After Avengers: Infinity War left us with a universe devoid of half its inhabitants and super heroes, even one last valiant attempt by the remain group fails. Five years later, the world has changed drastically and people are still trying to pick up the pieces. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) takes solace in his family, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) conducts a support group and Natasha Romanov (Scarlett Johansson) tries to keep the super hero enforcers together to maintain a little peace in what’s left of the galaxy. Bruce Banner has altered the Hulk’s persona for the better and seems happy with his new life. But Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) returns to his dimension from the quantum realm he was trapped in in Infinity War and brings with him news of a new hope to restore what was lost.

Thus, begins a quest to rewrite history and defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin). The remaining Avengers are grouped up and sent off to alternate timelines where they must be successful, whatever it takes. This allows for a more controlled environment where the directors can focus on a few characters at a time and also resolve their story arcs, the inter-personal relationships as well as the demons that have been their friends.

There’s a lot more emotion, reflection and darkness in Endgame that is nicely offset at points with lightheartedness. Our super heroes – even the god like ones – can be quite human and evince fear, insecurity, pain, depression and all the things that we all deal with in a world without Iron Man and Captain Marvel.

Speaking of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), she isn’t a huge part of the film (thankfully, since I found her a bit boring in the solo film). Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson are brilliant in the emotional bits, lending soul to the what could otherwise have been a very stone cold, formula action film.

The three-hour running time could have been a tad less but because Marvel has built up such a loyal fan base and all the characters are so beloved, they have pretty much written a new book on how to make a successful film franchise. Great CGI (unlike the terrible and cheap visual effects in the Warner-DC films), emotion, fun, technology, cross-overs, engaging stories, staying true to the comics, and consistency have made all the difference. While Avengers: Endgame isn’t a great movie – it can be a bit messy and confusing – it is a feat of filmmaking that shows the brilliance of the writers, directors, producers and everyone involved in this epic saga. But all good things…