Film: Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame is a film that fulfills what it set out to do - to be the conclusion to a saga spanning 21 previous films released over a decade. Although it manages this mammoth task perfectly, it doesn't quite manage to do so while being a technically good film in itself.

Of course, the film's making was unusual - Brie Larson has already told us that her first scene as Captain Marvel was from Endgame (spoiler: who is still a badass by the way), and you can almost see the seams in the patchwork of the way in which the film must have been shot. The acting is fine, the plot a little thin and the pacing off, but the action exceeds what we've seen before. Given the circumstances, it's all the best it can be.

But it would be useless to judge this as a film since it would never be seen as one. No, this is a final chapter, a deliverance, a closure of sorts, with a third act that's worth any flaws in not only this film but in the whole of the MCU altogether. The tears I shed and the communal cheers I joined in with weren't because of any technical quality in film-making but because it knew exactly how to push the button it's been building for so long. The term "fan-service" comes no where near in describing what this movie provides.

Before watching this tonight I was already planning my second viewing. And three hours later and I'm no longer sure if that will happen. This is not going to be a classic in itself, and probably won't even hold up as one of the better MCU movies. But what it is is an essential chapter in the Infinity Saga, and the perfect end to a classic series.