Avengers: Endgame - A fitting (if long!) conclusion

Where do you begin with this film?  I doubt there's that many people who turn up to the cinema (or pick out a random DVD etc) and see a film called 'Avengers: Endgame' and decide to watch it without really knowing anything about it.  Basically, it's the finale to a series of 21 (I think!) films which have spanned over an eleven year period.  So, do you need to watch all those films before watching 'Endgame?' No.  But it sure helps!

However, to give the most briefest of summaries, 'Avengers: Endgame' is a superhero movie where Earth's mightiest heroes come together to right the wrongs of a bad purple dude called 'Thanos' who has only gone and wiped out exactly 50% of the universe by collecting a load of magic (on 'infinity' to give them their proper name) stones and then putting him in his equally magic glove and snap his fingers to achieve this feat.  Luckily, Earth still has enough heroes left to stop him.

If - and I find this hard to believe - you have never watched anything that has come before it, you may just about get what's going on.  There are battles, shocks, surprises, plenty of action and computer-generated characters in crazy worlds and locations.  So it's fun.  But I think that's a severe minority who will view it like that.  For the rest of us - particularly people like me who have been following the franchise from the very beginning - will see it through completely different eyes.  We will get every last reference and portion of 'fan service' (and there is plenty of that).

I won't go into details because this could well be the biggest cinematic/filmic event to date.  Franchises like 'James Bond' may have had more installments, but they were individual stories and didn't all link up and come together in one almighty conclusion.  So this is the longest-running story ever on film (yes, I know you can probably watch the previous entries on their own and understand them as one-offs).  In contains all the endings you'll need for your favourite characters, such as Thor, Iron Man and Captain America.  All three superheroes are played - as usual - to perfection by Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans.  If you've followed these characters since the beginning, you won't fail to be moved by watching their various conclusions.

I loved it, but it's not without it's flaws.  It's worth noting that it's over three hours long and, for all its fan service, it does tend to drag in one or two areas.  Plus it's quite 'exposition heavy' meaning characters have to explain the 'science' of various fantastical events for us - the audience - to properly understand the ways they're going to dig themselves out of such a hole as restoring the other half of the universe's population.

However, if you've watched the majority of what's come before 'Endgame' then you'll probably sit through this and enjoy it to various levels.  I've seen plenty other reviews and most - if not all - have been positive about the film.  I don't know where the MCU (or 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' to be correct) will go from here.  I'm sure it'll be good, but - for some reason - I just can't see it ever living up to the hype and novelty of this first 'phase' of the overall story.

Oh, and for those who weren't too taken with Brie Larson's 'Captain Marvel' character - don't worry - she's not in it that much.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one