Avengers:Endgame

11 years. 22 films. Now, we're in the Endgame. Take a bow Russo Brothers, for you have ferociously concluded the 2010s with a bang! Because that's exactly what this Brobdingnagian magnum opus is - an absolute fucking bang!

Thanos' tyrannical action in Avengers: Infinity War led to a world filled with grim and despair. We lost 50% of the living creatures in universe for good, including our beloved set of second generation superheroes. There's absolutely no way to undo this, or is there? The sequel is here to provide the definitive answer!

Be mindful that Avengers: Endgame is a beast ride larger than any motion pictures you have ever come across in your life as per this film's release. In terms of scale, cast, events, plot parallels, characters, predecessors; everything. It's easy or unavoidable to be overwhelmed by the happenings onscreen, therefore at least two viewings are definitely needed to soak, register and digest it all in. The first one would keep your minds busy running after the plot, and the second would open your eyes to the flawless script design and prodigious filmmaking bravura on display!

You could compartmentalize this feature into 3 separate movies of its own, according to its respective Acts. The first deals with loss. The second is a time heist. And the third is the ultimate showdown! As the story starts, you are bound to feel the heavy air of remorse instantly. From Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) straying in space waiting for demise before being rescued by Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Clint Barton's (Jeremy Renner) family evaporating into dust to presumed dead Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) seeking his grown daughter, it was highly emotional and downright heartbreaking. We've never seen these superheroes cry or grief this much. The pain is real and something has to be done about it as the title card's parked right at this apt moment! The immediate action would of course be to find Thanos (Josh Brolin) who is now farming at a distant planet to get by life, retrieve the Infinity Stones and snap it again to reclaim the dead. A seemingly weak but accomplished Thanos sits across the ambush helplessly, revealing that the cosmic gems have been destroyed thus rendering former doings permanent. After Thor (Chris Hemsworth) going after the head this time, the team separated ways for half a decade. Stakes have been clearly established.

Prioritization for human communications and relationships in this section of the screen-time has to be lauded! This is our chance to see what's truly beneath those costumes and superpowers - flesh, blood, pain, loss; human. Tony Stark's interactions with his daughter Morgan (Alexandra Rachael Rabe) were too adorable. A post-apocalyptic wasteland setting for a superhero film was refreshing too. Thanks to a rat, we manage to pull Ant-Man out of the quantum realm he's been in since the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp. Confused with what has transpired, a proposal was put forth to have a go at travelling to a timeline before to reset matters. Hereon after, Avengers: Endgame becomes a thrill jolt of an electrifying escapade! Hulk Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Rocket (Bradley Cooper) travelling to New Asgard with the goal of recruiting Thor back into the game with an extra sweet surprise entries by Korg (Taika Waititi) and Miek playing Fortnite plus Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) paying visit to a Ronin form Hawkeye were delights! With a precise, detailed and simple explanation of a Time Heist strategy, the Avengers are prepared for a journey (after an awe-inspiring pep talk by Cap!) beyond time and space to 2012 New York, 2013 Asgard and 2014 Morag plus Vormir. Six stones. Three teams. One shot. Whatever it takes!

Of course, rarely things sail according to plan! Placing aside the immense excitement of reliving events from the series such as The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Guardians of the Galaxy and the elevator replica scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely knew how to amplify the obstacles and make all hell awry! The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) expelling Bruce's consciousness out of his body, Captain America (Steve Rogers) stealing the Mind Stone-contained-spear away by uttering the controversial comic line "Hail, Hydra" before engaging in a fisticuffs with his 2012 self plus Loki (Tom Hiddleston) escaping with the Tesseract in a failed robbery execution that forces Tony and Steve to take a trip down to 1970 Garden State were simply mindblowing! The struggle to sacrifice oneself between Black Widow and Hawkeye will shatter hearts into pieces. But the most dangerous of all, Thanos now knows about this grand scheme via the doppelganger Nebula (Karen Gillan) and is ready to stop destiny from rerouting!

If whatever occurred thus far wasn't enough, Act III blasts the audiences out of the water with no prior heads up! In an intense battle between Thanos and the Avengers Trinity, it's impossible to not scream from beginning to end! Thor gaining his new avatar, charging Iron Man's armor with his lightning plus dual-wielding Mjolnir and Stormbreaker were incredible! But nothing is comparable to Captain America brandishing the Mjolnir! The combos he unleashed on Thanos using his classic shield and Mjolnir were the peaks of stunt choreography! A chronically beaten down Captain America starting across Thanos summoning his entire alien army down to consume Earth once and for all will submit your mind, heart and body into a complete complex shutdown. There's no way out. The Avengers Trinity are done for.

"Cap. Sam here, can you hear me?". Just like that, all our eradicated heroes return to the big screen, one by one! As Captain America gathers everyone with: "Avengers, Assemble!", theaters went freaking ballistic! Spider-Man's Iron Spider Armor insta-kill, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) as Iron Woman teaming up with Iron Man, Thor and Cap swapping weapons, Giant-Man emerging out of the flood rescuing War Machine (Don Cheadle), Hulk and Rocket, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) wailing at Thanos for destroying Vision, Spider-Man (Tom Holland) aided along to the quantum realm machine-equipped-van by Captain America, Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Iron Woman until Captain Marvel arriving at the right time for the rescue were highlights of this mega war! All women superhero amassing is a forgivable political correctness agenda on Disney's part since the shot was awesome and short. With Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) pointing out that the time has come for the 1 possibility win, Iron Man snatches the Infinity Stones under Thanos' eyes, fits it into his gauntlet and snaps, eliminating the sum of evil forces at existence.

What can be said about the technical superiority that hasn't been said before for all our favorite big-budgeted Hollywood products? The look of this movie was beyond pristine from start to finish! The director duo handled the filmmaking and sequence progression with expert professionalism. The meticulously planned clarity, framing, staging, impact and nuances in the godly camera work, score, sound editing and mixing were gorgeous! Thanos' retirement garden, armors, simulated Infinity Gauntlet, time-travel suits, malnourished Tony Stark, out-of-shape Thor, distant communication tubes, young Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), animatronics, hologram shield, Thanos scarecrow and the makeup for aged Steve Rogers were immaculate.

Marvel takes extreme care towards their characters' physical appearances. They have always made sure to update the looks of these superheroes from one installment to another. In Endgame, you'll get to see various incarnations of every single character across different timelines. Not only it helps to identify the version of these personas we are watching, but also to show how far these characters have evolved from past till present. Black Widow's various hairdos, Hulk who smashes has become the stark contrast Professor Hulk who could barely rage as this changed man and Thor who has let go to become a drunken fatso before transforming into a bulk Thunder God at the end were astounding!

A common trope we see in Marvel Cinematic Universe's pictures is the emphasis on humor. When said humor is necessary or knitted seamlessly into the ongoing proceedings, it works big time by adding quality entertainment value without hurting the primary narrative drive and runtime. However, when the comedy is forced, the total opposite could happen. While 'Build-A-Bear', Hulk replacing Scott Lang's empty tacos, Rocket's "Boom!" scare, Tony Stark's bedtime story: "Once upon a time, Maguna went to bed. End of story.", Scott Lang agreeing to the 'time machine' term, Captain America replying "Yeah, I know." to his younger self who says: "I could do this all day.", Rocket's pep talk for Thor, Tony Stark threatening his kid to go to bed by saying: "Go to bed or I'll sell all your toys.", references to older time-travel features and Coen Brothers' The Big Lebowski, Scott Lang of all ages and Rhodes' suggestion to kill baby Thanos were examples of relevant enjoyable jokes, whereas Scott Lang's argument with a group kids about taking selfie, Nebula's comment about Scott Lang upon landing on Earth plus remarks about Captain America's ass and Tony Stark's body spray in a crucial period that has a lot of seriousness and focus going on were instances of needless quips that could have been erased.

Avengers: Infinity War told the tale of a protagonist named Thanos who attempted to reserve resources by thinning out users. Battling with his own Lie and Truth, the initial external goal was achieved regardless. Avengers: Endgame narrates the continuation in reverse from the point of view of multiple protagonists, comprising of the 3 primary and 3 sub-primary Avengers with their own sets of Lie and Truth, trying to cope and conquer the consequences left by the devastating disaster as each of them reach the supreme resolution to their respective character arcs.

Tony Stark begins with a perception aka Lie that nothing can be done to overturn what has happened. Here's a man who once thought he could have everything in full control by creating a self-operating defense system called Ultron to protect the planet, only to backfire in the form of global catastrophe. Now that most of his apprentices are gone, he gives up and settles for an ordinary life with a wife and kid of his own. The moment a plausible opportunity rises, he had to respond to the Inciting Incident and take a shot at doing his absolute best to bring back those who bit the dust. It's a tough decision as he could kill himself or veritably alter the history through this Time Heist plan, and you could see how unwilling and scared he is to lose everything he has earned in the past 5 years. The miracle to be able to meet his father Howard Stark (John Slattery) allowed Tony to make peace with and thank his past. Life has come to full circle. At the brink of death and total absence of hope, he accepts the Truth and grants his life to save us all.

Steve Rogers believed we should embrace the reality, move forward and live in the now. But his Need has always been in the past - Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). A gift to revisit the 70s funneled him hope that it is possible for him to live the life he once missed. Therefore, Captain America passed the mantle to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) aka Falcon after growing old with his long lost sweetheart. Thor has seen the most and biggest failures among the three. This God of Thunder is a walking corpse who has nothing left to fight for. He's an obese drunk without an identity. A fortune to meet his deceased mother supplied encouragement and push to find himself once again, strengthened symbolically by him regaining Mjolnir! While he has not found it yet, handing over his kingship to Valkyrie is a start. It's okay to be positive that we could see him again as he joins the Guardians of the Galaxy.

With the 3 primary Avengers facing off Thanos; the physical embodiment of the theme inevitable and loss, the sense of achievement, satisfaction, graceful retirement and conclusion for these veterans can't help but course through our veins in a vigor rush never-before-experienced! Fates of the sub-primary Avengers were tied into a beautiful, strong knot too. Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow sacrificed her soul for her only family to make sure Clint Barton aka Hawkeye could return to his, like many others. Bruce Banner is happy to have found the equilibrium best of both worlds - brains from Bruce, brawn from Hulk and now lives as the handsome Professor Hulk Banner. If you zoom out further and view the compass of transformations for all these characters from the very first film to this, a smile will be automatically erected on your face.

Every Act, Sequence and Scene adhered to the anatomy of storytelling strictly, with a fantastic designing principle being the cherry top! Arrangement of events were perfect without a second wasted. Reunions between characters and coverage of subset Avengers families during Tony Stark's funeral procession were fantastic. Stan Lee, human form Jarvis (James D'Arcy) and Joe Russo had nice cameos. Also, it's heartwarming to witness the kids of these Protagonists as the seeds to these superheroes' future.

Avengers: Endgame marks the end of an era. End of a legacy. End of a saga. The Infinity Saga. Despite insurmountable expectations and anticipation, The Russo Brothers managed to squeeze a masterpiece out of the biggest behemoth-sized enterprise this living generation has ever seen, and it evidently paid off with rewards of epic proportions. Thank you very much. We love you 3000.