A worthy finale to a powerful battle-all leveled by action, comedy, and drama.

Well, it’s time for us Marvel fans to see what happens next in “Avengers: Endgame.”

We all recall the last “Avengers” movie, when Thanos (Josh Brolin) snapped his fingers, and nearly half the galaxy has been erased. That includes Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Star Lord (Chris Pratt), And yes, even Groot. They’re all trapped in the Soul Stone.

Like he said to Thor, “You should have gone for the head.”

The advanced ticketing for this movie went bonkers, nearly crashing the AMC Theaters website. I was fortunate enough to catch a 9:25 am screening with my cousin in the U.K. (remember: the International Dateline), and we both enjoyed it. Matter of fact, forget what I said about “Infinity War” being the best “Avengers” since the first. “Endgame” is the best of them all.

The Thanos survivors include Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Nebula (Karen Gillan).

Since Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) sent the distress signal to Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) just in time, she comes back to help the remaining Avengers battle Thanos. But don’t get too comfortable yet. He destroyed the stones, and now 5 years later, they’re in distress.

However, because Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) got out of the Quantum Realm, he may have a solution to their problems: time travel. They have to go back in time to find each of the stones before Thanos does.

Basically every hero deals with the loss of their loved ones-Thanos victims or non-Thanos victims. And given its 3-hour length, it cares about their feelings, and focuses on the reality of it all.

The comedy, as usual, is honest and flexible. It doesn’t degrade the emotions, and allows us to have fun with the nostalgia and fantasies that take place.

And the action is given something I’d like to call pacing. Unlike some movies (“Venom” and the recent “Hellboy” reboot), it doesn’t rush into the battle. But mostly, it reminds us to not get too comfortable just yet. There still has to be a lot to be done, and we will lose some loved ones along the way. I can’t spoil.

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo and writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have all taken a lot of risks, and guide the right amount of actors to express themselves-emotionally or comically, depending on how they use them. Everyone from Downey, Jr. as Iron Man to Evans as Captain America to Cooper’s voice of Rocket to Brolin as Thanos is just exceptionally fine.

I loved this movie from beginning to end. It’s an honest, smart, and brilliant tearjerker that will have you staying in your seat for 3 hours without having to look at your watch.

As long as you don’t drink so much before or during the show, “you can count on Geico saving folks a tone of money.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Categories: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci Fi, Sequel