Starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlet Johannson, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin

Directed by the Russo Brothers

Disney, out now

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes struggle to find purpose in the wake of their defeat by Thanos and the devastation he has wrought on their world. But when a sliver of hope is offered to them, our heroes will do whatever it takes to undo the damage wrought by that fatal snap.

‘Subverting expectations’ seems to be the buzzword in Hollywood blockbusters at the moment, and the Russos would appear, on the strength of Endgame, to have taken this very much to their hearts on the creation of this 3 hour-long capstone to the Infinity Stone saga. Right from the off, it takes bold decisions with its narrative, pulling the viewer away from what we might have expected, but then somehow – and this is the clever bit – also delivering what we may have expected anyway.

But those bold decisions mean that this won’t be a movie for everyone. Pacing wise, it changes gears often and hard, going from fast-paced, action-orientated spectacle one moment to quiet, sombre mood-piece the next in a way that seems almost designed to challenge the audience. It also resolutely refuses to hold the viewer’s hand in a way that even Infinity War didn’t quite dare – simply, if you haven’t been watching every MCU movie avidly several times over the last decade then there are many moments, character beats and little details which will be lost to you.

But as that capstone – that finishing piece that’s been eleven years and twenty-odd movies in the making, it’s a masterpiece of event cinema. Its surprisingly complex plotting has moments that honestly probably won’t stand up to long-term scrutiny, logic wise, sure. But frankly, if you’re coming to a film that numbers a super soldier frozen in ice for decades and a mercenary racoon in its cast looking for completely logical plotting then I might politely suggest you are barking up the wrong talking tree. It thrives on delivering payoffs for multiple characters as the events unfold, in some cases on setups made years previously, and it delivers action set pieces which set new bars in just about every way.

It’s uneven, sure. Pacing fluctuates, it often punctuates desperately sad and even tragic events with huge belly laughs that some may struggle to appreciate, and it makes choices with several characters that I can already see people disagreeing about. But when it sings, it really sings, delivering the sort of pops that had my cinema erupting in applause, and the kind of tense, sad moments in which that same packed, rowdy cinema became so quite you could have heard a pin drop.

Verdict: Go see it with a friend, because you’ll need both the emotional support and someone to talk to about so many of the movie’s moments. Not the best MCU movie ever, but a more than fitting ending to a staggering franchise. 9/10

Greg D. Smith

The Avengers assemble in the aftermath of Thanos’ obliteration of half the human race. Is it possible to undo what’s been done, and at what cost?

There’s a moment during a full-on action scene in the Russo brothers’ superhero epic where you think to yourself, just where can they go from here? Because in terms of scope, length and quantity of content I really can’t see that this could be topped. That’s not to say you’d want all comic book movies to be this big, as frankly it’s an assault on your senses and the only reason it gets away with certain elements is because over the 20-something previous Marvel movies we’ve learned to know and love these characters.

This is the sort of movie where a newbie genuinely doesn’t have a chance and can only step back and enjoy the fireworks. And even the devoted follower might struggle to pick up every reference that’s squeezed in, at times from a film you might have last seen in 2010. Inevitably it’s about providing fan service, and with such a huge following the film makers rightly feel that they can reward the true believers with some astounding tag teams and mashups. There’s also a couple of punch-the-air moments where the audience shared a collective cheer, and as climactic battles go, this one’s a belter.

I’m not going to give any plot away. I managed to see it with very little knowledge of what would happen and that’s the best way to approach it. Beware of spoilers – some people just can’t wait to give the (end)game away – but I can tell you with clear conscience that you can leave when the credits begin, as there’s no mid or post credit scene to wait for.

Verdict: All the Marvel movies at the same time, there’s no subtlety in this beast, but you have to admire its ambition and what it sometimes lacks in logic is richly compensated with eye-candy visuals and zinging one-liners. Some judicious trimming could probably have made this a better, tighter film – it’s three hours – but if any film in the MCU deserved the added running time, this is it. The season finale of all season finales, don’t focus on the logic, just enjoy it in the biggest screen possible with the loudest sound system. 9/10

Nick Joy