*WARNING* Spoilers Ahead

The highly-anticipated conclusion to the Avengers saga has finally arrived with Avengers Endgame, and it does not disappoint.

As usual, the acting was phenomenal. The special effects were on point. The action was awesome. However, I’m going to focus on the plot.

At the very beginning of the movie, the directors present the protagonists with an unprecedented obstacle in that Thanos destroys the Infinity Stones. As the only way to bring everyone back is with the Stones, the heroes are forced to accept that they have lost.

After five years, many of the characters have changed, some for the better and some for the worse. Tony Stark, for example, started a family at a quaint lakeshore house. Captain America is helping people get over their loss.

Thor, on the other hand, falls into a deep depression, drinking beer and eating pizza while playing video games all day long. The rest of the Avengers work across the world and the galaxy, trying to rebuild.

By changing the main characters in this way as a result of the aftermath of Infinity War, the directors are able to create new character arcs that are much more interesting than in Infinity War.

While the premise of a “time heist” sounds ridiculous, it is perfect for this movie. As it is the final installment in a series of 21 previous films, sending the characters back in time to achieve their objectives allows the audience to reminisce on the previous films.

In addition, the film uses time travel to help give characters motivation, as with the scene where Iron Man and Captain America infiltrate SHIELD.

I also like that the directors chose to go this route, rather than use the time stone as the plot device that allows the heroes to accomplish their goal, as that would feel  much cheaper.

Thanos continues to be an interesting villain, this time as a past version of himself. One thing I like about Thanos in this film is that instead of wielding the infinity gauntlet, this time his weapon  is a gigantic double-bladed sword.

While it is at first easy to assume that the heroes have the situation under control, Thanos uses past-Nebula as a spy, who helps transport his mothership to the future where it wreaks havoc on our heroes, initiating the climax of the film. It goes to show that even after his death, Thanos continues to be a threat to the Avengers, which is pretty awesome.

The best part of any Marvel movie, of course, is the big fight at the end. Personally, I thought this one was just alright. It was a challenge for the filmmakers to split film time between all the characters, and it felt less impactful than the battles fought in the previous film.

Nonetheless, there were some awesome parts, such as Ant-Man punching a flying, armored space whale in the jaw. It was also fun to see all the characters get together for one final battle.

One character I did not enjoy, however, was Captain Marvel, because she did not contribute much to the story. Sure, other characters such as Starlord, Spider-Man, and Black Panther have done even less than Captain Marvel, these characters made major contributions in Infinity War. Also, all of them were dead.

Captain Marvel, a hero so powerful she can decimate an alien fleet with ease, only does two things: Saving Iron Man and Nebula, and wrecking Thanos’s warship. For these things, Captain Marvel could be easily written out. For example, the writers could have had Iron Man and Nebula repair the ship on their own, and SHIELD could have called upon the world’s militaries to eliminate Thanos’s ship (which also would have been much more epic).

If Marvel went to the trouble of making an entirely separate film to introduce her to the MCU some time before Endgame was released, they might as well have included her for more than a fetch quest and destroying a spaceship.

Overall, I enjoyed Endgame. It was funny, it had a good plot, it tied up a lot of loose ends and was a great conclusion to the Avengers story. It is difficult to foretell how Marvel will continue, as there doesn’t seem to be any big productions in sight besides the new Spiderman movie.

Knowing the track record of Marvel Studios, the future will probably consist of reliably good, funny superhero movies that everyone can enjoy.