It’s no doubt a sign of the hype behind this film that I feel slow for watching it on the second weekend. Man, it has been tough to avoid spoilers! Everyone is very sensitive, asking first if you’ve seen the movie before blurting out plot details, and most internet posts contain the appropriate warnings. Nevertheless, everyone just wants to talk about the movie. Now that I’ve seen it, I kind of understand.

Appropriately enough, this is exactly one year after I posted my review of the first half of this epic story, Avengers: Infinity War. That movie really left some humungous cliffhangers which we all expected to be answered in this movie (which is really the main purpose of this one). I found that more than just a follow-up, this second film is also an excellent companion to the first. The two films complement each other. While the first left us with the cataclysmic “Snap” that wiped out half of life in the universe (including many of our favourite characters), this one starts out by dealing with what happens in the aftermath (in fact, I kept thinking to myself that they should have called this movie Avengers: Aftermath — except it’s kind of a downer.) After the non-stop superhero action of the first film, some might find the grieving and character moments of the second film may feel a bit slow, but that’s what I enjoyed about it.

No spoilers from me here (presuming you’ve seen Infinity War) until the end — but I’ll give you warning. This film starts out with all the surviving characters struggling in their own way to keep going after the loss of their comrades and loved ones. As you can expect, different characters deal with their feelings differently. Also fresh off of her recent movie introduction is Captain Marvel herself, summoned by Nick Fury’s pre-disappearance pager call, to join the remaining Avengers as they figure out what to do. So the first act involves many well-performed character scenes and gives all these big-screen stars (except, ironically, the only Oscar-winner Brie Larson, who didn’t have any real grieving scene) a chance to show off their acting rather than their punching or hammer-throwing skills.

One of the big meta-cliffhanger questions is how the filmmakers could do something to reverse the effects of the Snap. Would they come up with something that is not too cheesy? (Don’t worry, Rocket Raccoon doesn’t simply wake up from a dream with everyone back, so put that theory to rest.) Though there are many logical holes — which simply provide more fodder for fan discussion — I think they came up with a pretty fun way to get the characters all involved in solving the problem. Surprise surprise, it involves the Infinity Stones. What they did is also a pretty clever way to celebrate this film as the closing chapter for the first decade of the Marvel cinematic universe (MCU). It’s a nice payoff (as well as a tearful sendoff) for those of us who have been fans of the entire MCU series of films.

I don’t know what the budget for this movie must have been, but the visual effects were pretty top-notch. I am amazed how life-like the facial expressions and lip syncing were for CGI-rendered characters like Thanos or the Hulk. Plus, there are obviously tons of superhero effects, as well as other worlds and dimensions in space, etc. The need for amazing effects is sky-high. I don’t know which effects scene was the most challenging, but the requisite climactic battle is probably way up there. I would love to see what the original footage looked like before all the artificial elements were added in. I’m sure it’s ridiculously basic without any of that stuff. Hurray for Industrial Light and Magic, who did an awesome job!

I really enjoyed this movie. I loved how they didn’t just spend time and money on more action simply to fill our screens with spectacle. One of the distinctives of the MCU is that there is some continuity between movies, and you actually can get to know some of the characters as they change and grow over time. It helps achieve something that traditionally works a lot better on a long-running TV series. Because we’ve been invested in these characters for at least a half-dozen films, their loss (if they disappeared) or their struggle (if they were left behind) is so much more meaningful to us. I’m glad that this movie really explores that. I didn’t mind that it took some time before it got into the action. When it did get into the action, I’m glad that it wasn’t just something out of left field (i.e. Heroes, just go somewhere new to get something that will save everything and everyone for no logical reason!). The stakes were highly relevant to everything that’s come before, so the solution should also be. I’ve watched many TV shows leave the air, and this feels a lot like a nice series finale episode. (4.5 out of 5)

Phew! Now that that’s out of the way, onto the spoilery stuff. Be warned that if you are reading this review before watching Avengers: Endgame, please stop reading now. I’m not going to specifically retell the plot with spoilery details, but even any passing reference can reveal something that you might want to be surprised about when you watch.

OK. Now that you’ve been warned, here are a number of questions that came to mind after watching the movie. They range from loose ends to nitpicks to curiosity questions.

• First, in any story that includes time-travel as a plot element, there are bound to be plot holes. I won’t nitpick on those, because I’d be here for another year. However, the big one that stood out to me was: If time travel does not correct the future (only spawns alternate timelines), then aren’t those people who were snapped still gone? All the Avengers did was create a separate branch of reality where they brought everyone back.
  •  A related follow up: How is putting the stones back going to help eliminate alternate realities? There are already branches. New branches will only be formed because now there are realities where the stones were put back and ones where they weren’t. Again, not helpful.
• If the Pym particle stolen by past-Nebula from future-Nebula could bring Thanos’s entire army through the quantum realm, why did the Avengers each travel individually (rather than all together in a ship), thus using up more particles? Silly particle-wasters!
  • If they could go to one of Pym’s labs in the past to steal more particles, why didn’t they do that first to get an infinite supply? Everyone knows that your first of three wishes should be to wish for infinite wishes. That’s just basic!
• Do we know why Dr. Strange gave Thanos the time stone in Infinity War? Was it to trigger this reality? Is this whole convoluted story (including the Snap) really the only way to defeat Thanos? (What a complex multiverse the MCU is!)
  • Why couldn’t the Ancient One, who was also Sorceror Supreme and possessed the time stone, also see those millions of alternate realities and know that she should give the Hulk the stone? She should not need to be convinced.

Some sillier questions that are probably answered just by “because it’s a movie”:

• How can someone whose powers are derived from a single stone (like Scarlet Witch or Carol Danvers) rival the holder of all stones (i.e. Thanos)?
• Have we reached a unified scientific theory? Why are all scientists experts at all science? How would Tony Stark (who’s basically a super-engineer) be able to solve the problem of time travel through the quantum realm?
• How did they summon all the reinforcements together at the end so quickly?

Finally, some questions more concerned with making the movies:

• Did Chris Hemsworth need to keep working out to keep himself fit for his role as Tubby McBeerGut?
• When did Thor become the comic relief of the MCU? He’s actually taking jokes from Starlord now?
• Once the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and other new characters (like the Eternals) are integrated into the MCU, how are they going to justify not being there for either of Thanos’s invasions? (“Hey, why didn’t anyone call us?”)