This is the end. My beautiful friend.

There are movies, there are blockbusters, and then there are moments in time. Rare though they may be, these pieces of cinematic history occur only when a film transcends it’s form to become something more than just a trip to the pictures.

On a different plane of existence from the rest of the film world, they are the confluence of many factors that come together to create a cultural event. Star Wars has had a couple, The Return of the King was definitely one, and James Cameron has made a career out of it with the likes of Titanic and Avatar. None, however, come close to the magnitude of Avengers: Endgame.

Eleven years and twenty-two films in the making, Endgame isn’t just another entry in an ongoing franchise. It’s not even the conclusion to a story that started the moment Tony Stark busted out of that terrorist cave. It’s insanity. Beautiful, comic book insanity.

As the universe struggles to come to terms with the devastating consequences of Thanes’ fateful snap, the surviving members of the Avengers, together with their new cosmic allies, must assemble one more time to track down their nemesis and undo his actions. But with the Mad Titan and his gauntlet ready for them, fixing the mess and returning order to the universe will not come easy.

On the extensive list of MCU MVPs, somewhere up the top, alongside über-producer and all-round franchise mastermind Kevin Feige, must be the Russo Brothers. When historians write books about the Marvel Cinematic Universe at some point in the future, Joe and Anthony Russo will have entire chapters all to themselves.

Starting with their sterling work on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, through to Civil and Infinity War, the filmmaking siblings have been gradually ramping up the stakes and scope of their MCU efforts, yet have never lost sight of the story they’re telling. It’s been a monumental achievement and, together with regular writing collaborators, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, they’ve repeatedly pulled off the impossible.

Let’s not forget that these are guys whose entire directorial experience prior to Marvel had been on indie crime caper Welcome to Collinwood and the terrible You, Me and Dupree, as well as stints on sitcoms Arrested Development and Community. On first glance, the MCU really didn’t feel like a natural fit, yet what they’ve gone on to achieve within the universe has defied logic, expectation, and the laws of physics (probably).

On paper, neither Captain America: Civil War nor Avengers: Infinity War should’ve worked. With an unwieldy amount of characters and competing storylines, there was just no clear way to pull it off, yet they did it – and then some. Now, with Endgame, the directors have thrown everything they’ve got and everything they’ve learnt into the mix and come out with something special.

Like previous efforts, the directors have a huge toy box of heroes and stories to play with, but while many would consider that a daunting prospect, the Russos clearly thrive under such pressure as they cleverly give every key player at their disposal a fair swing at it.

Perhaps the wisest move to make after the expansive action of Infinity War was to pair the cast down, and after the universe-halving actions of Thanos, that’s precisely what we get. With a large portion of the MCU heroes now reduced to dust, Endgame has a far more streamlined feel to it, as the six original Avengers and a limited selection of allies are now left holding the fort.

It’s been one of the crowing achievements of the Russo Bros’ tenure in the MCU that they’ve consistently managed to take such high level stakes and condense them down to something surprisingly personal. Despite the many crisscrossing narratives in Infinity War, the directors still gave each character time to shine and in Endgame they’ve nailed it once again.

Across the board, the character work is exceptional, with just the right level of care paid to each of the film’s primary heroes to feel truly satisfying. There are certainly periphery characters that don’t get the screen time they perhaps warrant, while Thanos now feels far more two-dimensional than he did previously, but these decisions are largely understandable and allow for the core team to all have their moment in the sun.

Each one of Tony, Cap, Bruce, Thor, Natasha, and Clint are given fitting character arcs and satisfying payoffs to stories that have been years in the making. Some developments are certainly surprising, while others will have fans debating furiously for years to come, but everything feels well and truly earned.

Naturally, being the poster boys for the franchise, both Tony Stark and Steve Rogers get a large portion of the screen time as they both see out storylines to their natural conclusion, while simultaneously setting up intriguing possibilities for the future. Over the course of eleven years, both Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans have been the lifeblood of the MCU and, despite Endgame being a team effort, this feels like a fitting finale and a touching tribute to their outstanding efforts in making this the franchise it is.

Supplementing this, the addition of Ant-Man, Nebula, and Rocket to the core cast should not be overlooked as each one feels fully fleshed out and an integral part of the ensemble dynamic. In particular, Scott Lang and Nebula are absolutely crucial to the plot throughout, as Paul Rudd and Karen Gillan both step up and make themselves counted.

Deftly written by Markus and McFeely, everyone feels perfectly portrayed, yet it’s in the performances that things are really taken up a level. It has often gone overlooked as the Marvel Cinematic Universe rolls out, but the star performances from Robert Downey Jr onwards have been exceptional, and Endgame continues in this tradition with everyone bringing their A-game.

Not only does Downey Jr put everything he’s got into a hero he’s embodied for over a decade now but everyone else follows suit as Chris Evans, Scarlet Johansson, and Jeremy Renner add the perfect levels of pathos to proceedings, while both Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth look like they’re having an absolute blast.

With a film this monumental, you wouldn’t blame anyone if they were swallowed up by the enormity of it all, yet there are no passengers here. In fact, Endgame’s plot gives ample opportunity for everyone to show what they’ve got as it takes several pleasantly surprising narrative decisions.

Starting out like The Leftovers, Endgame initially goes for the slow burn as it takes its time to deal with the devastating aftermath of Thanos’ snap. It’s a risky move for any huge blockbuster to make, yet in taking the time to get into the headspace of those left behind and digging down into the loss, grief, guilt, and regret of it all, we’re allowed a satisfying emotional hook to set us up for what’s to come.

Littered with intimate moments and discussions on how best to go about life with so many of your loved ones gone really gets to the heart of the story, laying down a steady emotional foundation for Endgame to build its action on. And then, just like that, things go bananas as we swiftly enter a very different narrative landscape.

With a distinct three act structure, Endgame plays out almost like three mini movies, each one dialling up the action from the last, and while that sounds awkward in theory, in practice, it works a treat. As we skip through things at a rate of knots, the plot begins to unveil itself as something very different from what many will be expecting, with the volume, scale, and superhero carnage rapidly increasing the further along we get.

Although some of the narrative mechanics of the film’s middle section feel a little clunky at times, it’s trumped by the pure thrill of the end result as the tone rapidly lifts and we’re taken on the ultimate Marvel Cinematic Universe victory lap. With the patented Marvel sense of humour coming through loud and clear, we’re offered up a smorgasbord of MCU moments as Endgame cleverly tips its hat to almost every movie that’s gone before.

Not only that, this second act opens things up to an impressively eclectic collection of genres. Starting with the existential drama of the opening hour, we suddenly find ourselves touching base with everything from high concept sci-fi to the classic heist movie without missing a beat – all before landing in a big catchall genre box marked ‘comic book’.

For that is truly what Endgame is. Not only is it the ultimate present from Marvel to its fans, but it’s an ode to the comic book itself. So often, superhero films will be terrified to dive too deep into the craziness of its source material, yet Endgame throws caution to the wind with an all-out, unabashed comic book celebration.

While a lot of logic goes flying out the window at this point, it matters little in the grand scheme of things. With the particular narrative choices that Endgame makes and the all-out insanity that it delves into in its final act, it’s best advised to just kick back, have fun with it, and not get yourself tangled up in the hows and whys of the plot.

By the end, there are so many crazy, awe-inspiring things happening that it feels like you’ve jumped head-first into a life-size comic book splash page. If you thought Civil War’s airport dustup or Infinity War’s Battle of Wakanda were pretty big, quite frankly, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

As it is throughout the entire film (and throughout all the Russo’s MCU efforts), the fight choreography in the final showdown is mightily impressive as it manages to cover all bases. Brutal Winter Soldier-style hand-to-hand combat and Infinity War-style grandeur are all thrown into Endgame’s mix to produce something simultaneously visceral, breath-taking, and emotionally engaging.

It really is a doozy of a finale and brilliantly ties together all the disparate elements of the film rather nicely to become one of the most ridiculously superheroic things you will ever witness on the big screen. And it’s glorious.

More than anything, however, Avengers: Endgame is a love letter. It’s a love letter to the fans that have grown with the franchise. It’s a love letter to the MCU itself. And, most importantly, it’s a love letter to an entire world of comic books that spawned it.

Topping the universe-spanning antics of Infinity War while concluding a story a decade or so in the making is no mean feat, yet here we stand. As a finale to this first chapter in the MCU, the Russo Brothers have constructed the pitch-perfect full stop for what has been quite the ride, yet cleverly and organically set things up nicely for whatever the franchise wants to be in the future.

After the enormity of Infinity War, it was important to focus things a little and the Russo Brothers have done just that with Endgame. By distilling the action and drama back down to the original six Avengers, while sprinkling in a choice selection of additional heroes, the writers and directors dig deep to examine the realities of life after Thanos’ snap, before launching us deep into the action. Built on the back of superb character work and an impressively layered plot, together with top drawer performances and an admirable desire to provide thrills, Avengers: Endgame is pure, unfiltered fan-service in the best possible sense, and a testament to thoughtfulness and patience in an industry that thrives on the quick fix. We may now be in the endgame, but I guarantee the fun has only just begun.