** WARNING ** This post contains major spoilers of the movie Avengers: Endgame (2019). Read at your own risk!
I finally did it! I watched Avengers: Endgame!!!
I was left completely devastated after watching Avengers: Infinity War. My amazing heroes just... fell apart into dust and was carried away by the wind. I couldn't move from my seat for at least 10 minutes after the movie ended.
It was a few days after the initial release that I got to watch Endgame and I tried to steer clear of ANYTHING that could spoil the movie for me. And I actually did quite well on that — I didn't know a single detail before going into the cinema.
I would have loved to watch the movie in IMAX, with surround sounds and a massive screen to display the EPIC scenes without limit, but I was tied down on Jeju so I had to be thankful for even being able to watch the movie.
I tried to pick the biggest movie theatre on Jeju and it wasn't too bad. There were some noisy kids at the front but they all settled down after a while. I was literally about to pass out from the excitement.
After the introductory logo of MARVEL passed, we were taken to Clint Barton's family. The former assassin had abandoned his previous life and was enjoying his newly found interest -- taking care of his own family. But things took a tragic turn when every member of Clint's family 'disappeared' after Thanos' snap.
Then Tony Stark (a.k.a Iron Man) appeared on the screen. He was abandoned in a spaceship in outer space along with Nebula (Thanos' younger daughter, Gamora's sister). The situation was dire -- the spaceship was damaged to the point where the Mechanic couldn't fix it and oxygen levels were slowly decreasing. They manage to return to earth with the help of Captain Marvel.
They are joined by the Black Widow, Captain America, the Hulk, Rocket, Thor, and War Machine to formulate a plan to steal the Infinity Stones back to reverse the snap. But on their mission, they learn that Thanos had destroyed the Infinity Stones so that no one could use them again.
Fast-forward to a few years after and we see that Scott Lang (a.k.a Ant-Man) had just escaped from the quantum realm, only to realise that half the population is gone — the worst part is that his love, Hope van Dyne had also disappeared and he missed out on seeing his daughter grow.
Lang visits Natasha and Steve to explain how time worked differently in the quantum realm for him as only five hours had passed there when five years had passed in reality. After knowing this vital information, the three of them try to convince Tony that they have another chance to reverse the snap. Although Tony doesn't seem too happy to leave behind his new family and peaceful life, he does what he does best and tests out the rather mind-boggling theory of 'going back in time' to save the planet one last time.
A few of the members go to former members of the Avengers to bring them back on the team, such as Clint Barton, Thor and Dr Banner, where each of them has been living their own lives.
The quantum time machine seems to work and the Avengers hatch a plan. Banner, Lang, Stark, and Rogers are sent to the battle of New York in 2012 (hello, Loki!) to retrieve the Time, Mind, and Space Stones. Banner's talk with the Ancient One suggests that Dr Strange had intended for all of this to happen in order for Thanos to be defeated. Unfortunately, the Pym Particles (which allow them to travel through time) is short on supplies, meaning that the team has to find a way to get the Space Stones on a crunch. Stark, using the brilliant mind of his, comes up with a plan to steal more vials of Pym Particles.
While all of this is taking place, Rocket and Thor travel to Asgard in order to get the Reality Stone before Malekeith gets his hands on them. Thor has a moment with his mother, Frigga, who tells him that he would still be worthy of the Mjolnir. When Nebula and Rhodes try to steal the Power Stone before Star-Lord does, the other consciousness operating in Nebula's system alerts Thanos about the plans. On Vormir, Barton and Romanoff fight over who will fall to their death to be the sacrifice for the Soul Stone. In the end, it is Barton who leaves Vormir with the stone.
On present Earth, Stark, Rocket, and Banner construct a gauntlet to wield the stones just like Thanos did, with the same nanotech that made the newest Iron Man suit. Banner is the first to volunteer to wield the gauntlet as he knows that he can withstand the radiation and pain. He does succeed but is interrupted by Thanos who destroys the Avengers headquarters. Thor, Captain America and Iron Man fight back Thanos until armies of both good and evil come together on the face of Earth.
In the midst of the intense battle, Stark takes control over the gauntlet and uses it to turn Thanos and his army into dust. However, the Stones' radiation kills Stark almost instantly after the snap, where Peter Parker and Pepper Potts bid their farewell.
We see the Avengers holding a funeral for Stark; Wanda and Barton consoling each other of their loss, saying that they would be proud to know that they are victorious. Instead of going back to Asgard, Thor joins the Guardians of the Galaxy while appointing Valkyrie as the new Queen. Rogers time travels to the past to return the stones to their original timelines but decides not to come back to the present. He lives his life in the past with Peggy Carter instead. He does reappear in front of Sam and Bucky as an old man and passes on his duties as Captain America to Sam.
(I wasn't planning on writing the whole synopsis but I got carried away!)
My favourite scene (which is probably what a lot of people like as well) in this movie was when the portals started to open and all the superheroes come together to defeat Thanos. That scene just made me tear up...! It was heartwarming to see everyone fighting alongside their friends and allies to save the universe. It also made me realise just how many heroes have given their all to save the people they love.
I would definitely watch it again (though I'll probably get teary-eyed every time). But I can't wait for more MCU movies to come!