'Endgame' is a surprisingly emotional finale for Marvel heroes

Just when I thought I had seen it all when it came to Marvel movies, here comes Avengers: Endgame and it somehow manages to bring me to the brink of tears. This 3-hour epic is intentionally a finale for certain fan favorites as well as a showcase for stars of future installments, but it never felt like an elaborate set up for a sequel.

It's a fitting conclusion to the narrative that began with Avengers: Infinity War -- itself a more brooding and bruising Marvel film than many of its predecessors. The last film in this gargantuan enterprise -- Captain Marvel -- left me cold, but this film which does have its slow stretches, for the most part, delivers the goods.

So much credit should go to three original lynchpins of this Marvel universe -- Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth.

Hemsworth has matured into a home run hitting comic actor and his choice to play Thor as a lovable fool is sublime and reaches its zenith here. I won't spoil what happens with his character in this film but I will say it's a great risk that pays off.

Evans could seem wooden at first as Captain America but over several films he has turned that character's stalwart heroism into a cool asset. He too has come into his own over the course of this franchise, and while he always seemed the least enthusiastic about the whole Marvel thing, I think Evans has a bright future ahead of him as a movie star because of it.

And last but not least there's Robert Downey, Jr., who improbably became the heart and soul of this franchise a decade ago. His casting as Iron Man, not unlike Johnny Depp's in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, was a major risk -- given his lack of box office success in the past and his troubled history off-screen.

But unlike Depp, who eventually squandered audiences' good will, Downey enhanced his and became one of the most beloved movie stars in Hollywood in the process.

His characterization of Tony Stark -- cocky, brilliant but also a sentimental good guy at heart -- was always the best feature of any of these Avengers movies -- for me. His comic timing, his physicality (even when in CGI form, I always bought that he was in those armor suits) and his humanity kept me engaged when the sometimes clunky, convoluted plots of these movies started to lose me.

Endgame isn't a perfect movie either -- it certainly isn't a standalone film on par with Black Panther -- but it's fan service is more satisfying and its final grace notes are well-earned. Even if I wanted to roll my eyes from time to time, I couldn't help but have my heartstrings pulled with this one.

And, let's face it, the Hulk just keeps getting hotter.

I've come to care about and like these characters far more than I ever realized and to this film's credit it spends just as much time on developing their storylines as it does epic battle scenes.

i wish the final massive battle was more bright and coherent than it is, but that doesn't mean it isn't as impressive feat and kudos to Marvel for making some tough choices when it comes to the fate of many of the characters both good and evil.

It's hard to root for a movie that is such a behemoth -- it's already demolished every box office record and may wind up being the biggest domestic grosser of all time, adjusted for inflation, or close to it. Will this movie have the staying power of a true classic blockbuster -- who's to say?

But it is a well-earned victory lap for the Marvel movies, which about to enter a whole new world without some of its best loved characters in tow.