This article contains spoilers, but you shouldn’t care since it isn’t that good of a movie anyway when you think about it in the context of ‘The Parent Trap’

When I saw “Endgame” for the first time, I was blown away. To see the culmination of so many movies, so many stories, was overwhelming. However, when compared to the 1998 comedy “The Parent Trap,” “Avengers: Endgame” simply doesn’t hold up.

“Avengers: Infinity War” left viewers on the edge of their seats. Half of the world’s population had dissapeared with just the snap of Thanos’ fingers. The Avengers seemed to have lost, and the beginning of the movie shows the remaining characters struggling to deal with their new reality. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo appear to succeed at creating an emotional connection between the audience and the superheroes who they’ve seen romp around theater screens for years. However, this connection is feeble compared to “The Parent Trap.” Robert Downey Jr. agonizing over the death of his mentee, Spiderman/Peter Parker (Tom Holland), is nothing when you compare it to the bond of two sisters who want to reunite their divorced parents. Downey Jr. does steal the show in “Endgame,” but he’s no Lindsay Lohan. Lohan, who plays both sisters (Hallie and Annie), engages viewers with a captivating performance that should make any human with a heart weep. “Endgame” may pull a few heartstrings, but during “The Parent Trap,” my emotions are mashed like a grape in the vineyard owned by Hallie (and Annie)’s father.

The complexity of “Endgame” is ridiculous. The time travel plot device probably had comic book nerds excited and ready when they realized that they were going to see the characters placed into scenes from previous movies. Am I supposed to be impressed by the series of callbacks and creative allusions to dozens of moments in other movies? I’m not. There is probably some Avengers Wiki or Reddit post somewhere that explains how the characters got through the convoluted mess that is the plot of this movie. But for the discerning viewer, these attempts at sophisticated storytelling lack the simple elegance of “The Parent Trap.” Two girls meet at summer camp. They eventually learn that they are identical twins. They decide to switch places. Their divorced parents get back together. This is the perfect movie plot; anything more convoluted is drivel.

“Avengers: Endgame” is not a bad movie. It has some okay moments, and overall, I walked out of the theater generally impressed. However, we have to be realistic. No film released in the past 20 years has come close to beating the excellence of “The Parent Trap.” “Endgame” is going to have to join the list of films that have fallen short.