I think in hindsight, history might be a bit kinder to this movie. Myself with some time to reflect, I think the Russos probably realized they were never going to be able to duplicate the same impact and surprise as IW. I mean with the time travel aspect already spoiled within days of IW's release(when Endgame set pics leaked), I think they just focused on trying to make the most entertaining and fan-pleasing movie they could, and not focus so much on "twists" or surprises. And I think they mostly succeeded. Also they kind of wrote themselves into a corner by letting Thanos win in IW, so the only way to bring those people back was something crazy like time travel.
The lack of a good Hulk/Thanos mashup still bugs me though. All the other OG Avengers got great closing story arcs, but he was totally ignored for some reason.