Avengers: Endgame Review

Avengers: Endgame The Official Jack Review

“Don’t give me hope.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give it to you sooner.”

Is Avengers Endgame a perfect movie? No, of course not. Nothing with this much ambition and scale could possibly be everything to everyone watching it. Is it the perfect Marvel movie? I think it might be. If Infinity War was the culmination of the MCU, then Endgame is its swan song. It rewards us fans who have treasured every single one of these movies. If you have not yet seen it, please go and see it. Or stop reading this review, because I’m going to get spoilers all up in here and I’d really truly hate for anyone to have anything ruined. But seriously, by the time you are reading this the movie has made a billion dollars and if you are one of the 6 people that haven’t seen it yet then stop. Mom, I’m serious, let’s go see it when you get home, you can read the rest then.

SPOILER AHEAD

I have now had the chance to see this movie twice, and I’m so happy that it is just as exciting in a rewatch as it was the first go around. This thing is 3 hours long, I watched Titanic a few weeks back and let me tell you what, that movie felt like a 6 hours affair. Endgame flies by. I appreciate that the Russos really let this movie take its time and let some scenes breathe. A majority of that beginning is just watching our heroes sulk and how the Decimation has changed everything. I got a season 4 of The Leftovers and I loved it. Infinity War was so jam packed with characters that Thanos was the only character with a real arc throughout the film; meanwhile, in Endgame Thanos is on placed on the chopping block and our core heroes all go on some really cool journeys that harken back to the first time we saw them all together in 2012.

Hulk is now a smart guy. It is a great gag at first, something totally unexpected even though it totally makes sense after his progression in Ragnarok and Infinity War. Hulk had grown himself to want to do more in his life than “smash” and it came to hurt them in the long run. Banner has enough screen time, but he definitely got the short end of the stick here, with every other character having multiple big emotional ties and some big hero moments. Bruce talking the The Ancient One was rad but it didn’t do much for his character. What did add a lot was him being the one to “snap” everyone back into existence. Here we have our favorite green mass of muscle that has been ashamed of himself for all the destruction he causes that is out of his control being the one to actually gift life back to trillions in the universe. It’s as poetic as they come and it completes an awesome story arc for Bruce.

Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Karen Gillian, Bradley Cooper, Paul Rudd, and Scarlett Johansson in Avengers Endgame

Natasha always had a deep connection to both Bruce and Clint, and unfortunately, she never got a real moment with Bruce in either of the last two movies. And although I say those are her connections, she still was introduced in Iron Man 2 with Tony and was in two of the Captain America films with Steve so she has ties to most of the team. She began her journey as a hardened killer and over time she grew to love and eventually to trust her family in the Avengers. I loved seeing her go and take charge of The Avengers in the flash forward in this movie. A lot of the team went to be with their families or ran off because of what happened to their families, but Black Widow was lucky enough that the only family she knew survived. That contributes to her sacrifice being so poignant, because for the first time in her life she has something she cares about more than own life. She is proud to have a family and doesn’t want to die, but trusts them enough that she knows her sacrifice is necessary.

Clint’s journey into Endgame is a tragedy. We watch his entire family dissipate before his eyes, and that leads him down a dark path. This is where I think Jeremy Renner really rose to the occasion, having such a skilled actor portraying such darkness and loss adds so much weight to every word he speaks. The moment with Natasha in Japan gave me chills. He is so far gone that even the idea of hope is terrifying to him. His evolution throughout these movies is cool to see as well, going from the bow and arrow guy to now the man that grounds the entire team. Up until now, he was the only person with a family outside of the Avengers, the only one with something to lose. Watching him struggle with being the one with the most to personally gain from the Time Heist and wanting to be the best teammate he can be through his sacrificial intentions or his saving of the gauntlet is so intricate, and I applaud Jeremy Renner for his performance.

Thor is fat. I love everything about Thor’s arc here. His solo movies have always been about his struggle with royalty and being the leader that his people need him to be. Him failing so spectacularly in Infinity War takes a huge toll on him. In 1500 years of life, he has now lost everyone in his family and let half of the living population die in the last decade alone. This sends him into deep despair, and it allows for a lot of comedic beats, but when we see Thor let his guard down, Chris Hemsworth let’s the deep pain shine through. The moment with Bruce and Thor in New Asguard over Thanos’ name being banned is brilliant acting back and forth between the two of them and illustrates this idea perfectly. When his mom sits him down and tells him he has to stop trying to be what people want, but just be who he is was a revelation. That plants the seed in his head that he was born to be a protector and a hero, but never the leader. He has never been good at that and flees from that kind of responsibility, while Valkyrie rose to the occasion. Thor passing on the kingdom to her fits perfectly for the journey he has gone on over the span of his movies. Do I wish he got skinny again at some point in the film? Yeah, I wish he did. It became a bit of overkill at a certain point, I really wish when he was double fisting weapons and had the thunder change his costume that he went back to being that perfect body specimen, but we can’t always get what we want.

Chris Evans in Avengers Endgame

Watching Steve Rodgers develop throughout this saga has been one of the highlights for me. At first, he was just a cool dude that was super jacked and wanted to serve his country. Then the Russo Brothers started directing him in The Winter Solider and added so much depth, a man who lives for his country now feels he has to defy it to do what’s right. The Russos made Cap a character I saw a lot of myself in, he’s a man who will always do what he believes is right, even to a fault. At the start of this film he feels it’s his duty to help the survivors process their grief and he talks how the most important thing they can do is “move on” even though he has no intention of doing so himself. In fact, he is disappointed that Tony has seemed to do just that, because he feels as the Avengers it is their duty to never accept defeat. He looks at his picture of Peggy throughout the film, because that’s another connection he refuses to let go from. His ending is one that I talked about happening and I love that they let him go back and have his dance with Peggy. His entire life has been about serving others and moving on, but it’s heartwarming that he ends with finally taking a rest because he has more than deserved it. He has dedicated his life to making the world a better place, and in the process has inspired others that can now carry out his legacy.

That brings us down to Tony, the one who kicked it all off. Watching him mutter “I. Am. Iron Man.” Was chill inducing. After his origin film, the last thing I expected to see was the most selfish man in the world sacrifice himself for the world, and die surrounded by his loved ones. Prior to the flash forward, Stark has his reunion with Cap. The ghastly malnourished Stark still has enough fight in him to tell everyone how he feels, and how what he wanted could have saved them, piercing their divide even further. Tony is the only one of them who actually acts as Thanos intended, he sits back and starts a family. He mourned those who were lost, but rather than wallow in failure and misery, he is hopeful of the future. Of course, the instant that hope is presented to him, he knows he will obsess over it until he solves it. His stakes are also higher in now he has a daughter, he can’t just reset the world to before the snap because he wants to live in this future. The entire movie is Iron Man being selfless, using everything he has for the betterment of the world and throw himself at harm’s way.

It’s interesting how throughout these movies Cap and Tony have switched sides in where they prioritize their interests. From day one, Cap was jumping on rogue grenades, sacrificing himself for the greater good, completely selfless. While Tony started out looking for publicity and making his celebrity even bigger. At the end Tony sacrifices himself, while Cap goes back to be selfish and give himself the life he deserves. It’s an interesting parallel and I’m glad this is how screenwriters Markus and McFeely made this conclusion feel natural and true to both of these beloved characters.

Robert Downey Jr in Avengers Endgame

Alright, now that I basically said all the original Avengers are awesome, now I can talk about all the other parts of the movie that are incredible. Like we finally(!!!!) got the individual character themes incorporated in the score! I heard Ant-Man, Captain America’s from TFA, and Thor’s clearly. I didn’t hear Iron Man’s, but him and Dr. Strange both had little moments in Infinity War. The theme Brian Tyler concocted for Iron Man 3 is fantastic and I really wish it had been used more throughout his appearances. I love the use of the Avengers theme throughout the film, it seemed like there was one big moment for it every act and every single time it was chill inducing. This paired with some of the best cinematography in the MCU was delightful. Especially in the time travel, more on that later, the way it was filmed to echo the style of the individual films we were revisiting was very subtle and helped contribute to the fluidity of where they were going. The actual camerawork to help us, the audience, with the spatial surroundings of the characters is perfect. There’s never a moment you are lost in the action, or don’t know where someone is heading. It’s a small thing to think about, but if executed poorly it leads to a confused audience, but the Russos have nailed it here.

I loved how the movie was broken up into three big parts: The Leftovers Season 4, Back to the Future Part 4, and Avengers 4. I loved how deliberate the first hour is, we get to really live in the sorrow and bask in the misery of this world without it feeling boring. It could have easily come of as too much and dragged out the run time, but after my repeat viewing I really felt it fly by. Then we get the moment I’ve been waiting for with some Time Travel. Time Travel has always been a soft spot of mine, I immediately gravitate toward anything that uses it and I really loved the use here.  It makes a lot of sense of the tampering in the past to just create new timelines rather than changing the future and it allows for more mistakes to be made along the way. Through this we also get cameo city central deluxe. Remember when Robert Redford retired from acting? I loved the elevator scene call back with many of the original cast members present there. Giving Cap his “Hail Hydra” and using it for good rather than the weird turn the comics took a year or two back. And then Cap having to deal with his old annoying self really goes to show how far he’s grown. The Ancient One just nonchalantly talking about Dr. Strange when he’s still 5 years out was very unexpected and goes to show how much depth exists in this universe. It was really cool to have Nebula malfunction and then have Thanos immediately use his wits to understand what is happening. Through these wits, we get the culmination of every thing we have watched.

When Thanos shows up and goes boom boom on The Avengers facility, he is actually giving us everything we could have ever dreamed of. When Captain America picks up that hammer, it is impossible to not feel the chills crawling all over your body. The fight choreography here is perfect to a tee. I have always loved the combos when team members use their powers together but watching Captain America use his intuition to just take Thanos to town for a solid minute was the most satisfying thing of the entire film. Until literally every person that has ever done anything in a Marvel movie shows up. We all knew they were coming back, but it was set up so well that it still caught me off guard. Knowing that every fan’s favorite character showed up in this scene, at some point is saying a lot because we get everyone from Korg to Wasp to Pepper Potts in an Iron Man suit. I couldn’t hold back my tears when Cap said “Avengers Assemble” and the charge to battle as the music swells up. It is truly a cinematic event that has never been seen before and will be at least another decade before we see again. The small interactions between Peter and Tony, Gamora and Star-Lord (I was going to say Peter but like I just did when referring to Peter Parker), Dr. Strange and Tony, and Clint and T’Challa are all great driving character moments that ground us in the most insane battle we have ever seen. Watching all of the women of the universe team up to help Captain Marvel was another moment my jaw hit the floor, because we have come so far from when Black Widow was the only girl among the group of boys.

Hands in Avengers Endgame

To briefly touch on the other characters, I loved how they were all integrated together. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Captain Marvel’s solo outing (Read my Review here) and I had trepidations about her inclusion here. I was ecstatic she was in the movie for all of about 20 minutes and it lead to some cool moments, whether it be that most of the living people in the universe don’t have the Avengers looking out for them or when Thanos punched her with the power stone. I wasn’t a fan of her new haircut, mainly because I didn’t get any more mohawk in this movie, because the mohawk gives me life. Ant-Man continued to be the homie for the entire movie. I loved Scott’s constant drive to get back his new family in Hank, Hope, and Janet. He presents it as a solution to save everyone, when really he wants to do it for his own personal loss. His realization of what happened is also one of the most chilling scenes in the movie that really provides perspective that this is affecting everyone, everywhere. Rocket is kind of in the back burner most of the film. He has his connection with Thor from the last film and is obviously driven to find his family, but he just isn’t given the same screen time as compared to the last film. This is totally fine, and it’s not like he’s just forgotten either! I’m just happy to see him in his comic book inspired costume!

Finally, the way that this movie concludes the saga, while also setting up a whole new direction for the series to go feels fitting and true to the beast that is the MCU. Putting Thor in the Guardians of the Galaxy on the search for the new Gamora, Steve retiring and giving the mantle to Sam (I cannot wait for his new Captain America costume!!), and Valkyrie now being set up as the leader of Asguard to go on her own adventures (hopefully becoming the equivalent of Jane Foster’s Thor) are all great set-ups for new and exciting ways to take the universe. I’m still confused how WandaVision is happening if Vision is still dead, I love the Loki show being in this other timeline, and I pray that this Hawkeye show actually happens.

What Kevin Feige and his team of producers along with the Russo Brothers accomplished here is nothing short of a miracle. This film will be studied for decades to come and the fact that we get to live through this entire saga feel special. I’ve never been in Hall H like a lot of superfans, but I think theaters around the globe have had the same reaction as that theater at Comic Con.

Final Score: 9.5/10