While I have not loved every entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (see my Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 review), I have loved the franchise as a cinematic endeavor and when others have grown weary of it I have been one of its biggest champions. I unabashedly love the tone of the universe and its emphasis on heroes who fight for all that is good and right in the world.
I also know that endings matter and a rotten ending to a 22 movie arc would be a serious bummer. This knowledge and my less than pumped response to Infinity War had me full of nerves going into the epic final chapter of the Avengers saga that is Avengers: Endgame. Could they pull it off? Could they end this mammoth undertaking of 22 movies in a satisfactorily way?
Well, I’m delighted to tell you that they did end it well. In fact, it may be my favorite MCU film to date! I LOVED Avengers: Endgame!
There are two aspects that make Avengers: Endgame so strong. First and most importantly, the story takes care of our characters. I felt satisfied in every arc. Unlike say The Last Jedi or How I Met Your Mother where I felt great disappointment at the treatment of our characters, Marvel gave them arcs that felt earned and treated them with respect. There were things I was sure would annoy me after the carnage of Infinity War but it worked. In particular our original six of Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk and Thor were given stories that felt authentic for the characters and gave the closure I needed.
I don’t think it is over-stating to say there is time travel element to the story. This allowed viewers to remember the fun we’ve had along the way but also gave the characters moments of retrospection on how far they had come and the choices they’ve made. Plus, it’s just fun. Time travel stories are a blast! I know some call this fan service but with each reveal my grin got bigger and wider. It was fantastic!
Another strength of Avengers: Endgame is the pacing. I know that might sound nuts in a 3 hour movie but I found the film clipped right along. Infinity War dragged in its repetitive action where this was constantly changing who we are following and what type of situation they are facing. I was a little nervous going into the film that Captain Marvel would be over-used but she’s not. All the side characters are given their moments and then we move back to focusing on our main 5, which was brilliant.
I am sure some people will talk about plotholes but so is the nature of time travel stories. I kind of treat this like watching Doctor Who. Sure the Doctor messes with the space time continuum in each episode but for the most part we let this go in the favor of who he saves and what the overall narrative needs to be. It will be fun to pick apart the many little moments of the film but the story won’t be any less effective by any imperfections I might uncover.
Those looking for big spectacle entertainment may find the first hour of Avengers: Endgame to be a little lacking, but I loved it! If you are one of those people, wait until the third act when the film delivers big time on spectacle! There were moments I had my mouth completely agape and a theater full of critics couldn’t help but cheer! It was infectious to see the ultimate heroes defeating the tar out of the villain Thanos!
In the end, Avengers: Endgame had it all. It was funny, moving, epic and everything else you could want. It is big spectacle entertainment topping off a cinematic achievement that many have attempted to mimic and failed. What the MCU has done is phenomenal, and I’m so happy they ended it well.
It is the perfect ending to our story.
Go see it! It’s great!
9.5/10
I guess I am the outlier here…I didn’t like what they did with cap AT ALL, I am p… how they treated Black Widow and I feel that they kind of undermined what I consider the biggest strength of the MCU: The continuity.
There was also too much fanservice in it, to a degree that it most likely lost a lot of the more general audience.
I guess we will see what the general audience thinks. I loved what they did with Cap. To me it was perfect. Same with Black Widow. The continuity was fine for me. That’s what makes time travel stories so fun but oh well. Different strokes
Time travel, huh?
Since I plan to see this until it comes on DVD, it’s gonna be interesting to see how much I can stay away from spoilers until then, lol!
Yeah of course there’s time travel. I would highly recommend seeing on big screen but yeah if you manage to avoid spoilers that will be amazing
At the start when mentioning the ‘original fab five’ you failed to mention Hawkeye
I thought about including him but stopped because he wasnt in the phase 1 movies like Black Widow was but I guess it can be a fab 6. He was amazing in Endgame
Fixed it! Thanks so much
I saw it again and loved it even more the second time.
Great review! It would mean a lot if you checked out my review as well:
https://letstalkcinema.movie.blog/2019/04/29/avengers-endgame-movie-review/
Great review! I gave this movie a 9 out of 10 because it was great, but not perfect. Like you, I had low expectations for this film because of the things I didn’t like about Avengers: Infinity War. But, I’m happy to say that, for the most part, this film surpassed my expectations! I’ve also written a spoiler-free review, with a spoiler review coming on my blog this weekend. Here’s the link if you want to check it out:
https://18cinemalane.wordpress.com/2019/04/27/take-3-avengers-endgame-spoiler-free-review/
I’ve seen it twice too, and all I can say is Amen! It’s hard for me to say it tops the first Avengers, but it’s certainly the “ending” this series deserved, even if it will continue on with other characters. The treatment of Black Widow was a little disappointing, but overall I loved it as well!