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Avengers: Endgame

"Whatever it takes."

After failing to stop Thanos from collecting all of the Infinity Stones and use them to wipe out half of all life in the universe, the surviving Avengers gather together to find the Mad Titan and undo the damage he has done.

And that's all I can really say about that.

Avengers: Endgame isn't an easy film to review. That is, it isn't an easy film to review right now. I'm sure in a few months time when all of its many secrets are a matter of public record, it will be a very easy film to review. But right now, in this very moment, it's a bloody nightmare. There is so much I want to say about this movie, so much I want to rave and rant about, but I can't because all the things I want to write about are all the things I cannot write about. I thought about invoking the all-powerful Spoiler Kitten and just letting loose with all my thoughts, but ultimately decided against it. The Spoiler Kitten is powerful, but not infallible and I didn't want to spoil the movie for anyone by having them catch a glimpse of something while scrolling down. And so this review will remain as spoiler free as possible and I kindly ask if you please do the same for the comments. At least for the next week or two.

So what can I actually say about Avengers: Endgame?

Well, it's not a spoiler to say I really enjoyed it. I know it is still early days, but I feel confident stating this is my third favourite Avengers movie after the first one and Captain America: Civil War (let's be real, it's an Avengers movie in all but name). I laughed, I cried, I gallantly resisted the urge to embarrass myself by leaping around a packed cinema in a frenzy of excitement. Endgame is a grand, emotional piece of blockbuster entertainment that brings this chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a satisfying, if not entirely perfect, end. There were one or two things about it that didn't entirely work for me, but I can't really discuss them without giving shit away.


One of my main complaints about Infinity War was that it left most of the main Avengers with little to do. All the really meaty scenes were reserved for Thor and Tony, leaving Steve, Nat and Bruce with nothing much to do besides babysit Vision. Poor Clint didn't even get so much as a cameo. Luckily, this film doesn't have that problem and we really have Thanos to thank for it. The snap may have been traumatic for our heroes, but it means that the film's cast is kept to a much more manageable size.

It's no coincidence that all of the original Avengers survived the snap. Marvel has made no secret of that fact Endgame is essentially their last hurrah, the one final battle they will fight together. So even though the likes of Ant-Man and Captain Marvel show up to help, the focus remains on those six characters. Well, if I'm being perfect honestly, the focus is mainly on Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, the big three of the Avengers. It's not that Nat, Clint and Bruce aren't given anything important to do, it's just that it never really feels like their storylines are ever as important as their more famous teammates. Tony and Steve's troubled friendship has always been the emotional core of the Avengers movies, and is one of the main driving forces of this movie. If this really is the last we will see of these six actors, and I'm not saying it is, they certainly all go out at the top of their game. Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans have never been better, although it does feel like Marvel is starting to rely a little too heavily on Chris Hemsworth's knack for comedy. Thor is running the risk of becoming the team's token comedy Asgardian.

As I think about this film and everything that came before it, I really have to commended the people at Marvel Studios for all they've achieved with their cinematic universe. In just over a decade, they have managed to tell one continuous story, split across 22 different films, made by a wide variety of writers and directors, featuring dozens and dozens of characters, and made it all work. Yes, there have been mistakes along the way. Every once in a while we had to suffer through an Iron Man 2 or a Thor: The Dark World, but on the whole the entire Infinity Saga has been one colossal success, and while Endgame won't please everyone (whatever does?) this is probably as good an ending as the MCU is ever going to get. So maybe it would be best if they just shut up shop now and went out on a high, because I honestly have no idea how they are ever going to pull off something like this again.


Notes and Quotes

--The Russos make up for the Infinity War's complete lack of Community cameos.

--I will give this away, someone's ass get a lot of attention. And no, it isn't Thanos'.

--Where Infinity War was almost wall to wall action, Endgame is much more of a character driven film. There's action, sure, but not as much as you'd maybe expect from an Avengers movie. What we do get, though, is still pretty amazing.

--Like Infinity War, Endgame operates on the assumption that everyone watching it has already seen every previous Marvel movie. Don't expect this movie to explain who Captain Marvel is or how she comes to be here.

Nat: "This is gonna work, Steve."
Steve: "I know it is. 'Cause I don't know what I'm gonna do if it doesn't."

Scott: "Hi! Uh, is anyone home? This is Scott Lang. We met a few years ago? At the airport? In Germany? I got really big."

Rocket: "You better not throw up on my ship!"

Three and a half out of four spoilers.

Mark Greig has been writing for Doux Reviews since 2011 More Mark Greig

5 comments:

  1. Generally, I think they did a good job. They were several scenes which elicited applause in the cinema, and even a couple of loud woots. I thought the film was exactly what I expected it to be: slow to start, gently building momentum, and then ending in a CGI-fest of gargantuan proportions.

    One of the deaths didn't particularly work for me, I was a bit perplexed at the numerous battlefield reunions (lets have a chat mid-fight whilst the background noise disappears entirely so you can hear my dialogue,) and I don't think it delivered much in terms of surprises.

    But it was a solid, emotional, exciting entry, and something I'll definitely be buying on blu-ray.

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  2. Paul, don't you know that battlefield etiquette stipulates that anyone having an emotional reunion has to be left alone and cannot be killed for at least ten minutes? I'm pretty sure Sun Tzu wrote about that in the Art of War.

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  3. Infinity War didn't make me wish I'd seen all the Marvel movies before. This did.

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  4. It's currently 3:26 am. I just got back from the theatre. I'm emotionally drained. I'm wrung out. I'm heartbroken. I'm a little annoyed at a few nitpicks and steadily growing furious about one character's ending. But overall, I think I'm utterly content and satisfied. I have no freaking idea how Marvel is ever going to top this. I almost hope they don't try.

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  5. Mark has just posted an Avengers: Endgame discussion thread, so if you've seen the movie and want to talk spoilers, the place is here!

    https://www.douxreviews.com/2019/04/avengers-endgame-spoiler-discussion.html

    ReplyDelete

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