Avengers: Endgame is the conclusion of eleven years of Marvel Cinematic Universe films. After the events of Infinity War, the remaining Avengers are in despair. Everything they knew has changed, and they are trying to make do to the best of their abilities. However, once an opportunity arrives to reverse the damage caused by Thanos, they decide to take action. Will they be able to change the past? Can they defeat Thanos once and for all? Will everybody survive?
The hype that’s been built for this film is completely understandable. The MCU has been going for eleven years, and the main story ends with Endgame. This series has seen some high points and low points, but it’s all led up to this moment. And I don’t think the series could have ended any more satisfyingly. Sure, this movie has its flaws, but Avengers: Endgame is, for a lack of better words, epic in every way.
The way Endgame handles the story after the events of Infinity War is very smart. The characters are at their lowest low, and as a result, there’s an undeniable sense of dread throughout much of the film. This film uses dramatic elements better than any MCU movie I’ve seen. The film deals with grief, regret, trying to move on from tragedy even though the tragedy is holding you back, and even PTSD. There is a lot of strong, potent emotion, and the ways the characters handle those emotions are gripping. Watching all these beloved heroes struggle in this way was sad yet riveting. It’s something I haven’t seen the MCU tackle yet, and they did a great job.
However, this movie isn’t all doom and gloom. There is a healthy dose of humor here, and the balance between the two tones is handled well. The writing is great, characters are as likeable as ever, and everyone did good in making me care about what is at stake. Even though there is a lot of sadness tied to the film, the enjoyment is undeniably strong.
The action stands as some of the best in the entire series. They are filmed on such a grand, epic scope. It’s hard not to sit back and appreciate how much effort is being put into every frame. The choreography is exciting, the cinematography is great, the visual effects are breathtaking, the music builds the atmosphere very well, and it all combines into some adrenaline pumping sequences. There are certain moments that can stand as some of my favorite individual moments in any film ever- they’re that powerful. This film has magnitude, and it shows it off in grandiose stride.
As for negatives, I do think the pacing suffers at times. Endgame is three hours long and I totally understand why. After eleven years of films all culminating into one movie, it needs to be big to close the story off. However, there were some moments that felt a little unnecessary, particularly in the first third. It can make the first thirty minutes or so a bit of a drag to sit through. It’s not bad, but it is a lot.
And, as much as I like this story, there’s an element of the plot that can be construed as downright nonsensical. I don’t want to spoil what it is because it’s a major plot point of the movie, but it’s one of those situations where thinking too deep will reveal gaping holes in the logic. It didn’t bother me too much because of the genre, as well as this particular story thread being highly difficult to pull off, but there were some moments that made me scratch my head. Maybe if the movie explained the rules better it would have made more sense, but as is, it can be little sloppy.
All of my other criticisms are super nitpicky. For example, there are a few moments when the editing gets too jump cut heavy. It’s not entire scenes, but short five second sequences where there are way more cuts than needed. Plus, after seeing her in the context of Endgame, I am still not a fan of Captain Marvel. She’s very bland. Luckily, she isn’t on screen much, so she doesn’t bog it down heavily, but I still don’t really like her.
Avengers: Endgame is one of the riskiest movies of all time. Tying 22 movies together that span 11 years into a movie as grand as this should have been a giant sloppy mess, but Endgame pulled it off very well. There are a few aspects that prevent me from loving it as much as Infinity War, but Endgame stands as an admirably fantastic feat of filmmaking. It’s exciting, fun, emotional, satisfying, and truly epic. I would say go see it, but let’s face it, you already have. Actually, screw it. Go see Endgame again! It’s really good!
Final score: 8/10 (Great)
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