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thenerdparty · 5 years

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Avengers: Endgame Film Review

Written by Shawn Eastridge Has it really been 11 years since the first Iron Man? The Dark Knight might have taken all the credit that year for revolutionizing the superhero genre, but Iron Man’s legacy has proved just as important. While other films in Phase One hobbled somewhere between decent and mediocre, Joss Whedon’s first Avengers exceeded any and all expectations. To this day, it stands as one of the greatest superhero films ever, and it paved the way for the remainder of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.

Over the course of the past decade, the MCU has seen its fair share of highs (Anything directed by the Russos), lows (Thor movies not directed by Taika Waititi) and everything in between. But through it all, Marvel Studios has maintained a consistent level of quality, conjuring up box office numbers that made Warner Bros SO JEALOUS they ruined Superman in the attempt to catch up. (Hey, WB: I’m still available to help get you on the right track with the Man of Steel. Call me.)

But now, twenty-two movies later, it’s all come down to this. We’re in the Endgame now, the long-awaited BIG FINALE to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.

Let’s be real, though - we all know this isn’t really the finale. The MCU will chug on and on forever. In fact, we’ve even got another Marvel movie right around the corner. (That would be July’s Spider-Man: Far From Home) And while that knowledge does dilute Endgame’s overall effectiveness - can anyone ever stay dead in the realm of comic books - it seems foolish to recognize Endgame as anything other than a monumental success.

Seriously, this ‘conclusion’ to the MCU’s recently dubbed ‘Infinity Saga’ satisfies on nearly every level, fulfilling arcs set up in prior films and providing proper send offs for characters we’ve come to know and love over the past decade. Instead of collapsing under the weight of its ongoing 22-film arc, the Russo Brothers, along with screenwriting duo Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus, rise to the challenge and then some, wrapping things up with style, grace and a surprising amount of emotion. That is perhaps the most pleasant surprise: Endgame is genuinely touching in the way it thoughtfully concludes this ongoing story arc. You may find yourself dabbing the corners of your eyes more frequently than expected through the film’s brisk three-hour runtime.

This isn’t all to say that Endgame is without its fair share of flaws - and there are plenty that I’ll get into during the spoiler section of this review - but honestly, the nitpicks feel so minor when compared to all the things that work. Marvel Studios hasn’t just raised the bar for superhero filmmaking and ‘big finales’ in general. They’ve obliterated it.

There. That’s my non-spoiler reaction. MASSIVE SPOILERS await you ahead. So, do yourself a favor: if you haven’t seen Avengers: Endgame already, see it. Immediately. If you have any fondness for any of the films in this massive franchise, there’s no way you’ll be disappointed. Once you’re in the know, come back and check out the rest of this review.

Sound good? Okay. Let’s push forward.

. . . . .

Where Infinity War brought the comic book action early and often, Endgame’s opening moments are more meditative and somber. Our heroes have just faced a crushing loss. They’re still reeling from the devastation of Thanos’s infamous Finger-Snap Heard ‘round the Universe. Nothing will ever be the same.

After staging an effectively heart-wrenching opening scene, giving us a brief glimpse at Hawkeye’s family life before his wife and kids fade into ash, the Russos keep the mood low-key and mournful for the duration of the film’s first act. Then we get one of Endgame’s earliest and best twists: within the film’s first twenty minutes, the Avengers find Thanos and discover he’s destroyed the Infinity Stones to prevent anyone from undoing his monstrous deed. In an empty gesture, Thor chops off the purple dude’s head. It’s a brilliant way to kick things off, throwing the audience for a loop and suggesting an ‘anything goes’ vibe to keep us on the edge of our seats.

The story jumps ahead five years(!!) to find our heroes scattered and broken, attempting to mend together the pieces in a world still devastated by its new reality. I loved that the Russos let us wallow in our heroes’ misery for a bit. You really get a sense of the loss they’ve experienced, that the entire world has experienced. These scenes offer some wonderful character beats and conversations, something that has always elevated Marvel above the rest of the pack.

Scott Lang, a.k.a. Ant-Man, escapes the Quantum Realm (you saw Ant-Man and the Wasp, right?) to discover a significantly altered world. But he brings a message of hope with him: the duration of time he experienced in the Quantum Realm was only 5 hours, suggesting the potential for time travel. Maybe they can find a way to fix the devastation Thanos has wrought by traveling back in time?

P.S. Can I just take a moment to talk about how much I love Paul Rudd in this movie? Ant-Man has been on the periphery of the MCU’s big events and to see him take on such a big role in this movie was a huge thrill.

This glimmer of hope inspires the band to get back together and it’s genuinely surprising where some of them have ended up. Bruce Banner has finally made peace with his meaner, greener side, resulting in Professor Hulk, a version of the character that maintains Banner’s intelligence and personality. Thor never overcame his grief and has spent the past five years descending into drunken slobbery and gaining a significant amount of weight in the process. This provides one of the film’s best sight gags. Plus, it’s maintained throughout! Kudos to you, Russos!

And then we have Mr. Tony Stark himself, the key to figuring out how to make time travel work. But he’s moved on. He and Pepper have an adorable daughter. He has absolutely zero desire to lose what he has. Ultimately the realization that he can save the lives of countless billions - including one surrogate son Peter Parker - drives him to support the cause.

Endgame’s 2nd act centers around the newly reassembled Avengers time-traveling into the past to gather the Infinity Stones, bring them to their future and use them to ‘un-snap’ their fallen comrades. These sequences are fun and light on their feet. They’re especially effective in lieu of the grim opening scenes.

Here’s the thing, though: As much as I love this portion of the film and the way the time travel stuff is handled, I couldn’t help feeling there was a general lack of consequence to everything that happened during this sequence. Even when things skew from the team’s set plan, it doesn’t feel like a significant snag or an insurmountable obstacle. These moments are treated as minor annoyances before our heroes carry on with a new solution, nary breaking their strides or a sweat in the process.

It’s all fun in a Back to the Future Part II kind of way, but it’s treated more as an extended comedy bit than anything else, and to a certain extent, this robs Endgame of some level of suspense. Plus, it’s time travel. Once you throw time travel into the mix, all bets are off, and I couldn’t help shaking that feeling. After all, what’s to stop them from using this plot device again and again in the future, consequences be damned?

At the very least, the wackiness of the time travel sequence is balanced with some great character beats. I loved Thor’s tender moment with his mom. I loved Captain America vs. Captain America. I loved that Tony gets a sincere heart to heart with his dad, offering some much-needed closure. Robert Downey Jr. has never been anything less than wonderful in this role, but his performance in Endgame might take the cake. Honestly, everyone brings their A-game to the table and these moments ground the sequence, keeping it from getting too bonkers.

This sequence is also balanced with a genuinely tragic moment: Black Widow sacrifices herself to get the Soul Stone. I don’t know why this scene has been stirring up some people, because here’s the thing: this moment works perfectly. Natasha (Black Widow) and Clint (Hawkeye) travel to Vormir to obtain the Soul Stone. As established in Infinity War, the only way to obtain said stone is to sacrifice the thing you love most. Clint’s willing to take the plunge. He’s become a monster in the five years since his family’s disappearance (but an awesome, katana-wielding monster) and he doesn’t feel he deserves to see them again. Natasha knows this isn’t true and she’s willing to sacrifice herself to ensure Clint gets his happy ending. After all, he saved her all those years ago. It’s time to return the favor. It’s heartbreaking, but it feels right and Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner sell every minute.

The plan is a success, but it's not without its snags. Past Thanos ends up getting involved when past Nebula tunes into future Nebula’s wifi and begins broadcasting everything future Nebula has seen, including the Avengers’ time travel plan. Thanos gets worked up into a tizzy and he and past Nebula devise a plan to get him into the Avengers’ future so he can ensure everyone snapped out of existence stays snapped out of existence. Also, why not wipe out everyone else in the process just for good measure? Because that’s what big, angry, purple maniacs do. Don’t question it.

Is it a bit weird that the Thanos the Avengers face isn’t the same Thanos so carefully fleshed out in Infinity War? Yeah, a little bit. To be honest, it makes things feel kind of impersonal. This Thanos feels more like the mysterious being teased in dozens of MCU post-credits sequence than the layered, thoughtful villain of the previous film. It’s a bit of a bummer, but it is what it is.

Ultimately, my biggest gripe with Endgame is the same gripe caused by Infinity War’s conclusion. We already knew the disintegrated heroes were going to come back for their obligatory sequels. Their arrival during Endgame’s epic battle to end all epic battles feels inevitable more than surprising.

And, look, let me be clear: Endgame’s climax is the ultimate superhero big battle you’ve been dreaming of since Nick Fury first name-dropped the ‘Avengers Initiative.’ I went nuts with the best of them when all our heroes returned from the abyss for this ultimate showdown, so understand my next criticism comes from a place of love. Once all the heroes show up, the stakes disappear. I didn’t have any doubt the Avengers would win. As a result, the climax is robbed of its suspense. It’s basically fan service to the nth degree, which again, I’d like to emphasize I was totally cool with. It just prevents the battle from conjuring up any emotional depth.

This isn’t The Return of the King. It's not the Battle of Hogwarts or the Death Star trench run or even the first Avengers' Battle for New York. It’s a big, flashy special effects extravaganza overflowing with crowd-pleasing beats, but lacking in genuine (here’s this word again) consequence. Again, I want to emphasize that I loved every second of it, but there’s a significant lack of loss during these scenes. Ultimately, Tony Stark sacrifices himself to save the universe and it’s absolutely BRILLIANT and heart-wrenching, but no one else seems in danger. Iron Man dies so that dozens of franchises can live on.

The remaining twenty minutes or so of Endgame are low key. We witness Tony’s emotional funeral, torches are passed (go, Sam Wilson, go!) and some unexpected-slash-exciting team-ups are teased (Fat Thor with the Guardians of the Galaxy? I am SO in.) But it’s during these quiet scenes that the Russos skillfully remind us what has always mattered the most: the characters. And I’m not going to lie, it’s difficult not to get choked up when Steve Rogers, a man who has sacrificed so much for the greater good, finally gets his happy ending, dancing the day away with the love of his life.

Big finales don’t get much more enjoyable or fulfilling than this. Marvel’s Cinematic Universe will go on and on and on. Inevitably, its quality will wane and fade, but we can rest easy knowing that the heroes that kicked everything off got the send-off they deserved. It might not be perfect, but it’s pretty damn great. Most importantly, it’s satisfying.

With the Infinity Saga, Marvel Studios has accomplished something extraordinary. They’ve touched countless millions across the globe without compromising the artistic quality of this multi-billion dollar franchise. We can rage on and on about Disney’s domination and how everything is just a corporate product and blah, blah, blah, but we’d be ignoring the fact that they got to where they are because they honored their source material and went out of their way to give the fans something special.

So to Kevin Feige and the entire team at Marvel Studios, cast, crew, writers, bean pushers, etc., I’d like to say thank you. You’ve earned every record-breaking penny. We love you 3000.

Now can someone please un-cancel Daredevil?? Come on!!

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servantofclio · 5 years

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Scattered Endgame thoughts and spoilers, in random bullet points because more organized paragraphs are beyond me at the moment.

LOTS OF SPOILERS, avoid if you want to stay unspoiled:

I now kinda feel like Infinity War spent so much time on Thanos so it would be extra gratifying to watch him get taken down multiple times.

Did not expect to see the Avengers behead him in the first 20 minutes of the movie though

Poor Thor doing exactly what he should have done the first time around (sever the arm, then remove the head)

The movie is a surprisingly nuanced examination of grief and loss and various ways of responding to same, for an action movie.

Taking the prizes in “Not handling it well”: Clint Barton and Thor.

What other games did Nebula and Tony Stark play to pass the time while stranded in space?

I was quite relieved Cassie Lang is okay, though

I loved seeing Natasha taking charge and Steve doing Sam’s job, more or less -- nice shout-outs to some of their closest losses

I whispered “oh no” when I realized Tony Stark had an adorable under-five-years-old daughter. His fate was sealed in that moment, narratively.

Hawkeye finally got stuff to do!

The stuff where he and Natasha are fighting for the chance to sacrifice themselves killed me

I loved the time heist and all the clever references and cameos in it -- I did not expect to see Frigga again, and all the reframings / references to Winter Soldier and the first Avengers movie were great. I would have liked more of Jane Foster, though.

Loki’s escape provides a handy avenue to re-introduce him into the storyline.

Steve having to fight himself was also great.

Valkyrie seemed pretty chill about Thor’s ongoing meltdown, but then I guess she spent like 2000 years drunk and dysfunctional, so she probably figures he’ll get over it eventually.

Where did Valkyrie get her flying horse, though? Does she, like, summon it magically? Does she get it if she’s worthy? Did she have to go on a quest for it, and that’s why she wasn’t in Infinity War? Or do they just breed them in New Asgard or something? I want to know.

Karen Gillan was so, so good in this -- especially considering Nebula doesn’t always emote a lot with her face, Gillan instead emotes with her whole body, and made the different stages in Nebula’s characterization really clear. I’m so impressed by her work in this movie, and I love that the character played such a major role.

Woman I passed leaving the theatre: “I liked it better the second time. The first time I just kept waiting for Carol to show up. 2/10, not enough Carol Danvers.” I get you, stranger.

That said, I think the film did a remarkably good job using its cast and giving lots of characters stuff to do, balancing its heavy hitters with major plot arcs (Steve, Tony, Thor) against other characters (Nebula, Rhodey, Rocket).

I wish I’d had a better sense of the overall geography of the final battle -- it’s just a scene of desolation and ruin, and so harder to track the needed movements across the battlefield -- but there was so many great moments for so many characters (I particularly like Wanda’s face-off with Thanos, Steve’s use of Mjolnir, and the brief shot assembling all the female heroes).

So... if Steve’s going back in time to marry Peggy Carter forks the timeline (assuming I’m understanding the time nonsense correctly)... did he just live for fifty years as Peggy’s secret househusband? Did he ever say “Hey, honey, you should know that SHIELD is totally infiltrated with Hydra?” and if he did, what does that timeline end up looking like?

Mostly what I’m looking for in arc-ending media is emotional resolution, which I feel like I got in spades. There are probably some plot holes I haven’t noticed, and the direction of the world after these events seems unclear (is there enough housing for the returned population? how do those people struggling with five years of trauma and those people who just vanished manage to coexist?), but I was really satisfied overall.

#endgame spoilers #avengers endgame spoilers

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feelieking · 5 years

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The Endgame Agenda

This post contains incredibly mild spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.

I’ve seen a lot of discussion on-line recently about the moment of gay representation in Endgame, and about whether it’s a triumph or an insult. The reality, I think, is that it’s both.

Taken purely on its own merits, the scene is superb. We see a very honest portrayal of a man moving through the stages of grief and trying the rebuild his life, and when this man talks about the person he has lost, and the person he is now dating, he uses the word “he.” The scene would have been not one iota different if we had instead heard “she” and that’s exactly how it should be. We are shown that gay love is just the same as straight love, and that gay grief feels just the same as straight grief. I still hear people complaining when a character in a piece of fiction is depicted as LGBT+ “even though it’s not relevant to the plot” – I heard it an uncomfortable amount of times about Bill in Doctor Who, for example. But the reality is that people aren’t queer in real life because it’s “relevant to the plot”, we just _are_.

More importantly still, it is absolutely perfect that the person this man is talking to is Captain America, a person who very literally embodies the heroic ideal of America, and who lived most of his life when homosexuality was criminalised and taboo. He doesn’t bat an eyelid at the character’s use of “he” but is compassionate and supportive – clearly, this person’s sexual orientation is a complete non-issue to him, just as it should be. It’s really valuable to see this depicted.

However.

Taken as the sum total of overt queer representation in eleven years of major films, this scene is the very epitome of too little, too late.

This is the twenty-first film in the MCU, and it’s the first to have any overt on-screen queer representation. The fact that all we get is some unnamed rando in a thirty second scene, even a beautifully composed one, is frustrating to say the least. To an extent, I am sympathetic to the argument that none of the principal characters we’ve seen in the films are LGBT in the comics, and that it would therefore be too much of a departure change their orientation for the screen – but there have been some fairly major departures from the comicbook cannon, and there have definitely been enough supporting characters created for the screen that not everyone needed to be straight.

Also, I say “overt representation” because Valkyrie was intended to be queer, and her moment of same-sex affection ended up on the cutting room floor. While I don’t think for a moment that the Russo Brothers had any hand in her excision, it does make their trumpeting of the Endgame’s gay scene feel a little hubristic.

And while we’re here, lets talk about the awkward “she has help” moment near the end of the film, where all of the surviving female superheroes suddenly appear and pose for the camera. I absolutely loved the equivalent “she isn’t alone” moment in Infinity War – it felt empowering to see three kick-ass women take on one bad-ass woman; the line was great, being redolent of solidarity; but most importantly, it felt like a natural moment on the battlefield. This time round, however, it felt not at all like a real moment in a battle, but rather the filmmakers explicitly breaking the fourth wall to say to the audience, “Look! Look! We DO have plenty of strong female characters, we do!” – after the vast majority were conspicuous by their absence for most of the film. Marvel, we can tell the difference between representation and tokenism, and this was the latter.

#writing #endgame #avengers endgame #LGBT

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