WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Well, it’s finally here. Avengers: Endgame, the final installment of the Avengers franchise, was released on April 26 for millions of Marvel fans to enjoy. This movie was an emotional rollercoaster, with the perfect balance of nostalgia, humor and action to satisfy any die-hard Marvel fan.
The movie begins with a tear-jerking cold open, which picks up right after Thanos snaps his fingers in Infinity War. The audience sees Clint (Hawkeye) enjoying time with his family. As soon as Clint turns his back, his children and wife turn to dust, leaving him all alone. His panic when he can’t find his family is heartbreaking, and truly sets the tone for the rest of the movie.
The audience then gets a look at what post-snap Earth looks like. A bleak world with abandoned cars that crowd the streets and memorials for those who were lost. Our heros are left disoriented and unsure of what to do next. When they finally get an idea of where Thanos is two days after everyone disappeared, they suit up and go into space, hoping there’s something they can do to get their loved ones back. It is in this process they meet Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel), who seemed to not even be fazed by the sheer size of their upcoming task. Her power was established early when she was the one who did practically everything but kill Thanos. It was this introduction that led me to believe that Captain Marvel would have a big role in the film, and I was excited to see how she would add to the strengths of the other Avengers. Captain Marvel was not utilized nearly enough as she should have in this movie, and it seemed odd that this was the case because she was just coming off of her recent box-office hit origin story.
The heroes find Thanos on a planet he had recently wiped out, living his life as a humble gardner. The confrontation certainly wasn’t the big fight scene everyone was expecting (little did we know that later we would get the fight scene of the century). It was shocking to see Thanos die so early, after him appearing almost invincible in the last movie. When Thor kills him and makes his “I went for the head” comment, everyone in my theater clapped. Thanos admits that he destroyed the infinity stones, which allows for the conflict of the movie to finally come into fruition. It is with this that the movie jumps fives years into the future and continues from that point.
Endgame does very well with what it’s given. With the amount of characters the film has to keep track of, the movie juggles them surprisingly well. However, the additional aspect of time travel allow for a lot of plot holes in the movie to be present and never addressed. For example, when Peter (Spider-Man) returns, why is he still high school aged? Shouldn’t he be five years older because of the time jump? Where does Loki go with the tesseract? Is he alive in the new timeline? The movie make its own rules, but never firmly establishes what’s possible and what isn’t. With a three hour run time, I understand why the Russo brothers may not have wanted to make the film any longer. However, there are definitely things that could’ve been cut out to allow for this essential information to be stated.
For all the new characters that have been established in the MCU, Endgame really only followed the stories of the original Avengers. Much of the film was Tony (Iron Man) and Steve (Captain America) bickering about whether or not they should go through with a time travel plan. As much as I appreciate them as characters, Marvel fans have really seen this story again and again. While I know this was Robert Downey Jr.’s and Chris Evan’s last film with the franchise, the film had the opportunity to pass the torch and explore new characters, but played it safe and gave us the same kind of dynamic we’re used to. Why Ant-Man and Hawkeye had such big roles in the film struck me as a little out of left field.
The humor in this movie was impeccable, as most Marvel movies are. Without characters like Thor and Rocket, this movie would’ve been completely grim for three hours. The humor was much needed overall, and I’m glad the tissues I brought weren’t just for crying of sadness.
Natasha’s (Black Widow) death was surprising to say the least. Clint really seemed like he was going to die when getting the soul stone based on the whole storyline with him killing people as revenge. Scarlett Johansson has been promised a solo movie for years, and killing her off appears to be an excuse for people to stop pushing for one. Natasha’s death seemed unnecessary, and while Clint did have a family to take care of it didn’t make sense why she was the one to die.
Tony’s death was honorable and could not have been a better send off. While I had a feeling it was coming from the foreshadowing at the beginning of the movie, I still wasn’t emotionally prepared for it. Seeing all the people at his funeral from past MCU movies was a nice reference to older movies, and I’m sure a lot of Marvel fans appreciated it.
Steve’s decision to live his life when he goes back to return the infinity stones was truly touching. The scene with him and Peggy dancing was truly adorable, and seeing Steve that happy was also a nice way to end his character arc in the MCU. By giving his shield to Sam (Falcon), he’s setting up a new chapter for Captain America and future movies, and I’m sure fans are excited to see what the future holds.
For a movie with so many twists and turns, I’m so happy I got to watch and experience this movie. As a dedicated Marvel fan, I’m sad to see this franchise end, but excited to see what the MCU is capable of next. Endgame was a rollercoaster from start to finish, but I could not think of a better way to end the series we know and love. This movie overall, along with seeing Stan Lee in his final cameo, was an emotional moment for many fans. This movie was truly unforgettable, so whatever you do, #Don’tSpoilTheEndgame.
