Avengers: Endgame

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Josh Brolin, Chadwick Boseman, Brie Larson, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Evangeline Lilly, Tessa Thompson, Rene Russo, Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel (voice), Bradley Cooper (voice), Gwyneth Paltrow, John Slattery, Tilda Swinton, Jon Favreau, Hayley Atwell, Natalie Portman, Marisa Tomei, Angela Bassett, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sean Gunn, William Hurt, Cobie Smulders, Ross Marquand, Winston Duke, Linda Cardellini, Maximiliano Hernandez, Frank Grillo, James D'Arcy, Jacob Batalon, Hiroyuki Sanada, Lexi Rabe, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ken Jeong, Ty Simpkins
Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
2019

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: The surviving Avengers deal with the aftermath of Thanos' victory as they fight for some way to move forward.

Review:

Tim: It feels like I've waxed poetically about the Marvel Cinematic Universe forever. However, I don't feel any guilt about it. What Marvel has done in Hollywood is unprecedented. This entire era will be characterized by what Marvel accomplished. In many ways, Avengers: Endgame is the culmination, the pinnacle of all that. It might not be the best movie Marvel has released in the last 11 years, but it's awfully close. It's certainly the most ambitious, the most complex, and challenging to pull off. I'll always love Joe and Anthony Russo for how they wrapped up the Infinity Saga with this, the 22nd movie in the MCU.

I loved Avengers: Infinity War for the shocking and devastating victory of Thanos. It was a long wait to finally see how it would all be resolved here. I still laugh recalling what I thought the movie would be about and then discovering what it actually was about. I remember sitting in the theater, 10 minutes in, saying, "Well apparently I have no idea what this movie is actually about." I wasn't prepared- no one was. That's also due to the genius of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the writers who don't receive nearly enough credit for wrapping up dozens of storylines in an incredible fashion.

It's amazing to me that this story not only wrapped up the 22-film Infinity Saga, but it also acted as a love letter to the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was genius to conclude the story in a way that allowed us to reflect on everything that had come before it. The (Spoiler Alert) "Time heist" was a brilliant strategy that accomplished both those objectives. It was wildly entertaining and fun from start to finish.

It was probably the right call to focus the bulk of the movie on the original Avengers. In some ways, I was saddened that so many of the great characters established in previous movies were on the sidelines for this one. It would have been cool to see Black Panther, Spider-Man, Starlord, Dr. Strange, and the others. However, it was the right narrative decision. This is the end of an era for Marvel and we needed to spend our time with the original Avengers (plus characters like Ant-Man, Rocket, etc.).

One of the big complaints about Infinity War (which I was believe was unwarranted) is that the deaths didn't matter. This movie shows that they did. Of course, we knew most of the "snapped" characters would come back, but there are some emotional, lasting deaths that pummel us throughout the film. Looking at these two films together, we can finally appreciate the genius of this one lengthy, incredible story.

It would be impossible for me to go into length about all the characters and the actors in this film. It's stunning to see the immense cast here. It's not crazy to say it's the greatest cast ever assembled. You have to start with Robert Downey Jr. He's the godfather of the entire MCU and has been incredible shepherding audiences through this insane journey. This is likely his final film in the MCU and what a final impression he makes. He has perhaps the film's coolest line at the climax of his story. He's incredible in this role that he made his own. Chris Evans is incredible as well. His importance to the MCU cannot be overstated and he quietly emerged as perhaps the most important member of the cast, rivaling Downey Jr himself. Chris Hemsworth was certainly the most surprising cast member, undergoing an unexpected transformation at the start of the movie. It makes sense to show this reaction to Thanos' victory and it actually creates a lot of conversation about the character. It did make him feel too much like comedic relief instead of heroic, but it was mostly a good decision. Mark Ruffalo was enjoyable in his visual effects-heavy role. Scarlett Johansson had some nice scenes. I liked that Jeremy Renner and Paul Rudd got quite a lot of screen time since they missed out on the action last time. I could go on, but it would take all day to comment on everyone. I was so surprised at how many big-time actors reprised their roles for supporting scenes. It was incredible to see so many of them once again. The cast is absolutely fantastic.

In some ways, this movie feels less epic than the previous one. There's fewer large battles here. That's perfectly fine, though, because the bulk of the movie is still exciting and it gives us a ton of wonderful character moments. It all builds to the legitimately epic conclusion. I do want to talk about that for a minute. I'm fairly certain that if Hollywood lasts for 500 more years, there will never be such an incredible climax as in this movie. The final battle against the forces of Thanos represents 10+ years and 20+ movies. (Spoiler)- This scene also contains two of the best lines of the entire MCU- not for originality, as we've heard them both before. It's the context that makes them remarkable. "On your left" and "Avengers Assemble!" are chill inducing. The scene where everyone shows up for the climactic confrontation is one of the coolest scenes I've ever witnessed. The final battle, the way everything wraps up, it's absolutely incredible.

At some point, I'll rewatch this film and maybe I'll comment in greater detail. There's so much to say. I have no idea where the MCU goes from here (the risk is greater than ever). But no matter what happens next, the MCU should be applauded forever for giving us a 22 film saga that spans 11 years, gave us 13 great movies and perhaps even more surprising, didn't deliver a single film that wasn't really, really good (nothing less than a 7.5/10 on my scale). It told a story 10x more epic than had ever been depicted on screen before. The stories were full of action and adventure, but always made you laugh. There were so many emotional moments peppered throughout these stories. We've never seen anything like it before. I applaud Marvel, Joe and Anthony Russo, Markus and McFeely, Kevin Feige, and the incredible cast for assembling to give us the nearly unfathomable coolness of Avengers: Endgame.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 8.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Solider, Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man, Avengers: Infinity War