by David Kent | staff writer
[Warning, this review contains spoilers]
The final installment in the Avengers saga is here at last. Does it live up to the hype from the last 11 years of marvel movies?
Avengers: Endgame starts off almost immediately after the catastrophic ending of Avengers: Infinity War, invoking a very somber and serious tone throughout the movie much like it’s predecessor. The Avengers are finally united together, from Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, to Chris Evans’ Captain America, and to Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. It is everyone’s best performance to date, especially with the main trinity of Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, the three original avengers who started it all back in 2012. Now, 7 years later, we witness the culmination of a generation-spanning saga of 22 movies.
The movie’s plot, although strange on paper, is great when viewing it in person. The utilization of time-travel in the movie was a risk, but it payed off by the end with only a few hiccups along the way, most notably at the end. As has become a trend with the directors of the movie, the Russo Brothers continue to subvert expectations and take risks with their narrative choices, which pay off in the endgame.
When I first went in to see the movie, I expected for the Avengers to go and fight Thanos once more and lose, again. However, the complete opposite happened. Thanos was defeated easily and without much of a struggle, killed in the first ten minutes. He was killed by Thor of course, with a simple “I went for the head” in response to killing him. However, it wasn’t intended as a comedic line, more of a sorrowful and bitter one. As Thor walks away from the hutt Thanos was living in, the same theme from the ending of Infinity War plays, signifying the end of Thanos’ journey, and the end of Thor’s.
The callback to previous movies was heartwarming and amazing as a lifelong fan, and it really showed just how far the Marvel Cinematic Universe
The cinematography is jaw-dropping in some areas, harkening back to the likes of academy award winning director Steven Spielberg. Dialogue is superb in some areas, especially for the mad titan, Thanos, who is reprised by Josh Brolin from Infinity War. The jokes are good of course with some especially good ones from Bruce Banner and Thor.
I remember seeing Iron Man for the first time 11 years ago, at that time I was six-years-old and I will never forget my first time seeing it. To see the pay-off of all of these movies and all of these characters whom we’ve grown to love is phenomenal, it is a true send-off for the main trinity who started it all, all those years ago. The Marvel Cinematic Universe started the silver age of superhero movies, and it perfectly ends its own generational-saga of superhero movies, ready to start a new one.
The best parts of the movie were near the end. From Captain America wielding Mjolnir, to the iconic “Avengers…Assemble” scene, and finally the final scene of Iron Man where he dies to save everyone. Fans have wanted all of this from the beginning (except the death if Iron Man, of course). All of these scenes became iconic in there own right, living up to the likes of such previous Marvel movie scenes like Thor’s scene in Infinity War, “Bring me Thanos,” and the team-up scene in the original Avengers movie.
There are of course some problems with the movie, most notably with the ending involving Captain America and time travel. Cap could not come back to the present without the time-watch because he created an alternate reality when he went back to dance and marry Peggy Carter. Even if he did use the time-watch, he would come back to where he left at the time-travel machine. Along with this, some of the action scenes and dramatic scenes felt somewhat shallow compared to Infinity War.
Overall, I give this movie an A+ rating. It represents the culmination of the Avengers Saga and the culmination of 22 movies, all of which lead to the endgame. With many callbacks to previous movies and even scenes in previous movies involving time-travel, this is definitely a farewell to the fan’s who have made Marvel what it is today.
“I love you 3,000.”
“We’re okay, you can rest now.”
“I. Am. Iron Man.”
