Avengers: Endgame Review

Hello everyone this is Nathan with Flamingo House. As I get this platform rolling I’ve wanted to start marketing myself as someone that reviews all kinds of film ranging from mainstream to independent and arthouse films, but today I’m going to review a pretty big bearded purple mammoth.

Avengers: Endgame.

Why you might ask?

The Avengers Uno was a film that I saw

in cinemas much like all of the others before it, and I was super hyped due to the build up of a handful of origin stories. My hype was fulfilled, and after the end I was super ecstatic for Thanos.

Was.

The slew of twenty or so films that followed afterwards kind of dampened by spirits. Sure there were really good superhero adaptations like Thor Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy 1&2, but most of these films seemed like flavors of the month (I’m talking about you, Antman). But not Infinity War. Infinity War secured my hype and brought me right back to where I was. Superhero movies don’t get credit or recognition at ceremonies like the Oscars for the same reason that any other blockbuster summer film doesn’t: usually they’re cash grabs. But there were certain aspects of Infinity War that I would argue are unique from the other films: the direction of the characters felt refreshed, the performances from Downey Jr., Johannson, and Holland were spectacular, and even the cinematography was amazing. And all of those things were transferred into Endgame.

Alright duck and cover because we are getting into spoiler territory so if you don’t want it spoiled please exit this article now thank you for your patronage okay here we go please now bye.

WHAT I LIKED

The first scene of the film set the tone for me, and hooked me in at the get-go. You all know the scene.

As I said a little bit earlier, the cinematography was pretty good. With that, most of the CGI was pretty spectacular as well. I think that the Disney remakes pale in comparison because of the work and money that’s put into these films, which I’d prefer over that. At least I like the source material and cinematic integrity of these films over those.

The supporting cast outweigh the two story arcs by a longshot as well. I cared way more about Black Widow and Thor than I did about Cap and Iron Man, mainly because their characters endured massive changes (Black Widow shows weakness and Thor got fat, which was totally a metaphor for depression and not feeling worthy).

On writing/character development, some of the time travel bits solidified their motives in this universe. Tony seeing his dad was cool, and I’m glad that the Ancient One had a spotlight, because her character, while whitewashed, was a short lived but a great addition to the MCU. The throwback to the events of 2012’s Avengers was a nice bit of nostalgia, and I’m glad that we had that.

Obviously myself and everyone else have been waiting on this film for more than just a year, but since the introduction of Thanos way back in a post-credit scene in 2012. I felt just as much excitement going into this film as I did when Infinity War came out, even though I felt fatigued by the other sequels and origin films beforehand.

NOT SO MUCH

As a story, it fell short compared to Infinity War. Infinity War had multiple main characters and arcs that went with them, but didn’t at all feel rushed, the typical downfall of many ensemble films. Endgame shifted the direction of the main character to both Iron Man and Captain America. I kind of felt like I was on a roller coaster with how breakneck their narratives shifted. Everybody else got demoted to supporting side characters, even though they accomplished their goals and went through their respective “upside downs,” I think it was clear that the main focus was gracefully ushering Iron Man and Cap out of the franchise (for now, I’m sure).

The big story thing I have is mainly the time travel sequences. The time travel bits felt like a bunch of buddy comedies. I half expected Tony Stark to convince his dad to name his son Tony, and make a big laughable Back to the Future joke out of it. I felt the temptation in the script to keep poking these comedic elements, but just as it almost became too much, things got serious again with the capture of Nebula and the obtaining of the soul stone. I also want to make a side note about Black Widow: for awhile I didn’t care for her because I thought that, while her character is stoic and trained, some of the more emotional performances that the character had were still pretty deadpan. But Scarlett Johansson's performance is PERFECT, as is Jeremy Renner’s (though that haircut is less than spectacular). Hawkeye used to be a punching bag character in my eyes, but he was saved too. Unfortunately the new punching bag is Ant Man, which I think is garbage because he presented the literal idea of time travel to the team, and they just took it and rolled with it, used him for the elements they needed, and shit on him for most of the movie.

Presenting time travel is risky business in films, and seems to be a rule that some would deem lazy. I’d like to source Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, the creative forces behind Rick and Morty, for putting a box of junk labeled “Time Travel” in said show. The joke being that, time travel is too much of an overplayed and easy gimmick, as I’m sure that box will never be touched. The problem with time travel in this film is that is created a lot of holes and rewrote things that the franchise has built for the last ten years. The big one happens to be that now there is a world where Captain America stopped being Captain America, so that he could live out his life with the love he never had. It’s emotional and a payoff to the character, as he’s wanted that life throughout the entire film, but now Hydra potentially still exists, and Steve Rogers KNOWS that, and just decided to fuck off and be a normal person. It doesn’t feel like something his character would do, and I would at least hope that he told someone “hey, those hydra guys are still around.” Maybe they’ll address that in an upcoming film. I can only hope.

Thanos as a threat was incredibly reduced, which is also very disappointing, because dominated the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a long time, and his presence in Infinity War was perfection. In Endgame, he’s finished off almost immediately, which was a choice for sure. Time travel became the antagonist of the film for most of the acts, and then Thanos was thrown back in the mix, where he just grabs the new gauntlet and tries to do the snap again. For a little bit, I honestly thought that Thanos wasn’t going to come back into the film. I would’ve been PISSED.

WORTH IT?

Endgame didn’t feel like it wrapped anything up. It wasn’t supposed to finish off the Marvel universe, but it was at least supposed to feel like some sort of an ending. I know that they’ll keep making these films until the genre dies out like the Westerns, and until then, we’ll have cliffhangers, new characters replacing the old, and all that. But, that’s not such a terrible thing. I think these films have filled the shoes that comic books once did way back in the day. It’s sad to see that media suffering in comparison to previous decades, but I think these films keep Marvel Comics in business, and anything that will keep comic books alive is okay, even if some of these films are flavor of the month cash grabs. Is it worth seeing? If you’ve never seen a Marvel film, you shouldn’t be reading this, but on the off chance, don’t see it. Start from the beginning. Even if some films fall flat, or some characters feel lacking and rushed, it’s a nice adventure to watch this franchise. If you are a fan of the franchise, whether you like it or not, this film finishes up two arcs that won’t be wrapped up in any other way. As a comic book fan and an observer of this franchise for the past decade, I felt obligated to see this film. It’s worth it, even if some of it felt weird.

Overall rating: 7/10