Avengers: Endgame Review
The MCU, or Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been building to this moment for a decade over the course of 21 interconnected films. If that statement doesn’t make your jaw drop, I honestly don’t know what will. Against all odds, the MCU has created a cohesive universe of films, which will undoubtedly be taught in history classes in the years to come. Endgame has also broken all sorts of box office records, making it the 2nd All Time Domestic/Worldwide Release (at the time of this writing). Not only is it a financial success, it is also a critical success, with a 94% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Endgame is the culmination of the MCU, which has been split into three different “Phases” of films thus far. Spiderman: Far from Home will complete the third phase of the MCU, with all three phases being dubbed the “Infinity Saga.”
The Russo Brothers have had experience making Marvel movies. They have directed some of the best in the franchise, starting with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The scope of Endgame is quite daunting, as the bar was raised to incredible heights with the release of Avengers: Infinity War. Somehow the Russo Brothers manage to top it. They coherently balance the many different character and action beats into a story, which is impressive to say the least. Without giving too much away, the movie picks up directly where Infinity War left off. Thanos’ (played by Josh Brolin) snap has successfully destroyed 50% of the life in the entire universe, leaving the Avengers struggling with the fact that they lost. Each character deals with this loss in their own way, which is an interesting approach to a Marvel film. While these characters are superheroes, the film perfectly depicts how human beings deal with grief and loss in a multitude of ways.
Without spoiling anything (although, if you haven’t seen it by now you should probably slap yourself), Endgame pays off in huge dividends. If there were one word to describe this movie, it would have to be: fan service… anybody want a peanut? The Princess Bride jokes aside, the film manages to throw in as many cool moments as it can, including my personal favorite iteration of the Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo) yet. The best way to experience the film had to be seeing it on opening night when all the super fans came out in droves. We cheered at moments in the film so many times I lost count. Endgame was able to balance the lightheartedness and seriousness masterfully. While there are plenty of laugh out loud moments, especially with Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth), the film doesn’t shy away from its’ serious subject matter of mass genocide. The stakes couldn’t be higher as the Avengers assemble to undo Thanos’ snap.
The performances in the film were absolutely the best in the MCU movies to date. Robert Downey Jr., whose portrayal of Iron Man kicked off the MCU 11 years ago, gives a powerful, heartfelt performance. Chris Evans completely embodies the role of Captain America and Chris Hemsworth turns in a truly hysterical performance as Thor. Jeremy Renner finally gets some screen time as a broken Hawkeye who has turned to a life of vigilantism under the guise, Ronin. His character is involved in one of the coolest long-take action sequences I’ve ever seen. Marvel has also strongly embraced its’ female characters with Scarlet Johannson (Black Widow), Karen Gillan (Nebula), and Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts) giving incredibly strong performances. Brie Larson also returns as the truly overpowered Captain Marvel. Bradley Cooper continues to impress as the voice of Rocket, who is the only surviving member of the Guardians of the Galaxy (not including Nebula).
Alan Silvestri (Back to the Future, Predator) returns to compose the now iconic music that the Avengers movies have to offer. He composed the music for the first Avengers film as well as Infinity War. Given the plot of the film, Silvestri had his hands full with all the different musical cues going on and he did NOT disappoint. The music never overtakes what’s happening, it just does a fantastic job of enhancing everything on screen. Thanos’ theme is as dark as ever, while the Avengers theme is sure to go down as one of the best superhero themes ever created. Silvestri likes to use lots of brass instruments to emphasize despair and it was interesting to hear musical cues that reminded me of the original Predator score. Silvestri does a fine job of combining some of the music from most of the MCU films to date.
Endgame is a strong film through and through and will be a lot of people’s favorite Marvel film, even though it does run at just over three hours long. The film had so many cheer-worthy moments that fans couldn’t help but be overcome with emotion as this chapter of the MCU ends, even though technically Spiderman: Far from Home is the end of this phase/saga. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the MCU and how on Earth-66 Kevin Feige will top this film. Kevin Feige has been the executive producer of the majority of the MCU films and has been the mastermind behind the cohesiveness of all these films. But of course, none of these movies would exist without the great Stan Lee. Rumored to be his last cameo in the Marvel films, everyone in the theater cheered when Stan made his heavily awaited appearance in Endgame. Stan Lee, of course, is the creator of many of the Marvel characters and he passed away in November 2018 before he was able to see Endgame. I’m sure he was watching up in Heaven and had one word to say about it: Excelsior!