Avengers: EndgamePeople are defined by how they approach finality. Some rail against the injustice of intractable inevitability or retreat from the pain; others overcome their suffering, and draw strength from the grief that came before. Avengers: Endgame is the conclusion to an unprecedented saga of superhero movies collectively known as the "Marvel Cinematic Universe", and directly follows the catastrophic climax of Avengers: Infinity War. Erstwhile friends Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) put aside their differences and reassemble the Avengers to take back what was stolen by the intergalactic tyrant, Thanos (Josh Brolin): life itself.
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(I should begin by saying that although I will do my utmost to avoid any spoilers for Avengers: Endgame in what follows, I make no such promises for any preceding films from the MCU.) Avengers: Endgame opens with Tony Stark aboard a spaceship, drifting through the cosmos, resigning himself both to his failure to stop Thanos from eliminating half of all life in the universe and the end of his own life lurking on the horizon. He delivers a final testament into the ruined helmet from his Iron Man armor to his beloved, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), metaphorically opening up his heart, one literally damaged long ago in the first MCU entry, Iron Man. Tony's moment of reflection is his own, and yet is shared on some level by all of those left behind after Thanos snapped his fingers while equipped with the six Infinity Stones--cosmic artifacts of unparalleled power--forced to deal with the enormity of such a tragedy. One of the dominant themes in Avengers: Endgame emerges from this moment, namely how people grow (or shrink) from defeat; and there has never been a defeat that Earth's mightiest heroes have had to overcome more than this. The reactions by the surviving Avengers vary dramatically, standing in for the ways that people cope with trauma. Some like Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) try to hold everything together, and feel as though they were trying to grab at the wind. Others like Thor (Chris Hemsworth) feel the weight of loss after loss and collapse under it. Some lash out at those who they deem guilty for surviving when others were taken instead, evidenced by how Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) deals with his suffering. And yet for others, the grieving process becomes a turning point, a catalyst to heal other rifts, like with Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). But what all of these myriad experiences share is that they are born from loss, and loss is a universal feeling that everyone must either deal with or be ruled by. The void left behind is the true legacy of Thanos, intended or otherwise. Thanos was established in the preceding film as an enigmatic yet unflinching villain, whose motivations in eliminating half of all life in the universe were ostensibly rooted in love. But what remains on Earth after the Rapture-like vanishing is suffering--as it has been with Thanos' prior attempts. Despite claims of benevolence, Avengers: Endgame reveals Thanos for what he truly is: a man who twists his own grief outward and inflicts it upon the universe. In Avengers: Infinity War, he recalls his home of Titan falling into decadence and entropy, an experience that affected him on a fundamental level. This forever warped his view of himself and everyone else--because he suffered, he subconsciously desires the suffering of others, but cannot face the reality of this and so girds himself in emotional armor. Thanos is intelligent, strong, collected, and clearly charismatic enough to build his own army; but he has been unable to overcome his own existential angst--and believes others must feel as he does deep down. Understanding Thanos in this way helps frame how the pain he has inflicted spreads like a contagion among his surviving victims. And how the Avengers overcome this speaks to how they are truly stronger than Thanos, reflections of the faintest glimmer of hope left behind after the opening of this Pandora's Box.
Much of Avengers: Endgame deliberately echoes events that have come before--principally from Avengers: Infinity War, but really almost all of the MCU. Although the groupings of films in the MCU have been called "phases", I prefer to think of them as a "palace". Iron Man represents the very foundation of everything that follows, while films like Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk are the load-bearing walls that make up the house, with The Avengers and its sequels serving as the roof, encompassing everything beneath it. Films like Guardians of the Galaxy and others become pillars that hold up the structure, and can be admired independently or as a part of the greater whole. But Avengers: Endgame is the keystone in name and function, added at the end of the construction and locking into place everything that has come before. It is as integral to the palace as that which it stabilizes and what has preceded it. Avengers: Endgame leverages this often by recalling some of the most memorable moments from the MCU within its three-hour running time. It would not be an exaggeration to say that audiences that have not seen a significant portion of the preceding films will lose out on these copious "Easter eggs"; but considering how popular the MCU has been, that seems unlikely to be much of an issue. Audiences will see lots of familiar faces return, even some who have not had screen time since their first appearances. Avengers: Endgame fostered substantial fan theories and became an instant hit from the onset--something that might seem implausible for a film that is essentially more than twenty films removed from what was fundamentally its first entry. By embracing all of the earlier films, Avengers: Endgame affords audiences something unique that they can take away from it on an individual level, just as it has been for the breadth of characters that fill the story. Some audiences may identify more with Captain America's journey than Iron Man's, or vice versa, or not at all. Some may find more sympathy with the cynical anthropomorphic raccoon, Rocket (Bradley Cooper), the throaty blue cyborg, Nebula (Karen Gillan), long-time buddy of Tony Stark and Air Force officer, James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle), newcomer cosmic powerhouse, Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), or Quantum Realm micronaut, Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) instead. The inclusiveness that runs through the veins of Avengers: Endgame also allows for match-ups--in true Marvel "team up" fashion--that would otherwise never have been plausible. There are countless "aha moments" to reward audiences versed in both the source material and the MCU itself, adding a richness that would otherwise feel forced in a film that had not built up such a deep mythos through patience and consistency. This organic and tempered approach to world-building culminates with Avengers: Endgame, and makes this film an invigorating and uplifting send-off to these Olympian legends who audiences have grown to love for over a decade.
Recommended for: Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, unquestionably; audiences will get the most from Avengers: Endgame by having done a little homework before hand in watching at least the core entries from the MCU. For audiences seeing Avengers: Endgame in the theater, fair warning: at three hours in length and full of lots of rising and descending action--and without an intermission--the film might have carried the cautionary subtitle of "Revenge of the Bladder".
Much of Avengers: Endgame deliberately echoes events that have come before--principally from Avengers: Infinity War, but really almost all of the MCU. Although the groupings of films in the MCU have been called "phases", I prefer to think of them as a "palace". Iron Man represents the very foundation of everything that follows, while films like Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk are the load-bearing walls that make up the house, with The Avengers and its sequels serving as the roof, encompassing everything beneath it. Films like Guardians of the Galaxy and others become pillars that hold up the structure, and can be admired independently or as a part of the greater whole. But Avengers: Endgame is the keystone in name and function, added at the end of the construction and locking into place everything that has come before. It is as integral to the palace as that which it stabilizes and what has preceded it. Avengers: Endgame leverages this often by recalling some of the most memorable moments from the MCU within its three-hour running time. It would not be an exaggeration to say that audiences that have not seen a significant portion of the preceding films will lose out on these copious "Easter eggs"; but considering how popular the MCU has been, that seems unlikely to be much of an issue. Audiences will see lots of familiar faces return, even some who have not had screen time since their first appearances. Avengers: Endgame fostered substantial fan theories and became an instant hit from the onset--something that might seem implausible for a film that is essentially more than twenty films removed from what was fundamentally its first entry. By embracing all of the earlier films, Avengers: Endgame affords audiences something unique that they can take away from it on an individual level, just as it has been for the breadth of characters that fill the story. Some audiences may identify more with Captain America's journey than Iron Man's, or vice versa, or not at all. Some may find more sympathy with the cynical anthropomorphic raccoon, Rocket (Bradley Cooper), the throaty blue cyborg, Nebula (Karen Gillan), long-time buddy of Tony Stark and Air Force officer, James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle), newcomer cosmic powerhouse, Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), or Quantum Realm micronaut, Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) instead. The inclusiveness that runs through the veins of Avengers: Endgame also allows for match-ups--in true Marvel "team up" fashion--that would otherwise never have been plausible. There are countless "aha moments" to reward audiences versed in both the source material and the MCU itself, adding a richness that would otherwise feel forced in a film that had not built up such a deep mythos through patience and consistency. This organic and tempered approach to world-building culminates with Avengers: Endgame, and makes this film an invigorating and uplifting send-off to these Olympian legends who audiences have grown to love for over a decade.
Recommended for: Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, unquestionably; audiences will get the most from Avengers: Endgame by having done a little homework before hand in watching at least the core entries from the MCU. For audiences seeing Avengers: Endgame in the theater, fair warning: at three hours in length and full of lots of rising and descending action--and without an intermission--the film might have carried the cautionary subtitle of "Revenge of the Bladder".