One Thing's For Sure: 'Avengers: Endgame' Was Inevitable [spoiler free]
Starring…literally almost everyone
Rated PG-13
Action, Sci-Fi
Run time: 3 hr, 1 min
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo
In theaters April 26, 2019
Let’s be real: a review about this movie is not going to make or break whether or not someone is going to see this movie. Marvel doesn’t need to draw in new viewers; we’ve been hooked for more than a decade, for more than 20 movies, for even more heroes. Endgame is both a beginning and an end, and it simultaneously hopes to wrap up a myriad of storylines while giving promise to so many more. I didn’t even necessarily want to write a review, and solely enjoy the movie for what it was, but it turns out even a three hour film couldn’t turn my analyzing brain off.
Seeing this movie two times in a row may have taken roughly seven hours in a movie theater, but it was a great way to spend half of my waking hours that Thursday. Even if you leave this film feeling unsatisfied, it won’t hit you during. There are moments of tears, laughter and cheering all throughout, and it isn’t until you sit with thoughts over this film that you actually take in everything you watched. Endgame is insanely overwhelming in the best ways - every character you dream of seeing will have at least a moment in the spotlight, comic book tropes abound in ways they haven’t tried before and every emotion will flick through your mind.
Like I said - this isn’t like a normal review that I’d write. I got to go into this movie knowing next to nothing, and I am actually extremely grateful that Marvel marketed this movie in such a way. No matter what you think, something else will happen (unless you’re a poor soul who already got parts spoiled for you). So I would usually go into plot or the various emotions I felt during certain parts that still don’t fully give away the plot, but honestly, I’ve never seen a movie more worth going in blind for, because your expectations are exactly what you’re going to get: the biggest Marvel movie yet.
There isn’t really a weak link in this movie, and in my opinion, it’s better paced than Infinity War, but there is an awful lot more of War Machine, Hawkeye and Ant-Man than I was anticipating. Some things worked great - like a pairing of Rocket and Thor - and a few others made me wishing for a few more moments with some OG Avengers. If you felt your favorite member of the team didn’t get their due in the first half of this gigantic undertaking (cough cough - Captain America), don’t worry. They’ll be there plenty this time around.
Endgame does a beautiful job of showing the different ways a group of people can deal with tragedy: seemingly healthfully moving on, mourning and struggling, burying themselves in work and just trying to do something, anything to distract. There’s even humor among the dark moments, because who doesn’t have that friend who cracks a joke during a rough patch to break tension? The relationships are lived in, even some of the newer ones, and we just get to settle in with this group of people we’ve spent years getting to know. It’s a true joy, and one I will happily revisit time and time again, probably still smiling and crying at all the same spots each time.