Marvel’s Infinity Saga finally reaches its conclusion with Avengers: Endgame, directed by Joe and Anthony Russo. This has been what Kevin Feige and everybody at Marvel has been planning since Jon Favreau’s Iron Man (2008). Avengers: Endgame is a satisfying conclusion to the Infinity Saga, that is exciting, epic and emotionally rich, as well as a perfect sendoff for the original Avengers. Directors, Joe and Anthony Russo and screenwriters, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely did something unprecedented with Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in having our heroes lose, with Thanos (Josh Brolin) succeeding in killing off half the universe by the snap of his fingers with the Infinity Stones. Everybody, including myself were excited to see the aftermath of the snap and the conclusion to Marvel’s epic Infinity Saga in Avengers: Endgame, and now it is time to discuss it, SPOILERS galore. So, if you have not seen Avengers: Endgame yet, come back and read this review after you see the movie, unless you do not care about spoilers whatsoever. All that being said, Avengers Assemble!!!
This is by far the most emotionally rich Marvel Cinematic Universe film, where the stakes are at their highest. The emotional depth that is at the center of this film is evident right in the opening sequence. It was genius to open the movie with Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and his family. Much like Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), the relationship between Hakweye and his family is really beautifully handled, but this time around, it does not end happily for Clint. Clint, one second enjoying teaching his daughter how to shoot a bow and arrow while his sons are playing catch, and his wife making lunch to them all vanishing from Thanos’ snap was the perfect way to open the movie because it made it evident right away that this was going to be a very different MCU movie in terms of its emotional depth. Another scene early on in the film that revealed the emotional core that is at the center of this film was when Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) was brought back from Earth and is livid with Steve (Chris Evans), mentioning Ultron and the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016). Robert Downey Jr. was incredible in this scene, and this film is the best he has ever been as Tony Stark/ Iron Man. This scene really highlighted how broken Tony feels from failing to defeat Thanos, as well as his and Steve’s broken relationship.
Speaking of Thanos, I did not expect for him to be killed off that soon in the film. I thought maybe, like many people, that he would be killed off before the second act, but not as soon as he did. It was quite a shock sitting in the theater seeing Thor chop off Thanos’ head with Stormbreaker. At the time it happened, I was disappointed that it happened so soon, since Thanos is the MCU’s best villain, one of the reasons being Josh Brolin’s layered and menacing performance, but the disappointment faded once past Thanos came into the fold. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) was also the perfect character to kill Thanos, considering all that he had already lost before the snap, and because he had failed to do so in Avengers: Infinity War. I also did not expect there to be a five year gap, right after Thor killed Thanos, but it made sense, especially in regard to Tony having a daughter, Morgan (Lexi Rabe) that provided so much rich storytelling and humanity to the film. The surprises of Thanos being killed off so soon and the five year gap reveal how the Russo Brothers and Markus and McFeely really work hard to surprise the audience.
What I really appreciate about what the Russo brothers did with this movie was that they took their time in the first act, and paced it slowly for us to really feel the post-apocalyptic world that our favorite characters now inhabit. Before the story really unfolds, we are able witness how the Avengers are trying to move on from Thanos’ snap and how the world has changed because of it. Cap is leading a self-help group, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is leading the heroes who have survived on missions and Hawkeye is going above the law killing criminals because of anger that they lived and his family didn’t, all while trying to accept the fact that the world they once knew is gone forever. Hawkeye becoming a murdering vigilante, basically like The Punisher was very intelligent on the Russo Brothers and Markus and McFeely’s part because it added more darkness and complexity to the MCU with Hawkeye committing immoral actions by killing criminals, as a way of avenging his family, since he cannot kill Thanos. I thought that was a very dark and interesting character choice, and this is the best Hawkeye has ever been in the MCU because of it. Jeremy Renner has not been given enough credit for his performance in this movie. The pain and heartbreak he expresses in the film, as well as the darkness that has consumed his character, all while still having a sense of humor at times is not a simple task, and yet Renner made it appear simple with his complex and natural performance. While all of our favorite characters are trying to move on from half of the world being gone, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) shows up after being trapped in the Quantum Realm, and it is revealed how they are going to reverse the snap, which is by going back in time, to previous films in fact, to retrieve the Infinity Stones and reverse Thanos’ snap.
It was nothing short of awesome seeing The Avengers go back in time to past MCU films, such as The Avengers (2012) and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). It gave us the chance to once again experience in a different way our favorite MCU films, and it was exhilarating to watch. It showed how far the MCU has come and how rich the world and the characters inhabiting it are. I cannot deny how much I loved seeing some of my favorite characters from the MCU go back in time to other previous MCU films I loved, especially The Avengers (2012). That being said, my absolute favorite moments in the second act of the film were not when the characters traveled back in time to other MCU Movies, but rather when they traveled back in time to other periods of that time that were not correlated to a specific MCU movie. Personally, the time travel sequence I loved the most was when Steve and Tony went back to the 1970’s to retrieve the Tesseract after failing to do so in New York, where Steve sees young Peggy again and Tony has one last conversation with his father. Tony’s broken relationship with his father and not having closure with him before he died has always been important to the character of Tony in these movies, and it was extremely satisfying to see Tony finally have that closure with his father, even if his father does not know that it is him. Also, right before Steve and Tony travel back to the 70’s, it was extremely emotionally satisfying witnessing Tony asking Steve “Do you trust me?” and Steve replying simply “I do”. It made me full of joy seeing my two favorite characters in the MCU restore their friendship and trust one another once again with their lives.
The most emotionally impactful scene during the second act of the movie with the time travel is when Black Widow and Hawkeye travel to Vormir to retrieve the Soul Stone. As we all know, to retrieve the Soul Stone, “a soul must be given up for a soul”, and Black Widow sacrificed her life for the stone, which really means, she did it for the world. It was a heartbreaking scene seeing Natasha and Clint argue and physically fight one another over who was going to be the one to sacrifice his or her life. Natasha and Clint’s friendship has always been one of the best of the MCU, which makes this scene all the more heartbreaking. Just as it appears that Clint is going to be the one who is going to sacrifice his life, Natasha saves him at the last minute and sacrifices her own. Out of all the character deaths that I though may have happened in this movie, this was the least expected. Again, it reveals how the Russo Brothers and Markus and McFeely really put a lot of effort in telling stories that surprise us. While a somber farewell, it was also beautiful because Natasha sacrificed her life so that The Avengers could reverse Thanos’ snap, and she has been a character that has been trying to redeem her past wrongs since she was introduced in the MCU. While it was a heartbreaking conclusion, it was also a satisfying one because it shows how far she has come, and that she finally redeemed herself of her past wrongs by selflessly giving up her life for the world to be saved. Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner also played these scenes beautifully, where their friendship and love one for one another was felt more than ever.
While the second act of the film where The Avengers are going back in time to previous films and different time periods was very well done, it did feel a little unfocused with some uneven pacing. I was always entertained watching the second act, and it is nothing short of awesome, but simultaneously, it sometimes felt that there was too much going on with the pacing feeling very choppy with not a solid fluidity to it. We see this group of characters go here, then this other group of characters go there, and so on, and at times, it felt like many great scenes and moments that the Russo Brothers did not always connect coherently. The film as a whole, while for the most part well paced and constructed did not feel as seamlessly paced and constructed as Avengers: Infinity War because of some of the time travel moments and a couple of scenes in the first act. As I mentioned, I really admired that the Russo Brothers took their time slowly building the first act of the film, but their are a couple of scenes that could have been trimmed down in editing to make the film flow better, such as the diner scene with Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Scott and the kids not wanting to take the picture with Scott. Personally, I felt that scene went on too long and the joke lost its steam early on, but the scene kept going. Little moments like those do hurt the pacing overall. By far, the biggest problem with Avengers: Endgame is what they did with Thor. I really liked the idea that Thor has stopped taking care of himself because he regrets not killing Thanos before the snap, but making it comedic dishonored Thor as a character and felt tonally inconsistent with the rest of the film. Yes, of course their is humor in the movie that works exceptionally well, but the whole Thor being a slob bit overstayed its welcome and took away from scenes that were supposed to be an emotional moment for Thor. One scene in particular is when Thor wants to reverse the snap, and asks Tony what he thinks is running through his veins, and Rhodes replies “Cheese Whiz”. This was a very emotional scene and turning point for Thor in this film and the joke of him not taking care of himself took away from that. This by no means Chris Hemsworth’s fault. He is once again, amazing as Thor, and his performance makes what the filmmakers did with Thor a little bit more bearable.
While Endgame was great the first two hours, despite a few problems, nothing could have prepared us for the beauty of the last hour! The last hour of this film has the greatest moments out of any comic book film, and can never be replicated. It is simply epic! After the Avengers retrieve all of the Infinity Stones from past films and different time periods, Hulk reverses the snap right before past Thanos destroys the Avengers base. The beauty of the last act of this film starts right when Captain America picks up Mjolnir, revealing what Thor has known since Avengers Age of Ultron, that Captain America is worthy! Seeing a close-up shot of Mjolnir shaking, then having it cut to a shot of Captain America wielding it with a camera push-in was absolutely glorious, and it only got better from there! Just as Thanos unleashes his whole army on just Cap, Iron Man and Thor, all of our favorite characters that make up the entire MCU, including all those that were killed by the snap in Avengers: Infinity War appear from Doctor Strange’s portals to defeat Thanos once and for all, and establishing comic book cinematic brilliance along the way with beautiful visual effects, the Russo Brothers’ kinetic camerawork and Alan Silvestri’s magnificent score! Seeing this on the silver screen, especially in IMAX, hearing Captain America finally say “Avengers Assemble” and witnessing pure comic book cinematic exuberance was quite an epic experience!
Then, the moment finally comes, after amazingly filmed action with so many amazing characters involved, it finally comes to a conclusion with Iron Man retrieving all of the Infinity Stones, and then snapping his fingers to defeat Thanos and his entire army, and save the world. He does all this sacrificing his own life! The character that started it all, and easily the character with the best arc in the entire MCU saves the entire world while responding to Thanos “I am Iron Man” after Thanos tells him “I am inevitable”, thinking he has the Infinity Stones and that he has won. Hearing Tony say “I am Iron Man” as he is about to snap his fingers to save the world was emotionally satisfying and perfection. After I watched Avengers: Endgame, I rewatched Iron Man, and a scene that hit me especially hard was when Yinsen, right after he is shot in the cave where him and Tony are trapped tells Tony to not waste his life. Tony could not have made Yinsen more proud by sacrificing his life for the entire world. Tony’s death was powerful and poignant to say the least, but also beautiful because he ended his wonderful arc in a satisfying way by dying a heroes death. It was a beautiful and noble goodbye that this incredible character deserved, and I applaud and would like to thank Robert Downey Jr. for bringing joy to us all by playing this character all these years!
Finally, after this film has emotionally drained us, who have been fans of this franchise from the beginning, it ends on a more bittersweet note that perfectly concludes another major character’s story and arc. That character is Captain America! The two best characters in the entire MCU, Iron Man and Captain America, in my opinion, both have their journeys concluded in a satisfying way, with Tony dying a hero’s death, and Steve finally living the life he has always deserved. Steve takes the Infinity Stones back to the other timelines, but does not return from the time machine as expected. It is then revealed that he has come back, but not from the time machine, but instead as an old man sitting on a bench looking happier than he ever has before. It was brilliant that they decided to end Cap’s story by him deciding to go and live his life back in time with the love of his life, Peggy Carter! The film ends with Steve and Peggy dancing together in their home in the past, which is the dance that Steve missed when he went into the ice back in the 40s, and one he has waited for, for too long. Steve finally got the happy ending he deserved, and I could have not thought of any better way to end this wonderful film that concluded the epic Infinity Saga!
Overall, Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame is an emotionally satisfying conclusion to the Infinity Saga, and one of the best films in the entire MCU. It does have some pacing problems, and a poorly written version of Thor, but other than that, it is an exciting and emotionally rich comic book superhero film. Not only is it a satisfying conclusion to the Infinity Saga, but it also has the best final act in a superhero movie with for the most part, every character from the MCU uniting together to defeat Thanos. It is an epic superhero event film that I am happy I got to witness on the big screen!
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