All I can say, is “Wow”. As credits for this film rolled, I sat in a stunned silence. Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Endgame’ was expected to be a huge blockbuster hit, but even with my bar set exceedingly high going into this film, I was still blown away.
I’m not going to get into spoilers in this review. I want your viewing experience to remain as pure as mine was, if you choose to let it be. This is a long movie at two hours and 49 minutes, but it was the fastest nearly three hours I’ve ever experienced.
The movie can really be divided into two parts. The first two hours are surprisingly smaller scale than you would think, but are still so much fun to watch. It caters to a lot of fan service, but it also uses that time to remind you why you fell in love with the Avengers in the first place, and what the characters have been through in the past twenty-plus films.
This portion of the film feels like a bunch of mini-movies edited together. For those who were bummed about the lack of Hawkeye in “Infinity War,” you’ll be happy to know that he gets a good chunk of the spotlight this time around. We also see an evolution of the Hulk, which I was skeptical about in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’. ‘Endgame’ makes me understand and love the direction Marvel is taking the character in. Thor has an interesting character arc in this film also, which is sure to get a lot of laughs, and tug at your heartstrings. As always, Robert Downey Jr. slays the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man, and the relationship between him and Steve Rogers/Captain America pays off beautifully.
The final hour or so is when things get truly epic, giving many of our heroes a chance to shine, but really focusing on the original Avengers. I can’t even imagine the amount of time and money that went into rendering the climactic scene. It is a spectacle that won’t be rivaled for a long time.
They also use the climax of the film to tease some possible future story arcs we could expect to see in the MCU moving forward, and highlight some characters you may not have expected to get that treatment. I loved it.
Marvel has been referring to Endgame as the conclusion of this 21 movie saga. We know it isn’t truly the end, with movies like ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home,’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3,’ the solo ‘Black Widow’ movie, and more already slated to be released, but if this was the last MCU movie ever, I think we’d all be incredibly satisfied.
Be ready to laugh. Be ready to cry. Be ready to throw your arms up in pure excitement. This is THE Marvel movie.
I can’t wait to see how they’re going to try and top this one, and I can’t wait to watch it again!
(To save you some time, there are no mid or post credit scenes attached to this movie, but I have a feeling you’re still going to wait around until the very end just in case. If you do, you’ll be rewarded with a little bit of nostalgia from the character who started this whole thing off, in the form of a sound byte as the final Marvel logo appears.)
Final Verdict:
By the way, comments are turned off for now to help protect you from spoilers, but they will be turned on again after the movie comes out. Make sure to come back and leave your thoughts on the film.