Road to Endgame: Avengers: Endgame

So far, I’ve only made it to Ant-Man in my Road to Endgame reviews, but I can’t take the wait anymore. We’re skipping forward to Avengers: Endgame.

I’ll be doubling back and doing the movies I missed to complete the saga but let’s tackle Endgame.

Directed by Joe & Anthony Russo
Release date: April 26, 2019
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johanson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Karen Gillan, Don Cheadle

Avengers: Endgame: I don’t know where to begin. This movie was everything I had wanted and so much more. Endgame was a perfect film to wrap up the 22 movie Infinity Saga. It made me laugh, cry, reminisce on some of my favorite moments in film history and use my brain more than I ever have while sitting in a movie theater.

Think of the difficulty it took to pull this movie off. The Russo brothers were tasked with capping off the first 21 movies and wrapping up numerous character arcs, and they had to cram it into three hours. It doesn’t even feel like a three hour movie!

I’ve watched it twice now, and I loved it as much the second time as I did the first time. Maybe even more! I’m not really sure how to go about this review because I haven’t picked up negatives, and there is so much to break down… so this review could turn into one long-ass, emotionally driven spiel.

Let’s try and break down Endgame into certain elements.

Emotion

Like I said above, Endgame capped off 21 movies (pretty much 21 of my favorite movies of all time), and it was going to be an emotional movie for me no matter what. These movies have meant so much to a dude who grew up with comics, cartoons and other Marvel films. It’s been a dream come true to see all these movies play out and intertwine in the same cinematic universe. Hell, these movies

have even been used as escapes from real-life issues! So I wanted to hit the big emotional moments.

• I mean… holy shit, dudes. Two colossally important figures in the MCU died. First, Iron Man’s death… holy shit, dudes. I was already emotional from seeing everyone that got dusted arrive through the portals, and then Iron Man blows my mind up with “And I. Am. Iron Man.” It’s the best line Tony Stark could’ve said before sacrificing himself for the entire world. Already crying at this point, Marvel decided to slap me harder in the face and have Stark’s crew send him off. Pepper telling Tony he can rest now, Spider-Man seeing his mentor die and Rhodey watching his best friend die… is so heavy. I have never full blown cried during a movie, but I was SOBBING in the theater… I was actually kind of embarrassed lol. They didn’t stop there. The Russo Brothers poured it on by showing us his funeral. First thing we see is Iron Man’s original arc reactor being floated out into the lake with everyone looking on. Pretty much every hero that’s alive is there to commemorate the godfather who started it all. Rip my heart into a million pieces why don’t you?

• And then there was Black Widow’s death. Again, I was crying… not as badly as Iron Man’s but still crying. Romanoff might have taken the dusting as badly as anyone. You could see and feel the pain in her face when she’s sitting at Avengers Compound eating that peanut butter sandwich telling Rhodey she wants Hawkeye back… it hurts so bad to see. As sad as her death was it was nice to see poetry to see Nat sacrifice everything to get the universe back to its usual self. And poor Hawkeye has to watch… SHEEEEESHHHH
• Speaking of Hawkeye, it was perfect to kick the movie off with the repercussions of the snap. Hawkeye’s kids and wife disappearing are haunting. Especially when you can see a little of dust drifting away where Lila Barton was standing. Also, the movie does a great job to set that depressed mood. We see New York City and San Francisco dead. And then all those monuments that were honoring the disappeared in San Francisco… it makes the entire first sequence feel so eerie and hopeless.
• Somehow with all of those big time emotional moments, the movie still balances it out with some great comedy. THEY MADE THOR FAT! Do you know how much guts you need to do to pull that off? A LOT! Thor was the hottest character both in terms of looks and momentum.  Sure it was funny, but they also made it ultra depressing to see someone going through such guilt. They made Hemsworth feel like he’s imperfect like the rest of us! Thor Lebowski was phenomenal as was Dr. Hulk. They finally combined Banner & Hulk to make Dr. Hulk and it killed. It really felt like Banner & Hulk’s personalities combined into one strange personality, and I loved the hell out of it.

• Oh, I forgot about Ant-Man’s reunion with his daughter. There was another tear-jerker! Paul Rudd is known for being a big goofball but damnit he can flip that switch in a hurry. When he tells Cassie “you’re so big,” it was the exact thing I pictured Scott Lang saying in that situation. It was a goofy thing to say, but it had an emotional impact too because it was coming from Scott Lang! 10/10
• ANDD then there was the whole “I love you 3,000” bit between Morgan Stark & Tony Stark. What the hell… this was too cute. Morgan is so cute it hurts. ANDDD then at the end when she tells Happy Hogan that she wants cheeseburgers… it was another great callback to when Tony was eating burgers in the first Iron Man. Why don’t you just stab me in my chest next time?

Ok, I can’t keep talking about the emotional parts. I’m dead. So let’s talk about the last battle… which is one big sploosh moment.

Final Battle

• The last 30-45 minutes is one big “holy shit is this really happening” moment? But let’s address the big moment first: the portals. Oh. My. God. When those portals started appearing behind Cap and we hear Falcon go “on your left” the theater turned into a football game. People are cheering and clapping and saying “LET’S GO!” It felt like a comic book page had been ripped out of its book and slapped onto the big screen. Spidey, Black Panther, Strange, The Guardians, Asgardians, Korg, Ravagers, Wasp… THEY HAD DAMN NEAR EVERYONE. EVEN HOWARD THE DUCK MADE A CAMEO. And they’re all ready for battle and then…
• The Avengers theme starts to ramp up (and BTW, the score in this film is awesome) showing every hero priming for battle and then… the big spot hits. Cap yells “Avengers,” *catches Mjolnir*…… “assemble.” WHAAATNICENOADIF AD DFH OACDODKFASDFGMDFNASDF. HE FINALLY SAID IT!!!! WE’VE BEEN WAITING SEVEN YEARS AND HE FINALLY SAID IT. THEE BIGGEST CATCHPHRASE IN MARVEL AND CAP DROPS IT AHEAD OF THE BIGGEST BATTLE EVER. Everyone starts charging Thanos’ battle, we have the biggest fight I’ve ever seen and I needed to change my pants. Ooooooweeeeee!

• Ok, let’s take a deep breath… let’s go back to when Thanos arrives from 2014 through the quantum tunnel. The entire prelude to the final battle is beyond tense. Hulk snaps everyone back to life, Thanos blows Avengers Compound off the face of the map and then we get the Trinity squaring off with Thanos.
• We get the Trinity (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America) looking down on the baddest villain in the MCU Thanos, and then we get some of my favorite lines:

Thor : You know it’s a trap, right?

Tony Stark : Yeah… but I don’t much care.

Thor : Good. Just as long as we’re all in agreement.

[his eyes light up slowly, crack of thunder, Thor suits up with Mjolnir and Stormbreaker]

Thor : Let’s kill him properly this time.

• Then we get the Trinity battling Thanos and, once again, it. Kicks. Ass. It’s of course highlighted by Cap wielding Mjolnir. It was teased in Avengers: Age of Ultron when he budged the hammer but didn’t pick it up. My theory is that he wasn’t worthy in Ultron because he was lying to Tony about knowing what happened to his parents. I think he’s worthy now because he finally told Tony the truth that Bucky killed him, and now he’s worthy. Now, we get Cap catching the hammer, spinning it and UPPER CUTTING THE SHIT OUT THANOS. It was probably the biggest geek-out moment I’ve ever had watching a movie.
• Lastly, let’s cap off the final battle with Captain Marvel bursting onto the scene and wrecking Sanctuary II (Thanos’ warship). It was a perfect arrival because I forgot completely about Cpt. Marvel because I was swept up in the billion other things happening during the film. She arrives, kicks ass and then we get the all-women team up shot which was fantastic.

Ok, so I wanted to cover the strongest emotions and geek out moments as the two big aspects from Endgame, so now here are my remaining thoughts on Endgame.

• Time travel is complicated, and I’m kind of sure I can explain how it works in Endgame. Basically, you can’t change the future by going to your past because your past becomes your future of your present day self. Got it? Great. If anything, by travelling back in time you can create alternate timelines. I don’t pick it apart too much because it’s time travel and it’s complex. The movie itself even picks fun at time travel when they call out movies like Back to the Future. The only thing I haven’t figured out is how Steve Rogers is an old man in the main timeline. Did he create an alternate timeline and loop back into the main timeline or did he live out his life in the main timeline? Either way, it’s great.
• It was pretty crazy that Thanos was beheaded within 20 minutes of the movie. Crazy awesome. I did not see that one coming!
• Iron Man & Cap. America’s reunion happened so quick that I think people lost sight of it (though we shouldn’t). Tony wants nothing to do with Cap and calls him “liar,” and then collapses. I loved it. It isn’t flashy and it shouldn’t have been because they have a lot worse to deal with (Thanos). It wouldn’t make sense for them to have another heated argument or get too hung up on it. Even the reunion isn’t all that flashy. Tony says “resentment is corrosive and I hate it,” Cap agrees, and Tony gives the America’s shield back to America’s Ass. Simple but great.
• Usually, I’m not a huge fan of a bunch of nostalgic callbacks but they worked so well in this movie. The Ancient One from Dr. Strange, Alexander Pierce and the Strike Team from Winter Soldier, the Battle of New York, Thor’s mom Frigga and even… Jane Foster. Yeah, I didn’t even mind Jane Foster’s call back, and you can see how much I didn’t like Jane in Thor: The Dark World.

Ok, now here’s my last section of just a bunch of random things I loved.

• Captain Marvel’s hair. It’s right out of the comics and it’s AWESOME.
• “Hi, I’m Peter Parker.” – Peter Parker. “Hi, Peter Parker. Ya got something for me?”- Captain Marvel.
• Thor, Miek & Korg playing Fornite against Noobmaster69.
• Cap saying “Hail Hydra.”
• Captain America VS Captain America
• Stan Lee’s hippie cameo saying with the “Nuff said” license plate.
• The original Ant-Man helmet appearing.
• Nebula’s growth and putting down her 2014, abused self. Powerful statement!
• Ant-Man clocking a Leviathan (those flying ships/creatures).

Overall Grade: A+

• If you couldn’t tell, there was no way this movie gets anything less than an A+. It’s the best movie I could have asked for to close out the Infinity Saga. It’s a journey and a half that’s jam packed with character moments, callbacks, epic comic book-like scenes and so much more. Marvel Studios nailed it and a big thanks to The Russo Brothers and Kevin Feige for absolutely killing it.

MCU Ranking

1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Avengers: Endgame (This is a quick ranking… I typically don’t try to rank movies right away at the date of release. It’s phenomenal, but I still like a simpler movie like GOTG more… I think. Bottom line, it’s phenomenal and don’t get hung up on it not being my favorite movie.)
3. The Avengers
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
5. Iron Man
6. Captain America: The First Avenger
7. Ant-Man
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron
9. Thor
10. Iron Man 3
11. Iron Man 2
12. The Incredible Hulk
13. Thor: The Dark World

Next up: Captain America: Civil War