Avengers: Endgame

Dir: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

2019

*****

After 21 films, the 21st being the first half of this grand finale, Avengers: Endgame is probably the most anticipated film ever made. The fact it knocked Star Wars: The Force Awakens from the biggest weekend opening proves as much. However, money isn’t everything, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is one of the most successful films of all time on paper but I really wasn’t that impressed. Avengers: Endgame however exceeded expectations. I didn’t read too much about it after Avengers: Infinity War because I didn’t want to know anything about it until I was sat right there in the cinema but there were fundamentals everyone knew. We knew where the last film left things and it wasn’t a great stretch of the imagination to know that the Avengers would try and put things right, it was only how they achieve this that was the only mystery. If the film had started right where the last had finished it would have lost something I feel, so thankfully it doesn’t. It is no secret that Endgame marks the end of a chapter in the MCU, so instead of simply carrying on, and with a lengthy three hour run time, Marvel indulges both the fans and themselves. If you’ve been a casual viewer of the Avenger films so far then you might not have understood all of the film and would certainly have overlooked many little tid-bits of nerdy goodness. This one is most certainly one for the fans, not only of the MCU but of the comics also. It also references much of the chat that the films have stirred over the years, from cheesy one-liners to the tightness of Captain America’s trousers, particularity around his derriere. You need to have seen pretty much every one of the 21 MCU films in order to fully understand, and more importantly enjoy the film to its full capacity. It’s truly a wonderful time to be a nerd. It is very hard to review Endgame without revealing spoilers but what I will say is that everything the fans could hope to want, the fans get – with added extras. Like I said, expectations were high, we have now grown to expect high quality from the series but the stakes couldn’t have been higher with this, the conclusion. Marvel excel in that they give the original fans what they want while also pulling in fresh viewers. In endgame each character is given his or her special moment and many popular aspects from the comics are explored that had been missing to this point. The team attempt to save the day, I won’t reveal whether they managed or not, but you can probably make an educated guess. You could say much of the film is predictable in many respects (in terms of rules and structure), with a few nice surprises thrown in. A couple of twists are also now expected in a Marvel film and Endgame leaves the best till last. Somehow the film manages to shock its audience by doing exactly the thing that makes the most sense, again, and after 20 films they still make it work. This is incredibly clever. The film is essentially made up of three chapters, and each one is as glorious as the next. The three chapters are also a comic fan’s dream come true. The first chapter explores a what if scenario, What if? being Marvels version of DC’s Elseworld, where each character and situation is thrown a What if? scenario. It has led to some amazing works, some of which are explored here, with a few extra brilliant (and a few bizarre) ideas thrown in for originality. The second chapter explores the MCU and everything that has led to this point. It addresses the highs and the lows of the series so far and ties everything in a neat little bow. So in some respects the first chapter is for the comic book fans and the second chapter is for the film fans. The third chapter really is for everyone. No matter who your favorite character is within the MCU, they are all given their chance to shine. I remember that scene in the middle of the first Avengers film where Iron Man, Captain America and Thor have a tussle in the woods and it was magic. It was bettered when seeing the Avengers together again in New York fighting against Loki and his army and then again teaming up in the beginning sequence of Age of Ultron. I personally always liked the scenes where the gang are all having down-time together, joking and having a drink, but combine all these scenes, multiply by a thousand, and you still won’t have the enormity of scope or entertainment value that the final scene in Endgame has. The word epic doesn’t seem to do it justice, this is a decade and 21 films in the making and every single shot has been thought over for hours by a team of passionate creatives. Even if you have no interest in comics, superhero films or the Avengers, you cannot deny the vast achievement here. It really does feel like the impossible has been achieved – and not because certain special effects were not available until now – but because finally a group of people have come together and have understood comics and the characters within them. Take away all of the special effects and the big names and the huge budgets and you are still left with amazing scripts and intelligent writing. A couple of mistakes have been made over the ten years and 21 films but each one of these has been addressed, corrected and more than made up for. Marvel could have taken the easy option on this one but they didn’t, they gave themselves something of a tricky puzzle to solve but solve it they did. I found the film to be remarkably cliché free and although the MCU will continue, Marvel have done something that no other studio have ever managed – to actually complete a superhero franchise. I will always hold 1978’s Superman as my favorite ever superhero/comic book film but what Marvel have achieved goes beyond anything that has come before and I doubt it will ever be matched. The level of quality and quantity is unprecedented, and Endgame is one hell of a grande finale.