Review: 508: Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame is a monumental superhero film, one that caps the "Infinity Saga" in heartbreakingly, tearfully, spectacular fashion.

After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos (Josh Brolin). With the help of their remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what the consequences may be in store.

The plot of this film is ridiculous, it's absolutely ridiculous. But it's this films audacity to embrace its inherent ridiculousness that makes it a rip roaringly great emotional thrill ride from start to finish.

At the beginning of the film, the Avengers are still reeling from their defeat at Thanos' hands and has been reduced to virtually nothing and they were almost destroyed.
The opening 20-30 mins of this film are somber beautifully showcasing the impact that the "Decimation" at the hands of Thanos has caused and are a  look at grief and how the Avengers deal with the fallout of the Infinity War and struggle to reconcile their failure with their individual responsibilities. Some characters like Tony, Steve and Natasha deal with the fallout as best they can whilst others like Thor take their failure pretty badly.
These opening 30 minutes also remind us that "time" makes things real and the moments immediately following a trauma, the event feels surreal yet as time passes we're forced to accept and process the event as reality. The Avengers feel the lasting absence of their loved ones and even if they somehow manage to bring them back this devastating event cannot be undone.

Not only is it a spectacular, poignant and heartbreaking culmination of the past of 11 years of MCU films, at its core Avengers: Endgame is a meditation on time and it leaves us as an audience with a fittingly age old message about cherishing the moments we have with our loved ones.
As Earths Mightiest Heroes set out to undo the damage done by Thanos, they confront important people and (maybe) events from their pasts and the movie arrives at a surprisingly intriguingly counterintuitive conclusions such as that to move forward, we need to dig deep into our past instead of just letting it go and that the end of the journey isn't necessarily something to fear if we've lived our lives to the fullest.
Avengers: Endgame sends us a message that when we're struggling, we have to look back at the past and dwell on it.
In the end, The Avengers inability to move on turns out to be their greatest strength in this desperate time. Their stubbornness leads them to figure out a way to ultimately reverse the Decimation.

Confronting the past is very much made literal in this film. These scenes in particular show that our past selves are not us. They're, in fact, very different people due to the experiences we've been through that we haven't and reveals that our past mistakes are necessary to getting us where we are.

Returning Directors Anthony and Joe Russo's direction is unobtrusive, once again effortlessly juggling, a large ensemble of actors and a variety of different tones ranging from serious to comedic to heartbreaking and right back to comedic again. The cinematography is brilliant, the special effects are tremendous, the score by Alan Silvestri is spectacular, the production design is immaculate, the costumes are splendid, the make up is rich and superbly detailed, the action scenes are tremendous and blood pumping and the ending has superbly, emotionally satisfying sense of finality.
There's even a good amount of humour thrown in most of it courtesy of Ant-Man and Rocket.

Even with a runtime of just over 3 hours, this film flies by at a very brisk pace. This film hops from one set piece to another as they desperately try to undo the damage at the hands of Thanos.
Too that end the films 2nd act is best left unspoiled

Because of the fallout at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, this means the film can focus on a more group of characters
Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Brie Larson, Gwyneth Paltrow & Josh Brolin.

Robert Downey, Jr.  In keeping with his futurist attitude, Tony is very much committed to his future and his life with Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) yet that doesn't mean he's any less haunted by the loss of his son figure Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland).

Thor probably suffers the most post-Thanos as he suffers from severe PTSD and depression as a result of his failure to stop Thanos from whipping out half the universe and he's been reduced to a slob by the films events. Traumatic events change people and not always for the better. Along the way, he attempts to once again regain his worthiness and might
giving Chris Hemsworth an abundance of opportunities to show off his comedic and dramatic range as he conveys to us the tragedy of where Thor has ended up after all these years.

After being absent from Infinity War, it was great to see Jeremy Renner return as Clint Barton/Hawkeye. Following the "Decimation" and loosing his family in the process, he’s now turned to the one life that he knows how to live and in the process has become ruthless and uncompromising. When he’s reunited with the Avengers to help them reverse the effects of the Decimation, it’s almost like his shot at redemption.

Another character who makes a surprising impression in this film is Nebula and Karen Gillan expertly brings the neuances and humanity required to make her immencely emotionally satisfying arc work. Nebula’s journey in the film is one of continuous repair which is a continuation of her arc from previous films. After having spent a lifetime being torn apart and rebuilt by Thanos as punishment for her failures, she's finally able to confront her own feelings of self-worth by litteraly staring her former self in the face. Throughout the later half of the film, she's paired with Rhody and they make an inspired pairing. Both of them are disabled

If there is one flaw in the cast then it would have to be the waste, the absolute waste of Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. Despite being hyped up as huge part of this film, her role in this film in this film is little more than cameo, only really showing up whenever the Avengers need her most.

As for Josh Brolin as Thanos. He isn't as big of a threat as he was a in Avengers: Infinity War but the impact of his victory looms of the Avengers like a shadow and has a profound effect on them.
Where we find him in this film, he's done, he did what he set out to accomplish and he's retired.
However, the way he's integrated into the films third act as the Avengers attempt to undo his work and how he reacts to what he sees as an ungrateful universe for what he sees as balancing it out is very ambitious, clever, intriguing and best left unspoiled. It also gives Brolin one last challenge as he faces off against Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Avengers: Endgame is a magnificently wonderful end of an era, 5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.