THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER-FREE
Directors: Joe and Anthony Russo
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Brie Larson, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Josh Brolin, Paul Rudd, Don Cheadle
Genre: Action
Year: 2019
The film which the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe has been leading up to over the past 10 years is finally out. Avengers: Endgame - the ultimate finale, following from the catastrophic events of Avengers: Infinity War.
The Avengers have lost. Thanos (Brolin) won - he managed to wipe out half of all life in the universe with the snap of his fingers. The remaining Avengers are left shocked, crippled and distraught when their friends all turned to dust unexpectedly. Iron Man (Downey Jr.) and Nebula (Gillan) are stranded on Titan, having lost all their allies with no feasible way of returning to Earth.
Not only did the events of Infinity War leave the Avengers shaken, but also the entire world. Never in a film franchise were the directors so bold as to simply eradicate over half the cast from existence. Never before have we seen our beloved heroes lose so traumatically. People were scarred from Spiderman's weak, trembling whimper "Mr Stark, I don't feel so good!" and heartbroken to find out that Groot's final "I am Groot" actually translates to "Dad" as he cries for Rocket's help. Devastation swept the nation and the Russo Brothers are back to inflict even more pain and suffering onto us all!
In Endgame, the Avengers have the simple goal of finding Thanos and getting their friends back. But naturally, it is never that simplistic. The Marvel team reportedly took three years to conjure up the plot for this film and with its complexity and the amount of twists and turns the film has to offer, it certainly shows. (Now this film is a minefield when it comes to spoilers - the slightest detail could ruin the entire experience for a viewer so I am going to avoid elaborating too much on what the plot consists of because the film is littered with so many spoilers, I cannot risk ruining it for somebody). Considering that fans have had about a year to submit their various wild theories about this film, the fact that the Russo's still pull the rug from under our feet with the direction they take this film is extremely impressive. There are some truly unexpected moments which are incredible and are bound to wipe the floor with any Marvel fan.
Speaking of which, this film is the perfect epitome of a love letter, written and addressed to all the loyal fans, in their masses, across the globe, as well as a fond retrospect on the whole of the MCU. In some ways the film does exploit fan service quite a bit - by that, the film often goes for plot directions which are used to solely satisfy its audience and excite all their fans. Its difficult to say this is a bad thing because a lot of these 'fan service moments' if you will are incredibly exhilarating moments in the film which just add to the adrenaline that it continually ignites and pumps its audience with, plus it is no bad thing to serve your fans, since they are the source that is keeping the films alive. From a critical perspective, one could argue that it distracts the directors from making their own personal film and instead making a film that the audience are wanting to see instead. But ultimately their decision to work with fan service throughout typically heightens the excitement and spectacle of the movie, leading to scenes which will undoubtedly leave the Marvel fandom giddy with elation.
The Russo's certainly deliver with this film though. Their passion for pleasing the Marvel fans and making a film that caps off the Avengers quad-rilogy, and essentially ten years of Marvel is so evident. They know what the fans want and they know how to make an exceptionally entertaining and technically brilliant film. The CGI and visual effects team are working on the double for this film, especially with the extraordinary climatic battle scene at the end, which is one of the most mind-blowing and insane battles to have occurred in Marvel history. Arguably, there is such a colossal amount of things occurring in this section of the film that the Russo's seem slightly overwhelmed with where to focus their attention when filming and some scenes feel rushed or inserted fleetingly in order to acknowledge certain topics but ultimately they refocus on the central element of the sequence (again, no spoilers at all here).
However despite this, the rest of the film, which keep in mind is three hours long, is very good at addressing each character relatively equally, in their post-snap state. Everyone has lost something or somebody as a result of Thanos and the Russo's do not gloss over any of the main characters. But they have a lot of ground to cover and while this is new territory that Marvel is entering into having a three hour movie, the film does have pacing issues. Despite this film being three hours, to its credit, it does not feel that long. In fact it feels relatively the same length film as Infinity War does. While the first act is a slow burn, this is somewhat necessary because it allows the consequences of Thanos' snap to really settle in with audience. This works actually really well as there seems to be a genuine sense of devastation among not only the Avengers but also the ordinary citizens of the world. However, there are multiple occasions scattered throughout the film which happen seemingly spontaneously and often with no explanation, or at least the explanation is quite cheap and more of an 'accept this is what happened, now let us move on with the movie'. It is a typical trope with these blockbuster movies - not to focus too much on the How and the plausibility of a thing that happens in the film but more that it did happen and therefore there is no need to question it. While there are some areas of the film which could be dismissed as simply adhering to the science and logic of this fictional world, there are other areas which seem too easily fixed or at least they were played up to be a much larger dilemma which ended up not being a problem and not even having that large an impact on the rest of the narrative.
Another thing which many critics also acknowledged with Infinity War and the same applies here is that Endgame is completely impenetrable to anybody who is not well versed in the Marvel films as its hardcore fans. While it is certainly made for its fandom, anybody who has missed maybe a couple of Marvel's previous releases, or even not watched any of their previous films, will find it nearly impossible to contemplate what is happening. Most other Marvel films work well as a standalone film but Endgame ensures that if you are not in tune with everything else has happened in this universe, you will simply not understand a thing which is happening nor the significance of any of the actions taken in the film. Nevertheless, on the other hand, what does occur is a delight for all those watching that are fully on board with the Cinematic Universe.
However despite all these criticisms, they are only small nitpicks of an otherwise really extraordinary film, which breaks the mould and sets a new standard for all opposing films to beat in the superhero genre. Marvel have definitely outdone themselves here and this is the perfect conclusion of this ten year journey that they have been leading up to. It is definitely an emotional rollercoaster and arguably the most emotionally poignant Marvel has been, yet it hits the nail on the head every time with these decisions. It is packed with heartbreak, humour, tension, danger and possibly some of the most exhilarating and engaging action set pieces they have offered in a film. It is so clear how much this franchise means, not only to the Russo's and Kevin Feige, but also to all the cast members who really put their all into every moment that their character is on screen. Endgame is the quintessential blockbusters of the ages; it has accomplished what no franchise has even come close to accomplishing before it.
Verdict: 9/10
