I was about a week late seeing Endgame, but the good news is, I somehow managed not to be spoiled. Thank you internet. So, obviously, there will be spoilers discussed below, but I want to offer a spoiler free look up front.
Endgame has to serve not only as the second half of the story started in "Infinity War" but as something of a capstone project for 11 years and 20 movies from Marvel Studios. In that, it is pretty successful. With only a couple of exceptions, it manages to give everyone (and wow are there a lot of characters involved in "everyone") some time to shine, and provides some narrative arc closeouts to characters who are due for such. It runs a bit long in places, definitely can't be appreciated in a vacuum (it NEEDS your nearly encyclopedic knowledge of the 20 predecessors), and manages to carry out the continued misuse of a great character in the worst possible way. It is worth your time, has some genuine greatness if not being life-changing, but has its flaws too. Definitely provides plenty of closure while keeping you interested for where the MCU will go from here.
Spoilers commence!
So, I have to admit I sometimes have a tough time judging the Avengers films. They don't really exist to be their own narrative, they exist to be pivot points in the larger MCU. That's fine, but it also means I am loath to compare one of them to the MCU Gold Standard "Captain America: Winter Soldier" because the goal is different. These films do not exist in a vacuum and can't be judged as such. So, for that reason I don't really want to compare it to others in a universe that spans 21 other movies; compared to the other Avengers movies, Endgame is solidly in the middle. I probably enjoyed it as much as the first, and more than Age of Ultron (which I don't hate), but I don't think it was as good as Infinity War.
WHAT WORKS:
Honestly, a whole lot. First of all, they are very smart about how they introduce the element of time travel, which could easily have been the cliche that cleans up everything. Their description works well, and the fact they point out which movies DON'T share their time travel philosophy is very good.
The despair left in place after IW is played very well, and since they don't use time travel cliches, I was surprised which this film actually left consequences in place. Future MCU movies will have to deal with (I hope) the fact that the world went through five years of hell, and suddenly half the world's population just popped out and popped back in on either side of that. A little more on this later when I talk about my concerns.
Perhaps my favorite thing was giving us Smart Hulk, very much in line with the Peter David comics from the 90s (or perhaps you better know the "Credible Hulk" meme), a Banner who is brilliant and green plays to great effect here. I have high hopes for Bruce in the future of the MCU.
We knew at least two characters were bowing out, and the exits of both Tony Stark and Steve Rogers are well handled. Tony's daughter is a character I hope we see more of as she grows, and the respect Cap gives Sam (Falcon) as he passes the shield was a high point for me. (No, I don't think this Bucky has earned the shield, and I believe Steve would know that; Sam is perfect.) I was expecting we'd lose Thor too, given the end of Hemsworth's contract, but the God of Thunder may appear again, and I admit I really love beer drinking, pot bellied, needs to find new purpose Thor. I'd like to see where that goes.
The initial death of Thanos was unexpected, and that's where the movie works well. There are formulas they could have followed here with their tropes and comic histories that they didn't; some surprises that really work. I just hope we don't lose the importance of the consequences left in their wake.
WHAT DOESN'T QUITE WORK:
One, I think this movie could be about 20-30 minutes shorter. There is no particular scene I think I need cut, but a few--particular time traveling flashbacks--go a little long and could be tightened up. I think the pacing is one way IW was definitely superior. Did I really need to see Peter Quill doing his GotG opening dance for as long as we did? Not really. Did I need to see as much of the first Avengers New York Battle again? Probably not. I NEED those scenes, but they could have been tighter.
I am also a little let down by how little presence Carol Danvers has in this film. Perhaps that's my own expectations, but given how much I enjoyed "Captain Marvel" and how well they set her up as a foil for Thanos (dear lord she's fighting TWO of his biggest minions in her movie!) her 10 minutes on screen felt lacking. Yeah, it's Tony, Steve, and Thor's movie, but just a little more setting up for the future would have been nice. There is a very forced gathering of women heroes at one point, but as much as I didn't think it felt organic, it was also an image I want my granddaughters to have on their wall, so I'll allow it.
WHAT MAKES YOU REALLY MAD, DAN?
Black.
Widow.
Now, yeah, it all makes sense in context of this story. Don't care- remember, I don't judge these films in a vacuum, they have to be taken in consideration with what they mean for the larger MCU. When Natasha was introduced in IM2, she was perfect, and she has some GREAT moments in Avengers. Then, Avengers: Age of Ultron gave us the rather weird Bruce thing, though she is great in Winter Soldier. Civil War gives us Clint's family, which makes their intimacy in Avengers kind of creepy (she wears an arrow necklace for Hulk's sake).
With Hawkeye's family gone, we're in a good position to move on from that and set up the two of them for some neat spin offs. Hell, make Clint sacrifice himself and give me a teary family returning with him gone at the end. Or, have them cheat. Clint walks up to Red Skull and says, "A soul? This stone already took my wife, my daughter, and my sons. I think it owes me." Bam- badassery AND Natasha comes home.
But no. We kill Black Widow before she gets to be part of the final showdown. We kill her before she gets to find peace out there. We kill her BEFORE SHE GETS HER OWN MOVIE WHEN SHE TOTALLY DESERVES TO HAVE ONE AND HAS FOR 10 YEARS. I guess they are still making one; feels late to me. Natasha, you were not treated fairly by this franchise.
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| Me too, Natasha. I am crying too. |
WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO BE CAREFUL OF IN THE FUTURE?
Since I love the fact they don't just clean the events of IW off the board, and we have a world changed, and literally 50% of your population with a 5-year hole in their lives, I am worried this won't be given due consideration in the future. I was perfectly good with Peter Parker, five years later walking into a High School with people he doesn't know- and then seeing Ned was a snap victim too. OK, makes sense. But the trailer for "Spider-Man: Far From Home" also shows MJ, Flash Thompson, and Betty Brandt, all still the same age as Peter. Are they going to tell me ALL of his friends got snapped? I hope that is considered.
Now, here's my real hope for the future of the MCU based on this movie: We have time travel. We have smart Hulk. We need a new Big Bad with Thanos snapped away.
Folks, I want Peter David's "Future Imperfect" adapted into the MCU. I won't spoil it here, but imagine a villain from a century in the future; a former hero who goes mad after a nuclear war, kills the other superheroes and takes over the planet. The Maestro....he looks like this:
Read it if you can find it- all the elements are there, Marvel Studios: GIVE ME THE MAESTRO.
So to sum up, we've got a real accomplishment here closing off this 21 film story line, while still leaving enough in place to continue in the future with other heroes, and giving a satisfying end to (most of) our heroes' arcs. With only a couple of missteps in 21 movies, and a very satisfying conclusion in Endgame, Marvel Studios should be very proud, but I hope they aren't quite done. Looking forward to the legacies of Captain America and Iron Man living on. And a round of applause to the solidly entertaining Endgame for wrapping it up.
PS- Holy Mackerel am I looking forward to THIS in future films!
