Avengers: Endgame

[Jeremy Blackman]

I don't find myself being invested in many of the characters.

Was I lying? Was I self-deluded? I guess we'll never know. But I really loved Endgame, and it turns out these characters meant more to me than I realized.

A lot of the work is done within Endgame itself, which feels like a real movie. It takes its time in the most enjoyable way to give us real scenes with real characters. And I couldn't help wondering how many of these MCU movies could have been truly amazing if they'd had a full 3 hours to work with. Arguably every Avengers installment needs that much time, especially Age of Ultron and Infinity War.


SPOILERS


The scene of the movie for me, and perhaps the best scene in the whole MCU, is where the entire cast of un-snappened heroes portals in to join the battle, culminating with "Avengers assemble." Chills! My jaw was on the floor, and I could not believe how invested I was in this big silly comic book movie. Not only was I eating it up, it had a gravity I did not expect.

I was also thoroughly grateful that Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch had time to shine, because for whatever reason I really enjoy the wizard characters.

Really fitting and poetic that the MCU began with Tony Stark and ends with him. He gets to complete a character arc that began 11 years ago.

Apparently I need to see the Ant Man movies now, because every scene with him was delightful.

Is Thor actually going to be in Guardians 3??

Quibbles:

Anthony Mackie taking on the Captain America mantle doesn't sit right with me. He was always pretty miscast from my POV and has zero charisma in this role. I guess he's the most logical choice, but it's uninspired. I very much doubt he'll get his own movie.

I'm not one to nitpick the powers of various characters, but this seemed especially egregious to me. In the final battle, how is Thanos that powerful without any infinity stones? Captain America goes at Thanos with everything he's got, including Thor's hammer and the lightning powers therein, and he's somehow hopelessly outmatched? Thanos should have been defeated within seconds of that encounter. You also have multiple other heroes going at Thanos simultaneously, and somehow Thanos still stands. I'm baffled.

[Jeremy Blackman]

ENDGAME SPOILERS




This looks awful. And I already have quibbles with the multiversing going on here. Not great as a followup, I'd venture to say.

[Drenk]

SPOILERS ENDGAME

Spider-Man is not Iron Man. I understand that he's the most charismatic actor around now, and that the storyline makes sense for him to be the spiritual successor, but I was bummed out by the apocalyptic action in the first trailer already. I really love Homecoming.

Also: Peter and all his friends have been raptured together? We're five years after Homecoming, but they're all still in high school. It's better like that, not to care about the timeline...But the scene with Peter at his high school at the end of Endgame made me feel strange. Like...50% of the world is supposed to be five years younger.

[polkablues]

This was somehow both the best Marvel movie and the best Leftovers spinoff, all at the same time.

[Drenk]

I was surprised at how much it worked. I thought it would be hard to care about the loss because it is a temporary setback. The scene with Ant-Man looking through the names was visually stunning.

By the way, at the beginning, was RDJ made skinnier with CGI? It looked good.

[polkablues]

By the way, at the beginning, was RDJ made skinnier with CGI? It looked good.

Same with old-man Chris Evans. Whether that was makeup, CGI, or some combination of the two, it was the best I've ever seen.

[Robyn]

This was somehow both the best Marvel movie and the best Leftovers spinoff, all at the same time.

Wow, okay?? I guess i'm watching this sooner than I thought