Avengers: Endgame (Film Review)

So ends one era of the Marvel cinematic universe.

Yeah, it was pretty good as closing chapters go. Most of you will see this regardless, and I will say that it is a great finale to a story which has spanned well over a decade now. It's almost amazing to think that most people never even thought that team films would work at one point, let alone something on this scale.

So, if you wanted the short review, if you have kept up to date with the Marvel universe and understand that this is the second half of a story, you'll be in for a good time. If you want a more detailed answer, follow onto the segments below.


The Synopsis

And so half of the universe died. With the snap of the Mad Titan's fingers, countless septillions of individuals were snuffed out in a moment, collapsing into dust. Those that could do so fought to rebuild, regroup and continue, but even five years after the event's end, none are truly at peace.

When an opportunity falls into the laps of the surviving Avengers, those left are given a choice: Risk everything in a final act which could fully reverse Thanos' act of ultracide, or try to move on with their lives and rebuild what is left. They choose the latter, and follow a journey which leads from the day of the Avengers' foundation to the edges of the galaxy. Many of them soon begin to realise that, this time, not everyone will be coming home.


The Good



The sheer scale of Endgame's story is what will likely stick in the minds of many audiences. While Infinity War was huge, Endgame takes things to a whole new level. Rather than creating a full-scale battle and a series of running conflicts which are immense in their destruction, the very narrative of the film itself is of a style that no other film could likely accomplish. A major part of that is due to how it builds off of many previous installments to the saga, but also the connection audiences have with these characters. Even major established franchises under other banners could not have done this, and it's to the point where Endgame itself is more of an anthology piece than a singular story.

The benefit of this style is, oddly enough, that it provides more time. As this is a finale for these characters, the way in which it breaks up moments to have individual figures be in the spotlight for their own mini-narrative makes it all the better. This isn't simply giving them time as part of a larger act within a film so much as giving them a short story unto themselves. This not only benefits a few characters that were previously pushed into the background one reason or another, but also those that really deserved more screen time in the first place. 

Hulk, for example, gets plenty of great moments thanks to a surprising bit that I never thought we would see adapted from the comics, and Nebula's history is finally given some focus along with War Machine's past experiences. While these moments are often small they often help to give actors who were otherwise largely in the background a chance to do more than play second fiddle. This is something especially overdue in case of the latter two examples, and it even extends far beyond them. Characters like Frigga, Howard Stark, and the Ancient One are all given great scenes that they long deserved, with Rene Russo finally being given a scene of substance with Thor. No, I am not going to spoil how this happens, just watch the film.

Even with these individual moments, many characters are given closure and a few final acts that they long deserved. In the cases of several of these, they follow an arc which has been going on for years, and close out in a manner which is (almost) perfect for each of them. Some of them are not happy for sure, but when you sit down and examine how they progressed, you can easily see just how they were working toward these events. This is large scale storytelling to a degree never before seen within films, and until now it was almost entirely limited to print media. To see this attempted, and largely succeeded on screen, almost justifies the price of a ticket alone.

This really is fan service which had been refined to a fine art. The film is complex, layered over and over again to achieve a balance between moneymaking and creativity that is almost unfound across cinema. At almost any point where a great call-back to a past film or brief joke can be added to keep things lively, it will be thrown in, and this doesn't just work in favour of the foreground. There are many background easter eggs, small segments, and brilliant visual choices which will keep you coming back to this one long after it hits DVD. Honestly, it's like the opening segment to Wreck-It Ralph but extended across an entire film.

All of this works to make sure that Endgame never feels like it is three hours long. Immense, yes, and definitely engaging, but never long or dragged out. There are so many ways it distracts you and keeps the story running that it really is an astounding example of just how immersion can drag an audience out of reality. It needed those three hours to tell its story, but it more than earned them with how it worked about this length.

Finish all this off with promises of new stories and the chance for some new characters to finally take on a role in the spotlight, and it accomplishes everything that the fans might have wanted.

However, this isn't to say that it is perfect.


The Bad

For everything brilliant about Avengers: Endgame, there are still a multitude of shortcomings which will irk at more than a few people once it is done. In fact, the reason that this review took a day longer than planned was so that I could have a chance to sit down and think them over. Oddly enough, in this regard, the big one is how the humour works within the film. Typically, Marvel films have worked best when the jokes are added organically into the script and evolve from there, but others can feel tacked on at times. It's not that they are out of place or even truly unfunny, but they run the risk of overwhelming anything else within the film. Sit down and compare Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy with Black Panther someday, and you'll see a few key differences. In the case of the more space-based stories, this works very well, as it allows them to stand out from those which focus on Earth in terms of theme. However, Endgame veers toward this, and there are many points where it does not build upon the plot so much as feel intrusive toward it.

The actual nature of the humour can work to provide levity and stark contrast to darker moments, which is what the film needed in the wake of Infinity War. However, it can feel as if Endgame grinds to a screeching halt in order to deliver a few of these gags or, in one case, derails a character entirely in the name of some rather tasteless jokes. While no names will be named here, one character is openly wrecked and treated as a joke thanks their PTSD in the wake of the event. It pokes fun at the results of stress eating, the inability to cope with the aftermath of all that has happened to them, and even goes so far as to erase their role in the setting entirely. Hell, it effectively went out of its way to erase their entire character arc and developments from their last film. Honestly, this proved to be so bad that the film's final score dropped an entire point thanks to this, and the more cynical side of me thinks that part of this was done so a new "Strongest Avenger" could be pushed into the spotlight. You know, the one that everyone keeps defining as "Stronger than all the other Avengers combined, better than them, etc".

Still, even without the humour element, there are a few surprising missteps which cause problems in the final act. Even after the huge conflict, there is a second battle which is even more immense than the first. It's visually entertaining, and there are some truly fantastic moments both in terms of two armies rushing one another, and heroes combining attacks to bring down specific targets. It's one of those times where the film manages to give everyone involved some moment of real glory and a memorable segment to make them feel involved. 

However, while the direction and visuals are breathtaking, the environment leaves a lot to be desired. It's dark, largely black and grey, with dust clouds being churned up. In a manner which is akin to the 2014 Godzilla, you can tell the action is fun, but there's such a lack of colour that it doesn't work nearly so well as it should. This might sound like this point is being harped on, but it's a notable step down in this regard from the main battle in Infinity War, and that really should not have been the case.

Then we have the character of Thanos who, in this case, really feels like someone who is there purely for the sake of being there. He lacks many of the more character driven moments which made Infinity War so interesting, and the few bits that he is given here simply do not stand up to that. A few even go further to undermine them, as they only serve to highlight some serious logical flaws in his planning. Yes, he's insane, yes, he's a monster, and there's even a fantastic speech which finally puts a bullet in the head of those "Is Thanos actually a hero?" clickbait articles. With that being said, he's more an obstacle and a way to tie the individual stories together than anything else, and it's a damn shame that he turned out like this as it weakens the final act.


The Verdict

There are other positives and negatives which could be discussed, but for the sake of spoilers I will not be delving into those. Each of these was the critical strengths and failings of the work, and the others would not change the score all that much.

Nothing said in terms of its failings will take away from how ambitious Endgame truly was. There were any number of ways in which a film with this narrative structure, this much of a focus on continuity and such an ardent emphasis on saying farewell to all past films could have failed. By rights, it should have collapsed in upon itself. In that regard it is a triumph like no other, and it does still serve as an excellent final act to this chapter in the universe. 

Still, with all of that being said, the flaws which hold it back cannot be denied. You can praise a film for being as daring and inventive as possible, but it would be wrong to ignore its shortcomings thanks simply to that ambition. Endgame does have its problems, and no one should ever call it flawless. Those flaws are obvious and evident at many points, but it does still succeed at a seemingly impossible task despite them. In that regard, it's a more fitting finale for these characters than anyone could have ever asked for.

Verdict: 7.4 out of 10