Let’s explore this conundrum.
I’ve been struggling with my opinion of Avengers: Endgame for a little over a month. On one hand, the sweeping spectacle of Infinity War demanded an explanation, especially in the face of its punch-in-the-gut ending. On the other, a sequel always runs the risk of not living up to the expectations set by its predecessor.
Then again, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an entirely different beast, so I can chuck that dilemma aside and say with absolute clarity that Avengers: Endgame is a great film. However, I think that it’s just a hair below Infinity War in terms of quality.
The Cast Is Much More Focused.
The journey is very important.
One of the most interest aspects of Avengers: Endgame is its focus on the team that got everything going. Even though they’re split up throughout the movie, viewers will be able to feel the brotherhood that has built up since the premiere of Iron Man.
Chris Evans and Robert Downey, Jr. put a lot of thought and care into their performances as Captain America and Iron Man, and it’s easy to see that in this movie. Although I previously argued that Captain America: Civil War didn’t make much sense, they appear to have forgiven each other in the wake of that film and the Snappening. It’s a nice reminder that these characters grow and change over the course of time, which makes the ending that much more hurtful.
Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner share a far more tragic arc as Black Widow and Hawkeye. While there is a certain amount of hope in the arcs of Iron Man and Captain America, these two characters go to an extremely dark place over the course of the film. On the upside, the story is true to their respective characters. However, it’s extremely hard to watch because they’re the likable, ordinary ones in this universe… even though we know that what they go through is ultimately necessary.
The story slightly suffers when it throws the rest of the characters together on their mini-arcs, but the pairings aren’t so terrible as to be unwatchable. Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) add unique bits of sadness and humor to the story, but they’re offset by the fact that Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) are just kind of there to fill out the ensemble cast.
Still, they all do a good job with the material at hand.
The Story Is Extremely Simple.
The suits look cool, too!
If you’ve seen Infinity War, you’re probably already aware of our heroes’ quest to avenge (tee hee hee!) the universe.
In the opening of the film, the Avengers and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) hit Thanos with everything that they’ve got, but it doesn’t reverse the Snapture. They have to sit and wait for five years until Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) incidentally emerges from the quantum realm with a new method of time travel. Almost all of them come together to build the machine, but they know that they need Tony. They hit a snag when Iron Man initially rejects their idea, but our favorite billionaire genius becomes torn between his family and the chance to save everyone.
Naturally, the AC/DC lover figures it out, and they all head back in time to recover the infinity stones. I’m not going to spoil what happens in this section for the few who haven’t seen the movie, but there are more than a few touching scenes and some surprise cameos from the Marvel TV shows. I kind of wish that the movies paid more attention to that side of the universe, so it’s a nice to see a few old faces again.
And as I mentioned above, the story has real stakes. This isn’t your usual comic book movie.
The Problems.
Wait. If he is here and not there, then how did that event still happen?
Apart from the issues that I already mentioned, Avengers: Endgame has some problems that ultimately dull its overall shine.
In the opening of the film, Thor decapitates Thanos after he learns that the infinity stones were destroyed in another snap… which makes one wonder why he didn’t even bother to try that in the last movie. It’s not a big deal, but it’s always weird when the writers draw parallels like that.
On another note, the time travel rules are extremely confusing. I know that they explained that they’re following “just go with it” rules, but those immediately clashed with my traditional understanding of the trope. For instance, why wouldn’t one character disappear when he or she kills his or her past self? Also, why couldn’t they just go back to Wakanda and kill Thanos before he snaps?
I know that Tony would lose his daughter, but they’d win.
With all of that out of the way, the strangest part of Endgame has to be the ending, which I need to spoil here in order to explain my position. If you want the details, click below!
Spoilers!
The usage of the infinity stones and time travel opens up some extremely odd plot issues that can only be chalked up to the fact that Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans have bowed out of the franchise. Otherwise, how does one explain why the Avengers didn’t remove an infinity stone from the gauntlet, reverse time to the point where he was still alive, and heal his injuries with, say, the reality stone?
Even more troublingly, why would Steve Rogers go back to Peggy Carter? I know that it’s often been said that she’s the love of his life, but she really just shot at him and kissed him once. All of his friends are in the present day, and he’s supposedly dating Sharon Carter, too.
Did the writers forget about that plotline? I know that they wanted to give Steve a happy ending, but it’s unbelievably odd.
To make things even weirder, how did Captain America completely elude HYDRA for the entirety of the 20th Century? Did he just not go out in public even though he’s the supposed husband of the Director of SHIELD? I know that we’re supposed to handwave that away, but it’s extremely strange when one considers that Captain America was a famous example of war propaganda just a few years earlier.
If you don’t know why I grappled with this movie for so long, you do now.
Conclusion.
The film does a good job of establishing the doom and gloom of the Snap’s aftermath.
Avengers: Endgame is not perfection made manifest, but it’s a ton of fun and a worthy capstone to the first saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You know and love these characters, the story has a lot of touching moments, and some of the most significant problems can be explained away with a little bit of effort. If you love this series, you’ll probably see it again sometime. If you don’t, this may be the right place to stop.
As always, it’s up to you, dear reader.
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