SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!!
Did I mention that there are SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!!
I’ve just seen Avengers: Endgame. And all I can say is ‘Wow’. Well I’m going to say more than that as I am writing a blog post, but the first thing to say is just, ‘Wow’! It’s hard to know where to start. The Russos and Kevin Feige have somehow managed to wrap up the last ten-ish years and twenty-ish movies in a satisfying, emotional and action packed way, with respect for all the characters and all the previous movies. An incredible job.
Obviously it was clever to have most of the characters die in Infinity War because they could really focus on the core original characters in this movie and really give fans more of the main characters’ relationships. Great to see Paul Rudd getting much more screen time and being a big part of the plot too.
In a nutshell I loved it and I think I will rank it as my no.2 Marvel movies after Infinity War. I would give Infinity War 5.0 out of 5.0 and I would give Endgame 4.9 (or maybe 4.95). I just had a few minor quibbles with Endgame which I will mention below in my list of good points and bad points.
Bad Points / Questions
* Only really one main bad point and one smaller bad point
* My smaller bad point was that in some places the humour didn’t quite fit as well as it did in Infinity War. They got it 100% percent right all the way through Infinity War. But some bits in Endgame seemed a bit slapstick, gratuitous or out of place. The whole Hulk stairs thing and that stopping Tony getting the stone, just seemed a bit too much. There were a couple of examples like that. Not a major thing but just not quite as well done as in Infinity War.
* The main thing I didn’t like was Thor-Lebowski. And I’m sure the majority of people will absolutely love Thor-Lebowski. Just like the majority of people loved Thor: Ragnarok, and I didn’t. I just don’t like Thor being a buffoon or a comedian. I get that a director like Taika Waititi painted all the characters with the same humour brush, but I’m surprised the Russos gave Thor that same feel in this movie. The Thor in Infinity War is a great Thor. Noble, brash and just calls a spade a spade. That brings its own humour with it. I just didn’t think the beer belly, sunglasses and dressing gown fit. I’m cool with him having let himself go but I felt they took it a bit too far or played the joke for too long. Didn’t quite feel like Thor to me. But that’s just me. Did not spoil my enjoyment of the movie.
* Just overall, I felt the humour was not quite as nailed as it was in Infinity War. But the humour in Infinity War was great.
* A couple of the scenes in the first 45mins felt a bit slow. There was one with Tony that I can’t remember now but I do remember at the time thinking that was a scene I might skip when I watch on Blu-ray
* And the support group scene felt a little strange to me. I get why they had it, and they probably couldn’t have a scene without a Marvel character but to have Steve in the group with them, when he was one of the ones who failed to stop Thanos, just felt weird. Also having one of the Russo brothers do the fairly large cameo part also pulled me out of the movie slightly. But I get why they did it, and I’ve since read an article with them saying that they wanted it to be one of them playing this first openly gay character in a Marvel movie to show that they were giving the role the respect it deserves. Fair play for doing that. The Russos are good at doing things like that for the right reasons.
* The five year gap was interesting. So when people came back from the snap were they the same age that they were at the snap? When Spider-man went back to school, I originally thought his friend should be 5 years older, but I guess his friend died in the snap too? So were the ones at the school all the ones who died in the snap? Because the ones who were survived were all 5 years older and would have left school by now?
* Also, how come Thanos had to get Peter Dinklage’s help to build a gauntlet that could handle the power of the stones and yet Tony could make one himself quite easily? Although it seemed to burn Hulk’s hand and kill Tony, so perhaps it didn’t quite handle the stones as well as Thanos’s one.
* I assume they filmed a different version of the scene when Thor calls his hammer to come to him and whizz by Captain Marvel’s head. In the movie he must have had the dreadlocks and a beard. In the trailer he was clean shaven like in Infinity War. I quite like that they film shots specifically for the trailer and so as not to spoil plot points with how characters look.
Good Points
* Sooooo many good points. Let’s start with the serious ones…
* Related to my last question above, I really liked how they handled the post snap stuff. They spent a good deal of time showing the audience the effect that the snap had on the world. This was important. Not only was it showing the devastation but it also very cleverly showed the good things that had happened, such as Tony’s little girl. Big dilemma, therefore, about how to change the past. Nicely done.
* I loved how they showed Hawkeye’s family disappearing. You didn’t see any dust. They just disappeared when he wasn’t looking. That was scary and brought us right back to the tragedy that happened at the end of Infinity War.
* Big surprise when they killed Thanos early on. Wasn’t expecting that.
* Tony came across as a bit of dick again when he was speaking to Steve after Captain Marvel dropped him off. But five years later you can see how good a dad he is.
* I love the relationship between Peter Parker and Tony. Tom Holland is fantastic. The whole hug scene was both emotional and funny. That’s hard to do
* Two words. TIME. HEIST. That was a great idea. Two of my favourite genres. I loved how they went back to past moments in the previous movies. It could be cited as fan service but it was relevant to the plot and ,who cares, it was brilliant to see.
* Cap meeting Cap was great. And so was the moment he nearly recreated the amazing lift scene from Winter Soldier. That was genius.
* I spotted a bottle of Irn Bru in Thor’s house!!
* Thor getting Mjolnir back was great, but doesn’t that mean his past self is now without a hammer? Ooh, time travel you confusing beast (speaking of which, didn’t Nebula kill her younger self? Doesn’t that kill yourself when you do that?)
* Great scene where Hawkeye and Black Widow were fighting about who was going to kill themselves. I wasn’t expecting that Black Widow would be the one to die
* I did think we would see Smart Hulk in this film and it was pretty cool, although I’m not sure they made the most of it. He seemed a bit arrogant, but perhaps that’s just a side effect of all that testosterone that must be coursing through his veins. I wasn’t quite sure whether I loved his CGI or not. And I wish we had seen him actually use his Hulk powers a bit more.
* Infinity War had a great moment where there are about three of the female characters in a fight scene together, but Endgame ramped that up to 11 with pretty much every female character from the MCU all on screen at once during the final battle. I can imagine young girls all over the world having that picture on their bedroom walls, which would be a very cool thing.
* That final battle was great. Perhaps actual individual fight scenes weren’t as cool as the airport scene in Civil War or the fights in Infinity War but it was still incredible to see everyone together on one battlefield. My only criticism was perhaps the lighting/colours could have been slightly lighter
* Josh Brolin was once again excellent and the whole character of Thanos was so well done. He’s not some maniacal, laughing villain. He’s so clever and cool and interesting.
* The whole CGI thing about making people look younger or older is just incredible. I’m stunned by how well it looks. Very cool to see a young Michael Douglas. I wonder if they did the effect slightly on Robert Redford! (I don’t think so)
* The one shot sword fight scene in Japan was beautifully shot
* It was great to see Captain Marvel in action and helping save the day, but I was expecting her to play a bigger part. Also, I’m sure that in the trailer we had a scene of them meeting her for the first time? Perhaps it was cut and they felt that everyone had already watched it in the trailer so they could afford to drop it from the movie! I really love the Carol Danvers character and it made me want to rewatch Captain Marvel
* I wasn’t sure if they would be able to have a Stan Lee cameo in this one. I’m so glad they did. It almost, however, felt like they had maybe already filmed this cameo during GOTG2 (when we see Kurt Russell on Earth) and just hadn’t used it? And if so, I wonder how much of the plot point of Tony and Cap going back to the 70s was just to try to fit in this cameo from Stan! Would be interesting to know.
* I liked Tony’s line about how they’re not the Prevengers
* I also loved Thor’s line about the Asguardians of the Galaxy. I assume he is going to be a part of the next GOTG movie. That will be awesome.
* I loved how Jon Favreau, the man who arguably started this whole journey when he directed Iron Man, got a good few lines at the end. It was all so well done at the end.
* Great to hear Tony say the “I’m Iron Man” line again
* It was also brilliant to have seen Tony meet with his dad when he went back to 1970. Great to see him get closure with his father.
* After Tony died I was wondering how they were going to handle Cap. I really liked how they did it. They took the whole time travel thing and worked it to give Cap closure too. Give him the life he had missed out on and the woman that he loved. It was clever to not have Cap die in the same way that Tony died but to effectively die in his own way, in a natural way, and in a way that makes us know he has had fulfilment.
* Very cool to see Sam get the Captain America shield too. And a nice touch that they let Bucky give him a nod of approval.
* For those that stayed until the very end, there was that hammering sound over the Marvel Studios logo. No-one seems to know exactly what it means. My only ideas are that it is a bookend noise of Tony making his first Iron Man suit, or perhaps it just signifies that Marvel Studios making future movies
* That Alan Silvestri theme score is just out of this world. Gives me goosebumps.
Wow Scenes
* CAP HOLDING THOR’S HAMMER – this was the moment that got the biggest cheer in my theatre. Great to see that Cap is worthy, and fantastic to see him properly wielding Mjolnir against Thanos.
* AVENGERS ASSEMBLE.- He finally said it. Amazing to have so many superheroes in one battle, and very cool when he said those words. This gave me a lump in my throat for sure.
* THE FUNERAL – A very poignant moment when not only are we and the characters saying goodbye to Tony but the audience basically gets to say goodbye to the whole cast, as the camera does a long pan through them all.
* The speech – I’m sure some people found Tony’s post-humous speech cheesy, but who cares. There are many good things about it. It was obviously a way for the movie-makers to say goodbye to the audience and to make a statement about the state of the world today, but it was all relevant to what had happened in the film too, so it didn’t feel too gratuitous. And it again highlighted one of the things that the film did well. It didn’t shy away from the destruction and loss that had happened in the film. Obviously some of it was undone and some of the characters were brought back but they didn’t try to totally undo the last five years. They had to accept some of the bad stuff and move on, and accept some of the deaths (Tony, Vision, Black Widow, Gamora, etc). This was all done in a poignant and realistic way I felt.
So that’s my thoughts on the first viewing. I don’t think I will see it again in the cinema, just because it is long but also because I’m quite busy right now. I’ll wait for the Blu-ray. I might not rewatch the whole movie multiple times but there are certainly scenes that I will watch again and again.
I’m still processing the last 10+ years of Marvel movies. It’s been some journey. Truly amazing stuff from Kevin Feige, Jon Favreau, Joss Whedon, The Russos and so many other people. The end credits were very cool, when they had the main cast’s signatures on screen etc.
Updated ranking
1. Avengers: Infinity War
2. Avengers: Endgame
3. Captain America: Winter Soldier
4. Captain America: Civil War
5. Avengers
6. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2
7. Iron Man
8. Spider-Man: Homecoming
9. Captain Marvel
10. Black Panther
11. Ant-Man and the Wasp
12. Iron Man 3
13. Avengers 2: Age of Ultron
14. Guardians of the Galaxy
15. Ant-Man
16. Thor
17. Dr. Strange
18. Thor 2: The Dark World
19. Captain America
20. Thor: Ragnarok
21. Incredible Hulk
22. Iron Man 2