An Arguing With Myself Review: Avengers: Endgame
The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos (Josh Brolin), that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avenger’s ranks, compels the remaining members to take one final stand in Marvel Studios’ grand conclusion with Avengers: Endgame.
They call me…Mister Marvel. Actually, when I say “they”, what I mean is, a select few. Okay, a “select few” is really one person. I’ve been saddled with that moniker, yet it’s seldom used. Only when a new Marvel film comes out do I get called “Mr. Marvel”. At one point, I treated it as an insult but up until recently, I’ve embraced it. That being said…
I’m not going to say Endgame is the best of the MCU. It’s not. Far from it. As a stand-alone film, it suffers from flaws that are only overlooked because of the twenty-one films that came before. I look at the MCU as a whole. Like a 22-episode TV series. Having highs as well as lows. Beginning with 2008’s Iron Man. I look at it as the “Pilot” because without Iron Man, the series wouldn’t exist. The rest of the films, even at their weakest, still make up the bulk of, what I consider, a great run.
It may have been a full year between the snap and the release of Endgame but when the film starts off, I have to admit, it took me a moment to catch my bearings. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) with his family on their farm, seemingly moving on after the events of Infinity War. Then it dawned on me, this isn’t AFTER…it’s BEFORE the snap. What a start to the film. The first twenty minutes in, when they find Thanos, I thought, we were going to see end credits. A small pause and title card shows “Five Years Later”. We see our team, which consists of Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), Rhodes (Don Cheadle), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), trying to move on with their lives post-snap. A somber reminder of what was lost. That is until Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) newly emerged from the Quantum Realm shows up at Avengers HQ with an idea of how to get everyone they’d lost, back. Enter “Smart Hulk” (Mark Ruffalo) to help facilitate the plan. From this point forth, a lighter tone is set in typical Marvel style. Don’t misinterpret that as it being all jokes because as with previous installments, there were plenty of moments of heartache, as well.
There are similarities I find with the MCU and a little show called, LOST. Here’s just a few examples:
-Both were bookended with one character’s journey.
-Along the way, there were alliances that came together working toward a common goal.
-At one point, a division of those alliances were made.
-The main antagonists wanting a balance of sorts and their wanton distrust of humanity.
-The fact that both LOST and Endgame had fans that were divisive of how they ended. But most importantly, the use of time as a device.
As I’ve said, previously, this wasn’t the best. What it was, was a perfect finale to the overarching story. The emotional investment was rewarded for this 11 year journey. Endgame gave me everything I wanted in a film. It gave me closure, it made me laugh, even cry, but most importantly, it entertained. People may point out the inaccuracies of time travel or certain aspects of the story but the takeaway from Endgame is, did it entertain you? I can only answer for myself when I say, it did, wholeheartedly. I mean, what did you expect?
…I AM Mr. Marvel.
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