This is not the movie that I was expecting, but that is a good thing in just about every respect. Going into "Endgame," I expected the film would be all about reversing the clock and undoing the events of "Infinity War." I'm so glad that the filmmakers elected not to do this, instead allowing everyone to move on, or try to, thereby putting them in different positions with different motivations when the time comes to regroup. I love how they really hammer home the theme of failure (pun intended), and show how it affects everyone in different ways. I don't think characters like Black Widow and Hulk have ever gotten so much character development. Thor's transformation is hilarious, but also poignant.
Some of my favorite moments in the entire run of the MCU involve the Avengers having some downtime here. Sure, all the fights and the big "Time Heist" are fun, but seeing all these different personalities interacting and having the time to really enjoy their camaraderie is what I love. So Thor's rambling retelling of the events of "Thor: The Dark World," and Hulk replacing Ant-man's taco, and Tony Stark embracing being a dad, mean just as much to me as Thanos finally getting his much deserved smackdown. As sad as it would have been, I'm disappointed that we didn't get to see Tony and Pepper's wedding. And the film is so much better for allowing the characters their space to fumble and grieve and say goodbye.
Yes, Iron Man and Black Widow died, and Captain America retired. The important part, though, is that the movie did its best to make those meaningful ends. I don't think they quite succeeded with Black Widow, but they did a great job of wrapping up Tony Stark as a character, letting him grow and better himself. And Steve Rogers got his happy ending in a way that conveniently also took him off the board. And unexpectedly, there was so much time spent giving Nebula an arc - I don't know that it was necessary, and it may have meant less time for more important characters, but they did it right. Nebula is a fascinating figure, and it was great to see her get her due. And this was the best appearance by Ant-man, who I enjoy so much better as a second banana. And Professor Hulk is bizarre, and I don't know about this choice in the long term, but it works for "Endgame."
The plotting is entirely too convenient. None of the time travel makes sense to me, but it was such fun and absolutely shameless fanservice to send everybody "Back to the Future II" style, back to the older movies to muck around with our expectations. The meta humor and all the little callbacks and cameos are great. "Thor: The Dark World" may not have been anyone's favorite, but it did have Renee Russo's Frigga in it, which was exactly what the "Endgame" version of Thor needed. Fat Thor felt awfully gratuitous for the first half of the movie, but I like that everyone committed to the bit and he didn't magically slim down again in the end. I hope we get to see more of him with the Guardians in a few years.
Good grief, I haven't even talked about the performances yet. Robert Downey Jr. has always been the MCU's MVP, and he went out on such a great note. Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans are at their series bests. Chris Hemsworth is clearly having a blast. Paul Rudd is still a great fanboy stand-in. Karen Gillan is still hard to take your eyes off of. And Josh Brolin ensures that Thanos will hold the title of best Marvel supervillain for a long time to come. And while I generally find too many cameos off-putting, all thee ones here felt earned. It was great to see so many old faces again - even if quite a few of them have been digitally manipulated to de-age them.
Well, this post has devolved into a lot of fangirling, and I don't think I've written anything remotely critical, but so what? "Endgame" is so unabashedly for the fans, and I'm one of them. I can't help responding to it by geeking out, as that's exactly the response it's designed to elicit. Every time I try to talk about bits I didn't like, or that didn't work, like Hawkeye going vigilante, I end up remembering two or three other things that I loved. There's just so much crammed into the movie that I enjoyed. It's astonishing that the Russos and the writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, made it all feel as coherent and beautifully paced as it did.
This is one satisfied Marvel fangirl signing off. Happy watching!
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