I was in a total daze by the time I got out of Endgame. I mean, wow, there's so much to unpack here. Let's divide it up a bit. I really see this as three movies in one:
Avengers: Aftermath
The first third of Endgame was slow and depressing. I'm not complaining, because every scene was necessary and it showed just how important it was for the heroes to succeed. But it wasn't exactly what I would call enjoyable. It nearly brought me to tears a couple of times. I might skip it on some future viewings.
Avengers: Time Heist
The second act was easily the most fun, and had the most fanservice. I really enjoyed watching them replay scenes from previous movies from different angles, a la Back to the Future II, but the rules of time travel in this movie are completely bonkers. I've already seen several articles and YouTube videos try to explain it, but the fact is that the way they approach time travel simply doesn't make sense when you examine it too closely.
I was going to list specific examples of the parts that bothered me, but I don't want to deal with people "correcting" me and trying to explain their own interpretation of time travel. Besides, you know what? I don't care. It happened the way it happened. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Avengers: Endgame
The climax of Endgame was spectacular. Easily the best massive battle in the series. Once again I was nearly in tears when all the reinforcements started showing up. I loved the "Oh crap" look Thanos had when all the armies started arriving.
I thought the female empowerment shot was awesome, but maybe a little pandering. My wife said it seemed like a male writer's idea of what would please their female fanbase, and I agree. But it was a nice middle finger to all the sexist fanboys who whined about Captain Marvel.
As much as I like Captain Machina, er, Captain Marvel, I am worried that they're already overusing her as a "last ditch sudden win" device. She's too powerful to hang out with this crowd, so it's good that she mostly stays in space. The plot device works in this movie, but I hope this is the last time she swoops down and saves the day out of nowhere. She also came across as full of herself, which makes it harder to like her.
The end of the movie was perfect. The right people died (okay, I'm still upset about Black Widow, but the movie needed a sacrifice that would actually hurt the audience), and it didn't leave a lot of loose threads. There were several references to the first Iron Man movie, making it and Endgame perfect bookends for the series.
Overall, I thought it was a great movie, but not quite as cohesive as Infinity War. There were a lot of elements that reminded me of Age of Ultron. AoU spent a lot of time setting up plot threads for future movies, so that those future movies wouldn't have to devote as much screen time to them. Endgame spends a lot of time closing threads and cleaning up loose ends. Endgame is a much better movie than AoU, but the resemblance is still there.
Back in mid-January, I posted a blog with my hopes for Endgame. So, how well did it live up to my hopes? Well, let's see:
"I hope Tony sacrifices himself to save Steve; it would be a perfect apology for Civil War." - Well, kind of. Tony doesn't specifically sacrifice himself to save Steve, but he does sacrifice himself to save the universe, which includes Steve. Either way, he earned Steve's forgiveness.
"I hope (as some have speculated) that Steve is sent back in time, and lives out his days with Peggy Carter. It would be the kindest possible way to retire the character." - Boom! I was very pleased with this part of the ending. It leaves me with a lot of questions about what Steve did all those years - did he stay hidden, or is there an alternate timeline where he was a superhero back then? But those questions don't really need to be answered, I'm just glad he got a happy ending.
"I hope time travel isn’t overused in saving the day. The last thing I want is a “Ta-da! The first movie never happened!” victory." - Well... At least Infinity War still happened. They didn't just go back in time and re-fight the battle of Wakanda. But time travel was a huge component of the second act, and I wasn't quite satisfied with how the writers decided time travel works. But it was fun enough that I can overlook it.
"I hope we get another Thor movie. I know four movies is a lot for one character, but Ragnarok felt like such a reboot in both content and tone, that I really want to see another Thor done in that style." - Actually, now it looks like Thor could be in the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and that's a pretty good substitute.
"I hope they don’t gloss over the Asgardian refugees this time. Other than Thor’s line about how Thanos “killed half my crew”, Infinity War was maddeningly silent on the fates of Korg, Valkyrie, and the other survivors. If they don’t mention it in Endgame and don’t make another Thor movie, then the question will bug me forever. You know (lots of “ifs” coming), if Drax dies in Endgame (since Dave Bautista is angry about the firing of James Gunn), and if Gamora doesn’t come back to life, and if there isn’t going to be another Thor movie, then Valkyrie and Korg could make decent members of the Guardians." - Huzzah! We now know that the surviving Asgardians are doing fine, including Valkyrie and Korg. Also, James Gunn has been rehired, so we aren't losing Drax.
"I hope that future movies feel more self-contained. I’m afraid that the minute Endgame is over, they’ll jump right into the build-up for the next major crossover event." - That remains to be seen, but this one didn't look like it was specifically setting anything else up, except maybe the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie. It ended exactly like it should have, with hardly any loose ends. Even if they never released another MCU movie, it would be a perfect 22-movie story.
"I hope General Ross gets fired, and has his career so totally ruined that he spends the rest of his life collecting discarded soda bottles to buy Ramen noodles." - This isn't touched on, and who knows if the accords from Civil War are still active. But most of the people affected by them have moved on in one way or another. Cap's old, Ant-Man and Hawkeye have served their time, Widow's gone. That leaves Bucky, Scarlet Witch, and Falcon. Will Sam be accepted as the new Captain America? Will Scarlet Witch stay on the run? Will Bucky have to remain in Wakanda? These are very small questions that can be fixed by a single line of dialogue later. But I still want to see a future movie that is nothing but two hours of General Ross getting kicked repeatedly in the balls. Make it happen, Marvel!
Bottom line: Endgame is an excellent cap to an excellent series. I can't wait to see what's next.
Bottom line: Endgame is an excellent cap to an excellent series. I can't wait to see what's next.
1 comment:
I thought I saw Thunderbolt Ross at Tony’s funeral
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