Be careful what you wish for. If I were to review this film with an unbiased opinion I would be praising it ceaselessly, but considering the fact that I’m just a human, I will try to limit myself. One of my main issues with most MCU movies is that they lack real consequences and with Infinity War, despite killing off fifty percent of all living creatures, it didn’t mean much thanks to sequels news. In Endgame, however, the consequences I wished for were granted, painfully.
It starts off slow which is expected, we were grieving along with the rest of the Avengers, however, it doesn’t take long until Scott Lang comes back with the answer to our problem. After some hesitation, Tony Stark reluctantly agrees to risk his retired life with Pepper and his adorable daughter, played by Lexi Rabe, to help the remaining Avengers in building a time machine.
Time travel was explained briefly and simply, they didn’t go through the repercussions of traveling through time but chose to leave them in alternate universes that may or may not exist. The callbacks to previous MCU movies was an excellent choice, especially when the supporting actors themselves showed up. Nebula’s past self switching places to go back to the future was a great plot device to bring back not only Thanos but also Gamora. The latter’s death was not cheapened and proved to be irreversible, which made Black Widow’s sacrifice solidified. Natasha’s death was almost certain when we knew that she was going with Clint to get the soul stone, but it still didn’t lessen the impact of what happened.
The face-off between Thanos and Thor, Iron Man and Captain America started off great and became even better when the rest of the Avengers made their dramatic entrances. The final battle was full of jaw-dropping moments and even more easter eggs, one of the best being Captain America wielding Thor’s hammer. The All female group shot was long overdue but still iconic along with Tony’s and Peter’s hug. Doctor’s Strange’s plan finally comes into being when Iron Man steals the Infinity Stones right under Thano’s nose and snaps him and his army away. The scene was admittedly the one that had me crying, even before Pepper told Tony to rest now, his death was seen coming from miles away. Captain America going back in time to grow old with Peggy was confusing when he left Bucky behind, but I couldn’t think of a better bittersweet farewell to his character.
One of the annoying thing about the plot was how Thor’s alcoholism and grieve were used as a punching line. While we’re used to the MCU humor and quips even in the middle of battle, this one just felt cheap. One of the better was Loki’s possible return in an alternate universe where he stole the Tesseract and escaped, the possibilities are endless with his character. A reunion between Loki and Thor in a Guardians of the Galaxy movie may not be that far-fetched.
Despite the crowded plot, it was slow paced enough to show off some of the actor’s abilities, most notably Tony Stark himself played by Robert Downey Jr. especially during Tony’s and Steve’s confrontation after getting rescued from space. Scarlett Johansson’s previous emotionless performance as the stoic Black Widow finally breaks due to her friend Clint’s life choices, leading to her sacrificing herself which was one of the most powerful female superhero moments on the big screen.
In Endgame we get to see The Russo brothers at their creative peak that we got a hint of in the Winter Soldier. While Civil War and Infinity War were not bad, they pale in comparison to The Winter Soldier and Endgame in terms of Story-telling and cinematography. The subtle set up for the mutants was promising and gave us a hint of what is coming. While the likes of Black Panther and Captain Marvel give me hope, I still fear that the new characters won’t be able to fill that place that the original Avengers did.
