Avengers: Endgame- spoiler and non-spoiler

Avengers: Endgame

[Devin Dayley]

Have I seen Avengers: Endgame? Yes. I don’t consider myself a “Marvel obsessor” like a lot of people are. I love the avengers- the original five, mainly because I came of age with those movies being around. Back to my point, I am not a huge, HUGE fan of Marvel movies. This wasn’t just a release of a new Marvel movie, though. This was, what I like to call, a cultural event. I will compare this to when Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, the talk with everyone seemed to revolve around Star Wars and if people had seen it yet, when they were going to see it, not IF they were going to see it, but WHEN. My point in explaining that is that even though I do not consider myself the biggest “Marvel-ite,” this felt like something important to be part of because it would be knowledge necessary to have for this next little while.

Having said that, I loved this movie! There is so much in this movie that there are few things that I can say to not spoil it. So, for that reason, as well as that most people who read this will have already seen this movie in theaters, my non spoiler review will be quite short and to the point.

Non Spoiler Review:

This movie includes just about every character in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) but has special focus on the original avengers, obviously, since they are pretty much the lynch-pins in the Marvel world. If there are certain characters that you want to see, odds are, you will probably see them. It’s awesome to see a movie that incorporates so many different characters into it. Let’s face it, Marvel movies take up so much of our time. There are just so many of them out there, and they are full of A-list actors. So, again, it was awesome to see all of these characters, and probably all these egoes, come together for one movie.

This is a long movie, just over 3 hours. You don’t feel like you’ve just sat in a chair for three hours, though. Your emotions change so much throughout the movie. There is happiness, sadness, anger, relief, dread, etc. felt in this movie, so when you come out of it, you feel like you have been actively doing things and experiencing things even though you haven’t. If you’re on the fence about whether or not you should see it, let me make up your mind for you, just go see it. You won’t regret it.

Spoiler Review:

Okay, this is the review where we can talk about the nitty-gritty. And boy, there is quite a bit of nitty-gritty to talk about! There was so much more about this movie that I appreciated or loved than that which I didn’t like. So, let’s start by talking about the good and memorable parts of this movie, then move onto the bad parts of this movie.

First, let’s talk about the ending. Iron Man dies?! For those who don’t know, Iron Man is my favorite of the avengers. This is NOT a part of the movie I loved, but I appreciated it because it was so meaningful and handled so tastefully. He is just so charismatic and cool, plus, he’s rich. Even on a cinematic level, I think he has had the most growth as a character. Think about it, he went from being a playboy who doesn’t really care about anything or anyone, to a hero who doesn’t want to be apart from his wife and daughter? Okay, now that I read that, it was about time that he died and exited the series. He should have retired and stayed alive, though, for his wife and daughters sakes, and for the sake of all of the Marvel heroes, so he could continue to upgrade their equipment and fund their superhero antics.

Black Widow dies too?! I was pissed! I still am pissed! I love her and she is, to me, one of the main lynch-pins of the series. It was a surprise to me. Her untimely death was not on my mind or anyones mind, really. It was wonderful that she sacrificed herself for the soul stone. It showed how she had grown as a character. She could end up coming back but I think she is gone and any future films with her, I think, will have her in a state of “prequel.”

It was fitting that Cap retired and grew old with Peggy, his one true love. Honestly, I thought things were going to happen exactly opposite of how they did. I thought Captain America would die and Iron Man would retire and grow old. Cap SHOULD’VE died. He is basically a transplant into this time period. He didn’t belong here and poor peggy was already dead, too. That happened in Captain America: Civil War. Maybe the Russo brothers were just trying to do the unexpected and other people had already brought my logic to their minds. Yeah. Let’s go with that.

I really like Tom Holland! I think he is such a great actor and how much he looks up to Tony is so nice. Whenever he says “Mr. Stark” I just love it because you can hear the reverence and respect that he has for him. I also love how much Tony loves him. It’s almost as if they have a father-son relationship which makes movies they are both in all the more touching.

I loved Brie Larson’s character of Captain Marvel. She did such a great job of exuding her power and dominance without taking over the dynamic of the group. I felt a sense of relief whenever she was around, like whew, everything’s going to be okay because Captain Marvel is here.

I actually quite enjoyed Thor in this movie. I am one who is not shy about sharing my distaste for “Thor: Ragnorok,” I think that it was a mistake transforming Thor from a dramatic character into a comedic character. I thought it took the fierceness away from him and I was not a fan. I will say, I am now converted to this new Thor. I think I had a picture in my mind of who Thor was and when “Thor, Ragnorok” told me that Thor was different I didn’t want to believe it. This portrayal of him, though, was incredibly fun and lighthearted which was a nice contrast to the seriousness of this movie.

Hulks animation was really great! I am not going to talk about Hulk too much because I don’t love him as a character and I don’t really like Mark Ruffalo’s acting choices when it comes to him being The Hulk. With that being said, I did like how The Hulk looked like Mark Ruffalo in every scene where The Hulk is present. Usually, The Hulk looks like a completely different person from Bruce Banner, but in this movie, he looked like Bruce Banner, played by Mark Ruffalo, and I liked that.

Thanos, much like “Avengers: Infinity Wars,” was very liked by me. I think Josh Brolin, who plays Thanos is such a good villain. It is so easy to hate him which is important when you are portraying a villain. He was not just a bruting idiot. He was smart and thoughtful and Josh Brolin was able to give some depth to the character, which we don’t always get with villains.

There were SO many cameos, which I loved. Just to name a few, there was Natalie Portman, who I love, Tilda Swinton, who I was so happy to see, Rene Russo, who added so incredibly much to Thor’s character arc, and many, many more. I mean Robert Redford. C’mon man. It was so great that the casting people for this movie were able to secure all of these actors and thereby mix these superhero world even more.

One of the things that I did not love was Captain Marvel’s haircut after the five years had passed. Call me a chauvinist but I feel like women should go for looks that accentuate them. Not even just women, I think everyone should always look good to other people. Brie Larson is pretty. Let’s put that out there. And she has a flirty, charismatic way of talking. Like when she flew up to Spider Man and said something to the effect of hey Peter Parker. You got something for me? Her speech and body language said she was attracted to Peter Parker but her haircut said that she wasn’t. That’s just my opinion, though. Don’t kill me.

The movie was a lot! Quite frankly, it was too much at times. There was so much information being thrown at me, and so much science and technological jargon being tossed around that sometimes, I got lost in everything. I would say that this would’ve been better off split into two separate movies, but we were all so desperate for a conclusion and desperate for the story to sum up that there is no way that fans and audiences would have allowed this movie to be split into two movies.

This movie has politics in it. It does. Anything that is as big as the MCU is bound to deal with politics. Now I am thinking of two major things, Marvel’s stance on the LGBT+ movement with Captain Marvel’s haircut, clothes, and stances, and Marvel’s stance on women with the whole A-Force assembly thing. For those that don’t know, A-Force is something in the comics where the women ban together and are more powerful than the men. I think that the inclusion of LGBT+

people and women is wonderful. I am not a fan of things having to be a political stand like they are. But, Marvel is one of the only universes who I will forgive for getting political because, like I said, it is inevitable that things will get political within a universe that is so big and expansive.

Overall, I loved the film! I was so high class and high quality that I found myself looking and stretching myself to find things that I did not like about it. I would say that this is appropriate for anyone. Like, kids 12 and up should see this movie, but if there is a ten-year-old who wants to see it, I don’t see why they shouldn’t. There is fighting, but nothing that would prohibit a child from enjoying this movie, I would think. I will rate this at a 9.2/10.