Wow! What a film. Now that’ I’ve shared my thoughts in the
Spoiler-Free Review, let’s get down to business and talk Spoilers. There is so
much to unpack from this film, and I’ll be talking about the plot, the action
set pieces, the development of the characters, the twists along the way, the
climatic final battle scene and of course, my reaction to those characters who
left us. So if you haven’t seen the film
and don’t want it spoiled, then please STOP reading. You can read the Spoiler-Free
Review if you want, or better yet – just go and see the film, then come back
here and read this.
Okay?
You’ve been WARNED!
Spoilers Ahead…
The opening scene of Avengers Endgame is both poignant and
chilling. Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, is teaching his daughter how to shoot a
bow and arrow. On a vast open property, with a homely abode in the background,
and the rest of his family preparing lunch, Hawkeye is living happily and
peacefully. Absent from events in “Infinity War” he clearly has no idea what is
happening on Earth and in the vast reaches of space as his fellow Avengers
battle Thanos. In a heartbeat, his daughter vanishes, then his wife and two sons. He runs around the farm,
screaming their name in terror, unaware and afraid. Where are they? And what
will happen to Hawkeye? We find out a bit later of course.
After the events on Titan, where half the Avengers got their
butt kicked by Thanos, then disappeared, only Iron Man and Nebula remain. They
have managed to get her ship working and started to head home. But after 23
days in space, the ships slows down, and begins to drift. This is where Tony
Stark realises he is on deaths door. In a touching moment, he uses what’s left
of his Iron Man helmet, and records a video message for Pepper Potts, the love
of his life. Unsure if she will ever get it, he lies down, making peace with
the fact that he will soon die. But as fate would have it, a bright light of
hope emerges from the deep, dark of space, waking Tony up. Peering out from his
weary face, he sees the face of a beautiful woman floating right outside the
ship. Tony has no idea who this is, but of course we the audience know it’s
Captain Marvel.
As Tony is brought back to Earth, weakened and angry at how
events transpired, Nebula reveals the location of Thanos, and our heroes head
off to bring him to justice. Discovering he still has the stones and used them
again recently, they try to reclaim them. What they discover upon arriving on a
planet called The Garden, is a Thanos different from what they remember. He is
weakened and badly injured from the power of the stones. Confessing he has
destroyed the stones; Thor sees no use for the murderer anymore and chops off
his head. This scene in particular and how quick and brutal it is in disposing
of Thanos, was a smack in the face. I reckon most of the audience in the
theatre gasped in shock. Now what? Oh yeah… FIVE. YEARS. LATER. That’s what!
Half a decade has passed, and our heroes have all tried to
move on with their life in the world that is missing half its inhabitants. Cap
now runs a support group for those needing to talk about the ones they lost.
Natasha / Black Widow tries to keep the
Avengers initiative alive any way she can by overseeing missions and keeping
her sanity. And Captain Marvel reports on her missions from space and she
assists thousands of other planets going through similar situations as Earth
is. It’s in this time, the most dire and hopeless of all for the remaining
Avengers, that an unlikely character returns from the quantum realm.
Scott Lang / Ant-Man is accidentally pulled back out of the
quantum realm we saw him enter at the end of “Ant-Man and The Wasp” but get
stuck in as Hope, Hank and Janet vanished. Not realising five years have
passed, Scott heads to Avengers HQ with a possible solution to the problem the
world now faces. Using quantum physics to travel back through time. This is
enough to get Cap and Natasha curious enough to try, and they go to visit an
old friend.
Meanwhile, in a quiet house by a lake, the former billionaire
playboy and Iron Man reduced to scrap metal, has chosen to build a life, having
a beautiful child with Pepper. He’s now a man at peace with himself and the
world enjoying the quiet role of father and husband. But his old pals come
knocking with an idea to go back in time. Tony disposes of the possibility of
time travel, and also doesn’t want the current times to change, even as much as
he resents the actions of the past. He’s now a man who has found something
worth living for; a family. Realising that Tony is not going to play ball (at
this point), Cap, Nat and Scott try one brainier person who might be able to
help.
They go and visit The Hulk. Or is that Dr. Banner? Somehow, Bruce has found a way to be
both The Man and the Hulk, and it’s visually off the wall and very funny. He
eats mixing bowl sized servings of scrambled eggs and poses for photos with
kids. Who would have thought a half man – half Hulk mix would be so hilarious?
As Tony decides to help with the time travel mission, given
he’s made a breakthrough discovery himself, he heads back to Avengers HQ and
decides to help. Then, the remaining more elusive Avengers are rounded up.
In a hilarious few scenes, we see what’s happed to Thor. He
has let go of the past as best as he could - by letting himself go! Sporting a bushy
beard, long dreads and a pot-bellied beer and pizza existence, he’s formed his
own refuge of New Asgard, where his remaining people live in peace by the sea.
But his guilt draws him back to the team. Then Hawkeye is tracked down, and
he’s been busy putting his master assassin skills to use by killing gangs, criminals
and drug dealers around the world. Nat confronts him and brings him back from
the dark to re-join the team, as he realises there is a chance to bring his
family back and end the bloody mission of avenging them as he has been.
As those who survived the snap are reassembled at Avengers
HQ, they begin to test the combination of Tony’s time travel machine and
Scott’s Pym Particle solution. After a few attempts, the team work out how to safely
travel back through time and return to their reality. With the ability to go
back and change past events, they set out to recover the infinity stones, one
by one. As they are littered across the world and the universe, the Avengers
are split into three teams, and here we revisit key moments and locations from
previous films. This was a brilliant twist in the plot I didn’t see coming to
be honest and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting moments from the first Avengers film, Thor: The Dark World and Guardians
of the Galaxy. It’s here we also meet Thanos again, or at least the version of
him from the past and it’s not long before he catches onto the mission of these
mystery Avengers.
After collecting the stones in a series of confrontations
and the loss of Black Widow (first time I cried in the film), the Avengers
return to their time with the ability to snap their own fingers and change what
Thanos did. But they aren’t aware he has sent his version of Nebula back
through the time portal, and she wastes no time in bringing her mass-murdering
father back as well. He is quick to strike, blowing the shit out of Avengers
HQ. As our heroes emerge from the rubble, the original Holy Trinity of Heroes
take on Thanos. But as strong as they are, and in another surprise turn with Cap
being able to wield Thor’s hammer, Thanos is just too dam big and strong.
When all seems lost, a familiar voice comes through Cap’s
ear piece; “On Your Left” in a nice call back to Captain America: The Winter
Soldier. Falcon appears through a portal, followed by every other hero who went
missing after the snap. This had to be the most visually satisfying and emotionally
uplifting scene in the whole film. Watching our beloved heroes join the battle,
bring their powers and skills, and a sense of hope to a dark and dire situation
was inspiring. Thanos is certainly caught off guard and the biggest superhero
smackdown ever takes place.
It reminded me of the battle of Isengard in Lord of the
Rings: Return of the King, where the screen was filled from left to right, and
you didn’t know where to look. The handling of this epic action scene is
nothing less than spectacular. Watching each hero be handled in the way they
deserve, all getting their own moment to shine in the face of evil and work
together as a team – simply awesome! Rest assured, Thanos and his horde put up
a bloody good fight, but our Avengers are not stopping until they win the day,
Whatever It Takes.
As you, I and pretty much everyone else going into this film
would have expected, we would witness the fall of a hero. Before seeing the
film, I had my money bet on either Iron Man or Captain America meeting their
end, and I was half right. But damn you Marvel for making it so emotionally
crippling to watch. When Iron Man uses his own gauntlet containing the Infinity
Stones to snap his fingers after boldly saying “I… Am….Iron Man”, the theatre
went silent. We watched our heroes win as first, the ships of Thanos’s army
faded to dust, followed by his army, then lastly, the Titan himself. Sitting
down before he vanishes, the look on his face is one of complete surprise that
he has been defeated. And his loss came at the loss of the hero who started it
all… Iron Man.
After doing the greatest deed in the universe, Tony crawls
over to a safe spot, and realises his life is slowly slipping away from him. As
the power of the stones was too much to handle, he gasps for his final breaths,
and is comforted by the love of his life, Pepper Potts. She simply says, “It’s
going to be okay Tony…You can rest now”, and Boom – I balled my eyes out.
Seeing the vulnerability on the face of Tony and the chilling music accompany
his death really got me in that moment, and I felt the connection I’ve had to
this character that began a decade ago, come back to end.
Who seriously would have thought a movie about comic book
characters would be so affecting? Watching Iron Man die was deeply sad, and
also somehow cathartic, as the character of Tony Stark, who once made weapons
and sold them, never caring about anyone but himself, went on to find a heart,
build a suit and save more lives than any other being ever could. His funeral
scene towards the end of the film was beautiful and heartbreaking. Watching the
Iron Man pour his heart out in his final video message for his daughter, with
the sign off “Love You 3000”, followed by the procession of heroes dressed in
black, overlooking the lake, honouring the memory and legacy of the man who
pioneered the Avengers initiative. Tony Stark was pivotal in bringing them all
together, while also dividing them, then reuniting them once more, and here, he
gets the silent send-off he deserves. This scene alone is what these movies
resemble the most to viewers; the love and respect we have for these
characters.
Knowing we might not see Iron Man on screen again, or
certainly not under the performance of Robert Downey Jr, left me leaving this
film on a sombre note.
But then, it takes another turn for the tender, showing us
how Captain America’s journey also comes full circle. After one last mission,
to return the Infinity Stones to their place of origin, he returns not as the
young soldier he was when he left, but as a man, older and certainly not
running around with a shield any more. After Completing his mission, Steve
Rogers goes back to the 1940’s; the time in history he was stolen from, to
reclaim the life he once gave up and rekindle his long-lost love.
The final shot of the movie is perfect in every sense of the
word. In a small, quaint home, a couple dance in their living room. It’s Steve
Rogers and Peggy Carter. It turns out Cap kept his promise to have that dance
with his girl.
Now excuse me, while I go and cry again.
Walking out of the theatre, I couldn’t stop thinking about
the film for hours. This viewing experience really was the closing of a
chapter. The end of an era in a film series that broke new ground, broke the
rules, and ended up breaking our hearts with the passing of one it’s greatest
heroes. But I suppose everything comes to an end, and as much as we want a
story to go on, and a character we love to live forever, they can’t. everything
that has a beginning has an end, and I’m hoping “Avengers: Endgame” is just the
ending of the first story.
There are many more characters left to take on the mantle,
with stories to tell, more villains to fight, and worlds to save. The stories
will continue, and in some form or another, the creations of the late, great
Stan Lee and his army of comic book artists and story-tellers, have left a
legacy that will be brought to life through the talents of directs, actors, writers,
film composers, editors, special effects wizards and most of all, by us… The
Fans. I’ve been a fan for the past decade, and as a fan, I couldn’t be more
satisfied with how this film ended the
greatest ensemble of superheroes every committed to the silver screen. In
whatever shape or form it continues, I’ll be there to enjoy it.
Bravo Marvel. And Thank You.
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