NOTE: I did my best to keep this review spoiler-free...
Review Summary: Just about as satisfying as one would want out of a movie like this.
In 2012, Marvel created the first superhero team-up movie ever with the original Avengers. Then, last year, they shocked the world with perhaps the most daring ending ever for a movie in the genre with Infinity War. Then, with the highly-anticipated "Part 2" (which was its original title) this year, anticipation and excitement rose to heights hardly ever seen by a movie in recent memory.
Endgame was under a bunch of pressure, as it had a lot to live up to. Coming out of the movie, I am happy to say that the film does rise to the challenge (pretty darn nicely) in being an entertaining, exciting, and overall very satisfying conclusion to this two-part saga. But, its' not just the conclusion of a two-part story (to a degree), its also an ending for this stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Now, of course, if you're reading this, you might have a little bit of panic thinking, "This is the end of Marvel?" (no worries, they are far from done) However, as Black Widow mentioned at the end of Age of Ultron, "Nothing lasts forever." It's hard to keep the same superheroes going for many years, so sometimes change needs to happen and characters need to be around for the older ones to "pass the torch" to.
What Endgame manages to do better than Infinity War is that it doesn't rely too heavily on the "shock factor". It's predecessor had twist after twist, and surprising death after surprising death. It created a movie that was equal parts surprising, gutsy, and challenging to watch. Now don't get me wrong, Endgame still has a few shocks up its sleeve. But, it never gets too carried away. Instead, it honestly (and wisely) keeps us entertained and warms us up for the emotional moments rather than barraging us with them.
Not to mention, for a 3-hour movie, the fact that the film remains mostly well-paced and entertaining is quite a feat in itself. The film carries a lighter edge than previous Russo Bros. efforts in the series, and carries a good handful of solid jokes (particularly in the first half). Now, occasionally, a plot point does drag for a little bit. However, it's never for way too long and there's usually some creative diversion to keep us going along the way.
Speaking of creativity, Endgame has moments that are creative, and moments that aren't so creative for the MCU or for movies in general. There's also elements that lean a little on the side of nonsense (or may come across as somewhat ridiculous). And, for casual viewers, while there's plenty of entertaining moments here, it's going to be more difficult for them this time around to understand how the entire story came to be without rewatching key previous movies.
As for the story itself, it works in three acts and styles that don't quite feel episodic. Everything flows nicely with some solid character development. Unlike Infinity War, none of the original Avengers seem to be given too little to do. However, with a complex plot involving multiple characters and storylines, some plot holes do emerge by the end of the film. Of course, the hope is that these will be explained and discussed when future Marvel movies are released. In the meantime, the script does include too much profanity (particularly the s-word, and a few either inexcusably said by children or harshly aimed at children), which does slightly ruin the overall enjoyment of the film.
In the meantime, more of the film's secondary characters and newer superheroes are put on the backburner (for the most part, however, this isn't a problem given the circumstances). Out of all the characters, Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) are given the biggest upgrades in screentime. Meanwhile, Marvel's recent hero, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) seems to be the only character that truly underwhelms in terms of how much time she's given.
The core group of the 6 main heroes all give some of their best work to date in the MCU. Robert Downey, Jr. has really come a long way over the years, as he has believably and convincingly shown Iron Man's maturity and humbling of his heart. He has two of the film's best scenes. Chris Evans once again shines as Cap, with his old-fashioned patriotism and heroism front-and-center. Meanwhile, Scarlett Johannson (Black Widow) gives her best performance yet in the MCU with a couple of emotional scenes early on, while Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), and Jeremy Renner (who returns as Hawkeye after being absent in Infinity War) are all given absurd and outrageous character arcs here.
Endgame features multiple cameos from many characters that have appeared in previous MCU films. But for me to discuss some of the best ones (there's a handful of very good ones) would be spoiling the film. Stan Lee is given one, but its' not really his most memorable one. There's also plenty of pop-culture references and other callbacks to recent films that will prove to entertain fans both young and old.
Of course, the special effects are very good, even if the overall scale of the film is down a few notches from Infinity War. The action scenes, particularly in the second half, do shine. And the film leads up to a massive brawl in the final half-hour that lives up to just about every expectation. I'll just say its' the battle that fans of the comics and the movies have been waiting for, and it delivers big time.
In the end, Endgame lives up to its hype. Its' another Marvel winner that warrants multiple viewings to fully understand everything that's going on. It's not a perfect film. Sometimes its' too crowded, nonsensical and complex to rank alongside the all-time greats. However, in terms of overall merits, its their best film since Captain America: Civil War.
Oh yeah, and don't expect any post-credits scenes this time.
My Score: 8.6/10
In the meantime, here's my updated list of how I rank the Marvel Universe:
#1: Captain America: Civil War
#2: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
#3: The Avengers
#4: Captain America: The First Avenger
#5: Thor
#6: Avengers: Endgame
#7: Avengers: Age of Ultron
#8: Avengers: Infinity War
#9: Thor: The Dark World
#10: Thor: Ragnarok
#11: Black Panther
#12: Ant-Man
#13: Iron Man
#14: Captain Marvel
#15: Spider-Man: Homecoming
#16: Guardians of the Galaxy
#17: Iron Man 3
#18: Doctor Strange
#19: Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2
#20: Iron Man 2
#21: Ant-Man and the Wasp
#22: The Incredible Hulk
Content Concerns for Family Viewing: Endgame is rated PG-13 for "sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and some language." The rating definitely fits. Endgame does lighten up on the violence altogether. As usual, there’s a handful of scenes that depict heroes battling against Thanos and his forces. Explosions, hand-to-hand combat and gunplay all play a part here. Various characters are slashed and killed (mostly bloodlessly). One character is accosted and murdered in an alley mercilessly (we see a little bit of blood on his neck). There’s an intense scene where a spaceship opens fire on a building, decimating it to the ground and nearly killing everyone inside. Nebula has some of her robotic flesh burned off her hand briefly. A head is chopped off. An IV is yanked out. One character falls to their death. The sometimes violent video game “Fortnite” makes an appearance in one scene. Meanwhile, the overall amount of language has gone up quite a bit. The most prominent cuss word is the s-word, which is used a dozen times. We also hear h*** (7 times), a** (four times), “oh my g**” (eight times), “g**d***” (twice), “p*** off” (twice), “d***it!” (three times), “son of a b**ch” (once), "d**khead" (once) and one misuse of Jesus' name. Thor is shown to have become an alcoholic. He discusses various beverages he’d like to intake, and carries around beer bottles fairly often. As a result, he acts fairly inebriated in a handful of scenes. His habits aren’t exactly praised, however.
A few isolated inappropriate moments where Cap's rear end is admired and complimented by someone saying, "That's America's a**!" Towards the beginning, one man in Cap's support group is implied to be gay by briefly discussing another man he's trying to start seeing. A few characters create magical shields, portals, and conjure other mysterious spells. Someone apparently says they can see into the future. There's a joke about someone "peeing their pants". Some characters lie and deceive.
