The box office returns would suggest that absolutely everyone on the planet has seen Endgame by now, but amazingly enough, I happen to know that isn't true. I actually know of a couple readers of my blog who haven't yet had the chance. So I've decided to write about Avengers both first and last. I'm going to make today's post on the movie completely spoiler-free. Then, after geeking out over Game of Thrones, I'll be back later in the week with some additional, spoiler-filled thoughts on Endgame.
So, then...
Unlike many, I was relatively down on Avengers: Infinity War. From that, you might think I was going into the Endgame expecting not to like it. But truly, I've liked many movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the years. I'm not against the franchise overall, I just felt that Infinity War was among its weakest entries. I'm pleased to say that nearly everything I thought that movie got wrong was something that Endgame got quite right.
My primary complaint with Infinity War is that I felt it failed at establishing believable stakes. There was danger and drama. People fought and died. But very little of it landed with any emotional impact. At the time, I thought this was largely due to the fact that you knew it was all going to be undone somehow in the next movie. But as the first hour of Endgame unfolded, I realized that really wasn't the issue. I think it was more that Infinity War was a package so stuffed with whiz-bang action that only the physical blows had time and space to land, not the dramatic ones.
After all, nothing has fundamentally changed since the last Avengers movie, in terms of all of us knowing that the damage there wasn't built to last, that it's all going to be undone somehow. Yet Endgame acknowledges that damage in a way that Infinity War really didn't. It declares that there will be fallout, and does so powerfully and effectively, in the very first scene that happens even before the Marvel Studios logo appears. And it keeps on doing it through the whole movie, spending a lot of time dwelling on loss, survivor's guilt, regrets, self-recrimination, and grief.
In terms of punching, kicking, and explosions, Endgame might actually be among the least action-oriented of the MCU movies. Perhaps because of this, it also might actually be the most realistic -- or at least, emotionally grounded -- of them all. And I say this despite it featuring a wide range of superpowers, a plot about as far from realism as you could imagine, and several wholly CG characters. (Though, side note: the motion capture performance of Mark Ruffalo seems like it's evolved again by leaps and bounds. It felt this time like the actor was in no way inhibited from giving a full performance.)
It may well be recency bias, but right now, I'm feeling like Avengers: Endgame is actually the best movie of the whole MCU enterprise. The second and third Captain America movies are certainly in the running, and might reclaim the top if I were to watch them again. Also, obviously, this movie could not be as strong as it is if it existed in a vacuum. Fans will debate how many MCU movies (and which ones) are actually essential viewing to build up properly to this one. For certain, though, some large number of them were needed not just to put all the complicated plot elements in place, but to build our attachments to the characters. But regardless of how long it took to get here, this movie still had to stick the landing on its own.
Bottom line: Endgame stuck the landing. It's kind of mind-boggling that a blockbuster franchise could deliver something this great. I do have a couple of quibbles with it, which are really impossible to be cagey about. Since I promised to keep things spoiler-free, I'll simply say that I give Avengers: Endgame an A-. I was entertained and impressed, and I think it's rising in my esteem since I saw it.
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