Avengers: Endgame is the twenty-second installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the direct sequel to last year’s Avengers: Infinity War and the final installment of the “Infinity Saga,” as christened by Marvel Studios. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth and Jeremy Renner reunite as the core six Avengers alongside a raft of ensemble players. Anthony and Joe Russo return as directors with their collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely handling scripting duties.
After suffering a crippling defeat at the hands of the mad titan Thanos (Josh Brolin), the Avengers rally and summon the courage to wage one last-ditch effort at undoing the effects of the Infinity Gauntlet and reversing the irreversible. They are joined by Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), who re-emerges to a new terrifying reality post-snap and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), answering the call for help from her comrade Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as seen at the end of Infinity War.
Two people deserve mention in the construction of the MCU: Kevin Feige, chief producer of these twenty-two films and of course, Stan Lee, who pioneered the interconnectivity of the Marvel comics. The marvel that Stan Lee pulled off was to bring these gods and monsters down to earth and make them a true reflection of us, warts and all. What Avengers: Endgame does is crystallize that storytelling spirit in service to reminding us of the connection to the people in our lives.
By making the heroes and villains of Marvel Comics into beings of flesh and blood and interweaving them together into a stronger community, Marvel Studios has cultivated an investment of a decade’s worth of emotion into these characters. Endgame successfully mirrors the depth of investment longtime comics readers have had within the pages of the Marvel Universe. I am extremely pleased to say that the filmmakers have not disappointed.
Everyone is firing on all cylinders, from the thespians bringing these people to life down to the technicians and their digital wizardry behind the scenes. Infinity War was massive, Endgame is epochal. The swings at bat made by the Russo Bros and their cast are wild, risky and unpredictable. Marvel Studios has always made respect for the source material their edict, all the way back in the beginning with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man in 2008. That same respect is given to each and every single character in this film, with all the emotional depth and dignity that respect garners. These aren’t just mascots emblazoned on lunchboxes and backpacks. These are people we care about and admire, placing everything on the line to put the universe back in order.
The Russo Bros have perfected their “strange alchemy,” with each scene delighting in the interactions of Marvel Studios’ vast assembly of performers. Be it Ruffalo and Hemsworth resuming their chemistry with one another, or newcomer Larson earning her stripes with the team, or even the progenitor himself Downey reminding us all why we joined in on this odyssey back in ’08, the cast members put us through an entire gamut of emotions. For as long as I’ve been watching the MCU films, I was surprised by the level and caliber of performance on display. There are moments here in Endgame that can only be arrived at by a decade of interconnectivity at a high order, where several things had to go right across several movies.
It’s strange to remember that decades ago comic-book films were standalone, with the story focusing solely on this title or that property, and so on. It’s stranger still to recall a time that no one knew if Iron Man was going to work, let alone the grand experiment of the MCU as a whole. By placing them together across all these films, the Avengers are stronger, wiser and more human. They’ve informed one another in these stories as the actors have in real life, and we the audience are all the better for it.
Endgame is a testament to the innovative spirit of Feige and his team of filmmakers and storytellers. It’s a tribute to the single issues and trade paperbacks that have enthralled readers of all ages for the past nearly sixty years. It is a love letter to the limitless horizons of sequential art, once bound to ink and paper and now sprawling on the big screen. For eleven years now, an entire universe of adventures brought to us by writers, illustrators, colorists and inkers has been made physically manifest by the tireless efforts of Marvel Studios, and this film caps it all off. Avengers: Endgame is a beautiful celebration of storytelling and humanity. Stan would be proud.
Rating: 5/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
ABOUT MARVEL STUDIOS’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME
The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios’ grand conclusion to twenty-two films, “Avengers: Endgame.” Kevin Feige produces “Avengers: Endgame,” and Anthony and Joe Russo are the directors. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo, Trinh Tran, Jon Favreau and Stan Lee are the executive producers, and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely wrote the screenplay.
Avengers: Endgame will be released in Real D 3D, Dolby Cinema and IMAX theaters across the U.S. on April 26, 2019 with a run-time of 182 minutes and is rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence, action, and some language.
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