So after eleven years of cinema, twenty plus movies and a global gross take that is the national deficit of some countries, Phase Three is finally done and dusted (pun intended)
It has been a long winding road to get from Iron Man to Avengers Endgame and there have been a few bumps along the way, but safe to say that journeys end gives us a fully rounded cinematic experience that only comes once or twice in a decade.
Movies such as Gone with the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia and Schindler’s List were all defining moments in celluloid history and is the much anticipated Avengers Endgame worthy of such a mantle? Let’s take a look in a spoiler free overview.
With the dramatic opening moments of Avengers Infinity War, dropping the tone down for the rest of the movie, it was only natural that Endgame would open with something that would pull on the heartstrings with equal verbosity and as the movie opens we are treated to just that.
A tragic opening, leads us to stranded in space Iron Man and Nebula, with little hope of surviving on the cards for either of them. Right from the off, Karen Gillan dominates the scenes she is in and her character has more to do in this movie than all of the others that Nebula has been in combined. Gillan easily works alongside seasoned actors such as Robert Downey Jr and Don Cheadle, and really makes you emote for her character who has always been little more than second best in her father’s eyes.
Once the characters are finally all reunited its time to extract vengeance upon Thanos and bring the fight to the purple Titan. To avoid spoiling things let’s.just say that some stuff happens and some folks do things and we are left in a world were our heroes are living with the consequences of actions, of themselves and others.
What follows is a literal rollercoaster ride that takes us through the universe, is littered with cultural references galore and is more than enough to make any ardent fan squeal out loud in places.
One of the big criticisms of Infinity War was often the action was to fast for the audience to follow, and Endgame moves at a breakneck speed, but thankfully the set action pieces are easy to follow, and the dramatic denouement is perhaps one of the best set pieces in the history of cinema.
There is one scene in the huge battle ensemble that had the entire cinema clapping and applauding, I won’t spoil it as this is spoiler free, but you will know exactly what I am talking about when it comes on!
The Russo brother really had a difficult task of tying up all the loose ends left over from not only Avengers Infinity War, but from the previous twenty plus movies. Did they manage to do this? Short answer is a resounding yes! There are a couple of moments that some may wonder why they are in the movie, and if you are not a long time watcher of the MCU, then a few odd scene may seem out of place. There are throwbacks and shout outs to a lot of the previous movies, and even a scene where we observe a scene that was cut from one of the previous movies and only found in the deleted scenes content on the BluRay.
The characters that we have loved for over a decade on screen now, have all come full circle and for some their arcs have been completed, and the mantle has been passed on to a new generation of heroes to carry forward into Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
Does Endgame live up to my first statement? Yes and no! Yes it is a cinematic masterclass in many ways, taking over a decade and twenty odd movies to build up to a triumphant climax. This is perhaps the only time that this will ever happen in cinema, but who knows its a big universe for Marvel to play in.
And no! It isn’t Schindler’s List, The Godfather, etc, and shouldn’t really be compared to those movies. It is far more than just a popcorn movie that is for certain and like all Marvel movies in the MCU, you as a audience get exactly what you put into it. The more invested you are as a viewer, the more impact this movie will have and resonate with you! There are moments in Endgame that will have most fans in tears, often with that chill of satisfaction rather than upset or anger, though there are some truly heart wrenching moments!
So we move on with Spider-Man Homecoming Far From Home hitting cinemas this summer we will see the close of Phase Three and the next movie that hits cinemas will be the beginning of Phase Four of the MCU! What this holds is any ones guess as so far nothing has been announced but most likely plans going forward will be revealed at San Diego Comic Con this summer following the release of the new Spider-Man movie.
Avengers: Endgame ties up all of the previous Marvel titles in the MCU in a superhero shaped ribbon and is a fitting swan song for the characters we have grown to love over the past eleven years and loads of movies. It is long, coming in at just over three hours, but it feels much shorter due to the pacing that the Russo brothers so aptly managed to orchestrate, coordinating one of the biggest spectacles in cinema history! There are some moments that may have viewers scratching their heads, but mostly those are few and far between. Editing is perfect and the sound is breath taking, especially the rousing soundtrack by Alan Silvestri which really adds an extra punch to the film.
I know that I said that this was a spoiler free review and mostly it is, but I want to close with one line taken from the movie.
To Marvel, Stan Lee, Jack ‘King’ Kirby, Steve Dittco, Anthony and Joe Russo and the entire cast of all the Marvel movies to date, simply thank you and!
“I love you 3000!”
Nuff Said!
GAMERS WEB 