Avengers: Endgame
by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, based on comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Ed note: This is a very brief, spoiler-free review from Carrie. Please maintain the spoiler-free zone in the comments. Enough people haven’t seen it yet that we don’t want anyone who hasn’t sought out the information for themselves to be spoiled. So please keep any and all comments spoiler free. Thanks!
Well, here we are. Avengers: Endgame is out, I’ve seen it, and I feel all grown up.
Consider this not so much of a review, as list of things you should know:
- As everyone is so fond of pointing out, the movie is three hours long. However, it doesn’t feel long. I’ve sat through many shorter movies that felt longer. If you really have to pee, you can pee as soon as the movie goes to Japan, but don’t stay in the bathroom for long.
- There’s no filler. The movie is carefully constructed and edited. There’s also very little exposition. The filmmakers assume that you’ve seen other Avengers movies and that you are caught up.
- One of the post-movie joys is discussing whether or not the events of this movie make sense. In fact, in the middle of the movie, a group of the Avengers discuss whether the events make sense. They can’t come to an agreement and neither will you. Just roll with it.
- The movie is a love letter to fans. As a standalone movie, I can only assume that it would be incomprehensible. If you are going to watch this, you should, at the very least, have seen Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Avengers: Infinity War.
- However, this is really a movie for those of us who saw EVERYTHING. We saw the Agent Carter TV show and Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. We forked out good money for Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World. Since 2008, these people have been our families. This movie is for us.
To clarify, I’m not gatekeeping, I promise. Anyone can be an Avengers fan. You don’t have to pass a loyalty test or have read the comics or have seen all the movies, and if anyone tries to convince you otherwise, they’re idiots.
What I mean is that this movie is not intended as a standalone. Seen alone, the events won’t make sense, and the character beats won’t matter. For fans, this movie has some flaws but is INTENSELY emotionally cathartic and satisfying. It’s geared as a end of one phase, a goodbye of sorts, and so the more devoted you are to the franchise, the more you will get out of it.
It’s like a graduation. Off to the next phase.
Again, please keep the comments spoiler-free. Thank you on behalf of everyone who hasn’t been able to get tickets!
Also, the trailer below has been Carrie-approved as entirely spoiler free.
My personal grumblings aside about certain plot devices/tropes, I thought it delivered on the promises made in a decade’s worth of movies. I really enjoyed it and will go watch it in the theater again.
Such a beautiful movie!
I cried several times.
Since they’re non-spoilers:
Favorite line: “I knew it!”
Prediction: The scene where Cap’s ass is discussed will lead to a lot of slash fic
Saw it this morning and really enjoyed it. I do disagree with Carrie on one point about it being incomprehensible for those who haven’t seen the previous Avengers movies. I haven’t seen a single Avengers film, but have watched both Guardians and Ant-Man movies, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and Thor: Ragnarok. I might have missed some deeper nuances, but I got by just fine!
@AManda, I’m glad to hear it. I loved the Iron Man movies, Black Panther and Captain Marvel, but I can take or leave the others. I’ve skipped two Thors and slept through part of Civil War. I thought Ultron was sort of…stupid. I’m not an expert and I’m not going to remember everyone’s name or what they did ten years ago. BUt i hope i can still enjoy it.
@Amanda- Thank you!! That’s just what I wanted to ask, will I be totally lost as a casual MCU watcher (of Ant-Man, Ragnarok, the early installments of Ironman and Cap, Guardians and Black Panther)? I’m curious to see it all wrap up but not steeped in the entire story. I do love a good finale though, and it just seems this is absolutely worth seeing in theaters.
So sorry to mislead – by “avengers” movies I meant movies with avengers in them – so the more you’ve seen the more you’ll get, but you don’t have to have seen every single movie to get it. It does pick up right where Infinity War left off so that would be pretty important to see.
I knew going in that it was 3 hours long – it felt a little long, but I agree that it was very tightly edited, so there wasn’t anything that could have been cut. I enjoyed the movie a lot!
I am not a super fan but I kind of disagree that the movie would be incomprehensible without seeing a lot of the marvel canon. I would love another, spoiler-allowing chance to discuss more fully at some point! I will say it was a deeply satisfying payoff for all the times my nerd family dragged me to another damned superhero movie!
I have mixed opinions re: needing to see previous films. You’d probably understand everything if you’re a casual MCU viewer, but you’d miss the allusions and the development of certain character relationships from previous films. I think Marvel purposely made the film so that it would be watchable for both parties: casual watchers and hardcore MCU fans (me!).
After Endgame, I can’t wait for Far From Home. I have no idea how I’m going to wait until July.
Count me in as another satisfied customer. To be satisfied I need an ending to make sense for the genre/universe set up and for the characterization.
So a hero being hit by a car at the end of a romance novel unlikely to satisfy me, one being hit by a car at the end of a novel with romance but more in the genre of Howards End of the remains of the day, likely to devastate me but will satisfy me.
I had a couple of minor quibbles, some related to the way some characters were handled in-universe and others related to when you put them in the context of larger issues in filmmaking being perhaps unfortunate or perpetuating certain undesirable (to me) tropes even if they made sense to include in this particular movie.
Emily C – you sound similar to my mother, with the exception she has not seen a single Iron man movie but seen all the thors. And she thoroughly enjoyed this one. i think if you have seen those and you have seen Avengers Infinity wars you will enjoy, you just might miss some layers, but even though i’ve seen almost everything Marvel has put out since Iron Man I’m sure I missed many callbacks/layers because I haven’t seen some in years and I don’t read the comics etc etc.
I too am very interested to see Far From Home now…and all the Disney + streaming shows whenever they make it to Australia :/
I felt satisfied at the end with a few lingering questions about certain scenarios that were opened up by the plot. I will say that if you have not seen the Iron Man/Captain America trilogies that I don’t see how the payoff can be as satisfying as there is so much (particularly in civil war) that relates to where the characters are (not just Cap and Iron Man). I also thought the movie posed interesting questions (and I don’t think this is spoilery) about grief and how we do or don’t deal with it, and the ability to “move on”. I find myself still thinking about this several days later.
We’re going to see this today and I’m so excited. Can you elaborate on going pee when they go to Japan? Specifically about how far into the movie is that? I usually have to pee about 1.5-2 hours after my last pee and want to plan accordingly if at all possible. Thanks and sorry if that’s TMI!
No idea exactly how far into the movie Japan was but it felt like about a third of the way through so maybe 1 – 1.25 hours in? (Kind of the end of the first act of the movie)
So satisfying that I’m seeing it again on Wednesday with my son who hasn’t seen it yet and is freaked out that his older sisters HAVE seen it. Didn’t take a bathroom break, and frankly didn’t need one. There is an article out somewhere about “when” to take bathroom breaks – I’d don’t have the link, but I’d strongly recommend against the recommendations in it. However, if you MUST, I agree go when they hit Japan. You’ll be easily clued in by the movie itself.
Thanks Kim W and Shuzluva! Japan at an hour-ish in should work out perfect for me and my bladder.
The other thing to know is that there is no mid-credit or post-credit extra scenes. Stay to mid-credit just because they always do a nice job with the graphics on the first part of the credits, but no need to stick it out until the bitter end.
Overall, I thought it was great. Juggling that many characters/storylines had to be difficult, but I thought the Russo brothers did it really well.
I have some quibbles with a few things, but no movie is going to be perfect. It was a treat for fans and a great send-off for the original Avengers.
I just hope Marvel doesn’t only do space/sci-fi movies from here on out. Some of my favorite MCU movies are the ones on earth that are slightly more realistic (Winter Soldier) or have smaller stakes (Ant-Man).
IMO, you can also take a bathroom break when Banner is eating lunch.
I’ve posted my thoughts on Endgame — WITH SPOILERS!!! — on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferEstepAuthor/
And on my blog: http://www.jenniferestep.com/blog/
I really enjoyed it and will probably see it again later this week. As a Marvel fan who’s seen almost every movie and spin-off, I felt like it was a satisfying conclusion and emotionally cathartic. Like some said, you can still enjoy it without seeing all the films, but you might miss or not understand some comments/scenes. It’s def still worth watching though if you’ve been keeping track of the Marvel universe at all.
Re. going to the bathroom, I agree that Japan is probably the best scene to make a dash for it. However, I also have a Tiny Bladder, so made sure I stopped drinking anything about an hour out. Even though it’s 3 hours long, it really didn’t feel like it. The pacing was well done and I was so engaged I didn’t even notice my bladder for once.
CANNOT. WAIT.
Unfortunately must, until the esposo can break off another evening for me. His schedule is whack.
Emotionally cathartic. That sums it up perfectly. As I said after seeing it, it has all the FEELS. It truly was pretty much the perfect ending to this phase. With, you know, a couple of glaring exceptions. But that’s life. There are always glaring exceptions.
I loved it! It wasn’t flawless but I came out of it buzzing, and a bit damp round the eyes, and feeling like I wouldn’t have it any other way. Marvel should be proud to have created characters we care about this intensely. For a genre that isn’t really renowned for its portrayal of romantic or platonic male-female relationships, there are examples of both in Endgame that I personally found deeply satisfying. But most of all, it seemed to me to be about family (the one you choose and the ones you don’t); friendship; and second chances. I’m going back to see it again as soon as I can.
I saw it today and got so pissed off halfway through that it ruined the rest of the movie for me. I’m a huge Marvel movie fan so I’m hoping on re-watch I’ll be over my anger and can enjoy it more. I wanted to love it.
I cried. It’s a satisfying ending for this part of the story, especially the arcs begun by the earliest movies (Iron Man, Captain America). There’s still more opportunity for stories in this world, but this part is over, and it feels like it.
It’s so focused on loss and grief, but it is still very funny. “I knew it” is also one of my favorite lines. And the way they subvert the expectations of the obligatory shirtless Thor scene is HILARIOUS. Chris Hemsworth must have had so much fun filming this.
This probably isn’t a movie I’ll see again any time soon. Partly because it’s really the second half of Infinity War, and party because it’s not one of those go back to it for fun movies. More of an “I need a good cry” movie.
I waited to watch Infinity War until last week (yay for Netflix) and I’m really glad I did. As I understand it, these movies were originally titled Infinity War Part 1 and 2. They really are one story, so even if you are a casual Marvel viewer, I really recommend seeing Infinity War before this.
I went into this movie really expecting not to like it. I wasn’t impressed by Infinity Wars. I also felt a very particular anger towards Cap: Civil War. But this movie? So good. I cried. With the exception of a few quibbles, the first generation of Avengers got the story arcs they deserved.
In terms of being able to understand this movie as a stand alone, you absolutely need to have seen Infinity Wars. It’s like one movie split up I.e Mockingjay part one and two. Outside of that, it is friendly to the casual observers. Though you won’t understand the significance of certain parts and others won’t make sense. I’m not a fan of Ant Man and there are things that happen in the second that bleed into this. I’d say it’s akin to Star Wars the Force Awakens. I’d never seen any of the previous Star Wars going into it. The movie was still understandable. But all of the nods and winks to previous movies and the nostalgia moments? Those did not hit home for me. This movie would be the same if you haven’t seen at least a couple of the movies in the universe
After accidentally being spoiled (thanks for nothing, LeSean McCoy), I was immensely satisfied with this moving as an ending to this series of Marvel films. I was only slightly lost because I hadn’t seen Ant Man and the Wasp.
One of the biggest criticisms I’ve seen is regarding the use of Captain Marvel in the film. I thought how she handled was the best they could do. Those familiar with the comics know what she originally did, but I don’t feel like she had the right to do that here. She’s only been in one film. She didn’t earn that right to do the action that she does. The person who did do what she did has earned that right. Three of the characters really did, but I think the right person did it in the end.
The payoff in the final scene was just beautiful. I don’t care what logic it defies. I loved it.
I went to my town’s showing as gender-swapped Thor. I won a gift certificate!
I’ve on seen both Guardians, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel. I had no problem following the plot. Cried.
I’ve seen all the Marvel movies but I haven’t read any comics (my husband knows more of the backstory than me.) He was a good sport, poor guy: we exited the movie theater and he was bouncing and eager and ready to talk about all the awesome references (!!!) and cool moments (!!!) But first, he had to hold me while I bawled in the car.
If you’ve seen it and you don’t mind spoilers, this feminist review points out all the ways the woman characters were overlooked, tokenized and treated as far less central than male characters in the film, https://io9.gizmodo.com/avengers-endgames-women-deserved-more-1834388344