Buttered and Salty: Avengers Endgame

PG-13, 3h 1m – Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Opens Today

*Very minor spoilers are in this review, as well as a bit of misdirection to lead you to believe I am giving minor spoilers.*

While sitting with my feet up in one of the new movie theater recliner seats watching “Avengers: Endgame,” I had an epiphany. After 22 Marvel movies over the course of 11 years, all steamrolling toward this inevitable climax, I am finished with these films.

Mind you, I am not saying that “Avengers: Endgame” was the straw that broke the camel’s back and that I hope to never be bothered with these movies again. Far from it. My statement is meant more as a compliment. There is literally nothing more that needs to be said with these films or these characters, at least the current version of them.

“Endgame” is one of the largest, most epic big-budget Hollywood blockbusters in recent memory. The movie is huge, both in time, space and scope. It’s layered with wonderful character-driven moments. Some funny, and some heartbreaking.

A bit of context: I like the Marvel films, but I don’t love them. I quite enjoyed the first “Iron Man,” though I haven’t seen it in years and could do without the other two. I love the first “Thor” and all three “Captain America” flicks, but am indifferent with the pair of “Ant-Man” movies. The first “Avengers” was enjoyable but overrated, the second was awful and the third, last years “Avengers: Infinity War,” was downright enthralling, shocking entertainment. It didn’t hurt that the film had the best villain (Thanos) this side of Darth Vader. He was fascinating.

So pencil me in for having a bit of excitement for this latest (and presumably last?) chapter. My general feeling after watching 181 minutes of Avengers chaos? This movie is the “Lawrence of Arabia” of superhero flicks. The movie will leave audiences fulfilled. This was the live action culmination of all those years as a kid reading funny books, learning about all the heroes and making noises (explosions, laser zaps, etc.) to help those silent still-frame color pages come to life.

As expected, the movie is CGI heavy and the story jumps from one location to the next with a million characters representing almost every Marvel film since 2008, but what really sells this movie are the performances. Everybody brought their A-game to this, with standouts being Chris Hemsworth as an unexpected version of Thor, Jeremy Renner as the vengeful and angry Hawkeye, Chris Evans as Captain America , Mark Ruffalo as an evolved Hulk, Scarlett Johansson as the emotionally devastated Black Widow, and the character that started this entire journey, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man.

If you haven’t noticed, I just listed the entire core from the original “Avengers” movie. There may be dozens of newer heroes like Black Panther, Ant-Man, and Doctor Strange and others that we are invested in and care about, but this film belongs to the superb six that got this journey started. The best moments, both action and emotionally, belong to them.

The film is not perfect. It sometimes feels a bit like a greatest hits of the Marvel universe, which it doesn’t need to lean on since the aspects of the story they have concocted for this adventure stand tall on their own. The movie also has a lot of movie and pop culture references, which I guess is ok, but when the reference is used as a means to glaze over a plot point so that it doesn’t seem too far fetched, it makes it a bit obvious. We know it’s absurd. That’s why we are here!

For those curious, the three-hour runtime is not an issue. Besides a couple of minutes that could have used a bit of tightening up, the movie moves at a brisk pace, and every scene moves the plot forward. The first two hours are really good. The last hour is excellent and sticks the landing better than any other big budget movie in recent memory. These are characters and movies that have defined Hollywood for more than a decade. I can’t think of a better ending that is more indicative of these characters than the one directors Anthony and Joe Russo gave us.

Avengers assemble!

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