Author: Joel Dull
Photos Courtesy of Marvel Studios
It has been almost 11 years since Ironman came out and started what would become one of the most valuable and well-known movie franchises in history. Did we as fans know that we were about to embark on a 22-film journey spanning 48 hours and 42 minutes, costing roughly 4.25 billion dollars, and earning over 18 billion dollars worldwide—excluding the approximate 1.2 billion already made by Avengers: Endgame (according to boxofficemojo.com)? The MCU has dominated the film industry, and the battle between DC and Marvel hasn’t been a topic of debate since The Dark Knight Rises. At times it feels like Marvel can do no wrong. Aside from The Incredible Hulk, even the worst of the MCU movies are still good, enjoyable films, and Endgame is one of the best of all.
Avengers: Endgame had hold of me from the very first scene. One of the best things a movie can do, is cause the audience to feel a number of emotions, and Endgame created scenes that were not only pathetically engaging, but intellectually as well. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has a scene early on that I was initially put off by. I didn’t feel like it flowed well with what was going on around it and it felt like a failed attempt at a very emotional scene, but that isn’t giving it the credit it deserves. The scene, which I won’t say anything about specifically, involved far more than a black and white emotional break down from Tony Stark, it was that character bringing in every bit of wit that he is known for while also feeling absolutely and utterly defeated. The disjointedness that I felt was intentional. There was a certain shock factor to the way Tony broke down that truly made me uncomfortable, and that is a very good thing. The film manages to create a true sense of sorrow that is worthy of the magnitudinous ending to Infinity War. These heroes just failed to save trillions of lives. The weight of which is truly understood by the audience. The dread of the whole situation is only made better by some truly funny moments. The directors and writers clearly understood what made Thor: Ragnarok so wonderful, and the work it in to the story in such a way that compliments the darker aspects well. That’s not to say they always worked well though. In some instances, I really wanted the jokes to go away. Yes, I do think that it is wonderful to feel any number of emotions from one movie, but sometimes, it’s nice to just have a minute. Part of the challenge to creating a diverse emotional film is timing, and the film did miss the mark on that occasionally. The joke would come too soon and I, as an audience member, was forced to move on much more quickly from a sincere moment than I would have liked. Sometimes it was refreshing to laugh and smile, but my personal emotional process was interrupted too many times for this to be excused.
The other main issue I had was with Captain Marvel’s (Brie Larson) plot line. It did not feel nearly as well thought out as I had both expected and hoped. I don’t want to say too much, but her arc was not as cohesive as it could have been and ultimately left me quite frustrated. As for the rest of the plot, overall it was executed quite well. It was a long movie with a lot going on, and it would have been very easy for it to become confusing. Yet, the film did a good job of making an intelligible plot with a lot of twists and turns. There were several times when my head shot to the back of my seat and I would think, Wait what!? We’re doing that now? and it was spectacular. The movie went places that I was not at all prepared for, and it kept me engaged and intrigued. It was shot beautifully, and the fight choreography was brilliantly done.
It’s over. A saga of movies that has been going on for nearly two thirds of my life has finally come to an end. It was a bitter sweet goodbye that had me laughing, crying, and cheering, and It could not have been executed much better. Obviously, there are more movies to come. To some extent we lose a bit of mystery because we can see actor contracts, and a release schedule that spans several years ahead, and we can always look to Tom Holland to slip up and spoil something else in an interview. We don’t know what exactly the future holds, but for now, Endgame is a truly fitting farewell to a story that has been a huge part of so many people’s lives. There was a lot of pressure for this film to perform, and it lives up to those expectations.
JOEL DULL | Still getting teary eyed when I think about this movie | KXSU Arts Reporter