Avengers: Endgame: The End of an Era

                   

          The time has come for comic fans everywhere to say goodbye to their favorite superheroes as the Marvel Cinematic Universe puts an end to the legendary Avenger films. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo finish what they started from last year’s Avengers: Infinity War. The film begins with the few remaining characters struggling to survive with more than half the universe wiped out from Thanos’ deadly finger snap in Infinity War. The original six core Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawk Eye) need to band together and figure out a solution to bring life back into the world, or die trying.


WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS!!!

          Avengers: Endgame starts off somewhat slow for a major blockbuster flick.  A mere three weeks have passed since Thanos’ destruction and Tony is in space with no food, no water and barely any oxygen left to survive. He is bravely rescued and brought back to Earth, gravely ill. Captain America and Black Widow try to convince him to do whatever it takes to figure out a solution to bring back the world, and defeat Thanos once and for all. When their solution wears thin, and their confidence levels shrink, the film flashes forward to five years in the future and takes a glimpse into what they’ve been up to while the rest of the world is gone. Hawk Eye becomes an assassin, Black Widow in a way takes over for Nick Fury and is the go-to-Agent for the only remaining superheroes left, Captain America is in a support group, the Hulk is now Bruce Banner as the Hulk, meaning he is no longer a human, Thor is a fat, alcoholic and Tony becomes a father.

  After the film dives into where these original Avengers have been up to, the movie cuts to Scott Lang whom emerges out of the quantum realm after five years, although he believes it was only five hours; he develops an idea of time travel and races to the Avengers side to find a way to put this plan into action. The only person with the brain and tools to develop time travel would be Tony. Would he leave his wife and daughter to help save the Universe, or accept the situation as is, and move on? Let’s be real, it’s Tony Stark. It’s IRON MAN. Of course he is going to attempt to save the world! He develops a way to transport the remaining Avengers old and new, and take a ride back to parts of the original Avengers film from 2012, and other periods of time to before Thanos obtained the infinity stones.


          Tony nearly dying in space and then flashing into the future, brings intrigue to the audience. The flash forward illustrates how lost majority of the characters are. Sure they survived after Infinity War, but they are literally living for nothing. Most of their families are gone, friends vanished into thin air. There are no animals, or any other form of life evolving anymore. The Russo brothers truly create this depressing, doomed tone for the film, leaving the audience in suspense but also excitement for the possibilities to come. They did a great job in setting the mood, and luring the audience into the biggest box office hits of all time.

  Avengers: Endgame is filled with tons of great moments, especially when they travel back to New York when the original Avengers fought Loki and his army, and the characters see themselves fighting their enemies. There are great, emotional significances mixed in as well, such as Tony seeing his father, Thor seeing his mother, and of course Captain America seeing the love of his life again. These little snippets of almost dreams, and love, bring these characters hope that they might actually be able to pull this off, and restore what has been lost. The film does have a unique way of tugging at the viewers’ heartstrings, especially if they have watched all 21 Marvel films in chronological order and naturally grew attached to their stories and personas.

  But, as great as these moments are, the film still doesn’t measure up to the previous Avenger films. It drags for three hours, filling the story with a lot of unnecessary scenes. There were occurrences in the film, that garnered no explanations. For instance, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Captain America becomes worthy to wield Thor’s hammer. In the middle of battle, he basically becomes Thor, and unless you go home to google, there is no explanation as to why this is. Some of the characters aren’t the same characters, we the audience members know and love. Hulk being a walking, talking, glasses wearing bruce banner in Hulk’s body, is quite boring. No more Hulk smash?! Thor being an overweight drunk, is tired and frustrating to observe throughout the film. Neither of these characters change into the characters the audience grew to know, and to root for.

  The film wraps up storylines and leaves nothing open-ended, which for the viewers, is very bittersweet. Bitter because it truly is the end of an era. Robert Downey Jr. started this incredible franchise with his debut as the arrogant, brilliant Tony Stark, back in 2008 and knowing that these stories have ended and these characters/actors are bowing for their final curtain call knowing the fans won’t enjoy them anymore is sad and very final. But, it is sweet, because some of the characters do finally receive the ending they deserved and we, the theatergoers, can be happy for the life they lived.

  In conclusion, Avengers: Endgame is recommended to anyone that enjoys comic book films, action-adventure flicks, and the previous Avenger movies. It is also recommended to anyone that loves a final conclusion to an ongoing story, no matter what it lacks; filled with great characters, fun entertainment, and being witness to view the original Avengers, assemble one last time.