To start, we should certainly tip our hats to Disney as a business. Though we as consumers see no benefit from a major conglomerate controlling the media industry, it’s certainly a respectable effort in an odd sense. Just as Thanos respects the fighting of his enemies, I suppose we as consumers feel some pride in seeing our favorite companies grow more and more powerful. The film industry approaches homogeneity by the day, and late-stage capitalism forces the subservient consumer into a team-like culture where we must decide who we would like to control the economy. For this reason, people see the $1.2 billion success that is Avengers: Endgame as a personal success, praising more money going to those at the top.
This is an important point I must draw before my review. The success of the movie has no relationship to the quality of the film. I fail to understand why anyone would praise a film based on the finances it brings to the company, and I will be analyzing the film seperate from these statistics.
Avengers: Endgame is the twenty-second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, coming only a couple of months after Captain Marvel. Marvel aims to conclude the sprawling franchise’s overarching plotline in one overblown three hour mess that, despite a very clear problem with bloating and unnecessary expansion, comes together quite well as a full piece.
Upon the announcement of a three hour runtime I had my own reservations, particularly in regards to how a film could maintain the attention of the audience over such a large duration and with a backbone of plot development over visual flare. The most popular films with such drastically absurd runtimes are often use this to their advantage for extensive worldbuilding and visual flare, however this film can’t use these hallmarks as the worldbuilding has already been done and breathtaking visuals are rarely the MCU’s strong points. My concern wasn’t with a film being 180 minutes, as that isn’t a foreign concept, but what filled that time was the deciding factor. If the film followed the MCU hallmarks of long dialogue scenes and banter through one storyline for 3 hours the film would’ve been a slog.
After seeing the film, the cogs turned and it all clicked. They wouldn’t direct one film, instead they would make three and tie them together into one whole piece. This doesn’t hold true in runtime, but is reflected in the structure of the film itself.
For ease of understanding, I’ll refer to these “films” by their own individual titles. The first being named Avengers: Perfectly Balanced, the second Avengers: Time Heist, and the third Avengers: Endgame.
The conclusion I attempt to draw here is not to draw against the quality of the film, as I am trying to compare the whole piece to a graphic novel or small story arc from the comics. The MCU has had trouble trying to draw parallels between the structure of a serial comic and the cultural importance of film. Comics deliver their stories in monthly serials (give or take) and the MCU has done that over 11 years to great success. However, for the final film in the saga, a graphic novel take akin to The Dark Knight Returns (a novel split into 4 monthlies) fits far better than one film ever would.
You may draw issue with dividing this into multiple “films”, as these can just be analyzed as acts in a greater picture, but I (and many others) believe these acts are so distinct that they mimic the aforementioned style of splitting a graphic novel into multiple books, and I will use that as my basis here.
I’ll deconstruct the themes in each of these, which should give a better picture on the film as a whole.
Avengers: Perfectly Balanced
The film starts of rather well with a continuation of Infinity War’s climax redirecting attention to Iron Man floating through the depths of space. It is here where we get a clear notion of the film’s theme, that being the acceptance of loss and sacrifice for the greater good. Tony Stark and Nebula hopelessly drift through space, realizing that their previous outing may have been their last. Tony Stark is faced with death at numerous points in the film, often tasked with sacrificing something of his own to better those around him.
Sadly, this is a pivotal flaw in Tony’s character, but not for the reasons one may think. I’m wholly on board with Iron Man learning that his own importance pales in comparison to the good he can do for the world, but the film chooses to iterate this point ad nauseum. If Iron Man acted purely out of self interest into the climax of the film there would’ve been noticeable character development, but to “foreshadow” his death the film constantly gives him moments where he gives up comfort for heroism (all of Infinity War, leaving his daughter, going back in time, etc).
In the post credits scene of Captain Marvel, Danvers meets the living Avengers back on Earth, where they presumably tell her the location of Iron Man in deep space. Danvers retrieves Iron Man and Nebula just as Iron Man’s body has deteriorated.
This actually brings up a fascinating point about the film, particularly drawing into question how long you should wait between watching Infinity War and Endgame. If you watch one immediately after the other this moment feels contrived, almost like the stakes of being lost in space are too minimal to pay off. If you watch them as they were released (about a year apart), it certainly feels like you get a greater payoff. This furthers an argument that Endgame isn’t a good film but an exciting cultural moment, but I digress.
Iron Man returns to Earth in a fit of rage, annoyed that the rest of the Avengers didn’t listen to this visions from previous films, vowing not to help with future efforts to stop Thanos. The remaining Avengers decide to follow Thanos to his current location (exposed by an energy surge) to finally end the war started moments before. Here, the heroes find Thanos enjoying the life as a mere farmer. He holds no grudge, he seeks no further control of the universe, he simply wants to live in The Garden until he dies as to appreciate the dawn of his greatest achievement.
Thor cuts Thanos’s head off when the group realizes the energy surge was caused by the destruction of the Infinity Stones, removing any possibility of going back in time to prevent “the snap.” It was disappointing that the potential of losing what many believed would be the main villain is dropped as quickly as its introduced. To subvert the audience’s expectations would greatly help the 22nd film in the series, and it’s disappointing that the film later adopted Thanos as the villian.
What follows is a moody reflection on life following the apocalypse. It’s an interesting concept, particularly regarding how the world would cope after such a detrimental loss. Not only did people lose their loved ones, but Earth began to feel a lot more empty. Imagine walking the streets of New York in the modern age without bumping into anyone. The grief counseling scene illustrates this really well, if not a bit heavy handed.
Superhero films often have a hard time illustrating stakes as they can’t kill their main characters, but the decision to focus on the emotional and societal effects of Thanos’s actions fills this void. Hawkeye’s cold open to the film is another example, where we see how the world hurt from the Infinity Saga. Sure, Captain America got beaten to hell, but people lost their families before their very eyes to a cloud of dust, something incomprehensible to all. God himself pulled your children away into the wind around you, and you must live with that.
This is a subtle point yes, but one that permeates this part of the film, and this part only. There’s a bit of show, but a lot of inferring. Endgame would rather tell us that Thanos hurt a lot of people rather than devote more time to the impact. Some characters cry, others say their sad, but only in Hawkeye and Joe Russo’s character feel like victims of the event. Crying, at least in my book, is a form of showing, not telling. There are worldbuilding shots of boats at the Statue of Liberty, but people (like Ken Jeong’s security guard) seem to be going along their merry way. The film is long already, but maybe cutting from the second act to further define the pain Thanos caused would be far more interesting.
Infinity War certainly gave the impression that Thanos was an unstoppable demon, and his success would be so painful that the world may never recover. Sadly, in Endgame, the film jumps five years right to the moment where the heroes begin their avenging (pun intended). Thanos was already a villian shoehorned into Infinity War with motivations developed on site and a fear of him implied by dialogue, which makes skipping over his impact on Earth all the more confusing.
This is a problem the MCU has had in the past, but Thanos is a great example of this crux in storytelling. Throughout the MCU, Thanos has been a villain only in name, like the boogieman. It isn’t until Infinity War (with small nods in Guardians 1) that Thanos has a physical presence and impact on the Universe, and even then it’s an implied fear by the heroes. The audience feels scared because Captain America is scared. In a way, they’re using your trust in the heroes to force underdeveloped storytelling. You aren’t scared of Thanos, rather, you’re scared because the hero you’ve looked up to is scared. This is poor storytelling, and something I needn’t discuss further.
This act concludes with Ant-Man being released from the quantum realm by pure chance, leading to visual storytelling as he acclimates himself with the abandoned world. Scott is an analogous for the audience, as they are both in similar states of confusion. The issue with this however is the time Ant-Man spent in the Quantum Realm and the audience’s time spent between films. To Ant-Man, he has been gone for moments, and his perspective is one of focused attention to find his daughter. He is a vehicle for the audience, but the motivations fail to correlate. This would’ve been the perfect time to add some worldbuilding information of a post-Thanos world, but the film has very little time to spare.
Scott finds his name on a memorial to the fallen, forcing him to find the Avengers and share his time travel experience with the team.
If anything, I’m rather impressed with the somber tone the early parts of the film. The cliffhanger at the end of Infinity War is emotional, and the first act of Endgame has to provide some consequences to justify the snap’s weight. The MCU often has a problem with showing (choosing to tell instead) and this is no different, but the parts are certainly there to make a better whole. The characters are sad, but the world doesn’t feel emotionally empty. The filmmakers tell you the world you knew is a husk, but the focus on the same six characters prevalent in the series before undermines this.
Avengers: Time Heist
The time travel aspects of the film is definitely the meat of the movie. The information is dense, and it certainly is the least interesting part of the film for viewers not interested in the general MCU story. In fact, this film deserves heavy criticism in this regard, as those disinterested in the MCU will find Avengers: Endgame generally boring and excessively long. The dependence on fanservice in the middle of the film may be something a fan enjoys, but they must take themselves out of that obsessive relationship and recognize this is first and foremost a film. (Ex for those not following: Endgame relies on fanservice, but Spider-Verse contains fan service while still being a really good film)
Scott Lange returns to the Avengers headquarters to share his experience in the Quantum realm, particularly the time travel involved. He felt like he was gone for moments, but the world around him had advanced five years. Through this, the Avengers realize they can travel through time, get the six Infinity Stones, use them to bring back all of those lost to Thanos, and return them to their respective places in time to maintain a constant history.
This is really it. The plot of the second film here is rather dim, but it’s the longest of the three. Why? It’s because of the fanservice. I’ll admit, as a fan of the MCU I found a lot of it interesting. To get the Tesseract, Time Stone, and Loki’s Scepter, Cap, Hulk, Ant-Man, and Iron Man have to travel to 2012 New York during the climax of The Avengers. This was the first MCU film I saw in theaters 7 years ago, and it was really interesting to revisit such a memorable time, but in terms of plot value it serves nearly none.
That’s the problem with this film as a whole. The three hour duration serves more to cap the series with callbacks and resolution rather than to explore this film’s plot. I don’t necessarily disagree with this focus, but there are parts of the film that feel lacking, particularly in the worldbuilding I mentioned before. Fan-service is good, but should be relegated to the cherry on top of an already magnificent sundae. What we have here is a mound of cherries towering above a couple scoops of plain vanilla in desperate need of a stronger foundation.
The Avengers, seeking the six Infinity Stones, travel through time and revisit moments in the MCU’s past. The most interesting locale was the revisit of Guardians of the Galaxy’s intro, watching Star-Lord dance from a distance without the background music and the claiming of the Power Stone. The scene had character in the original film, and the near direct recreation retains much of that extremely well.
Luckly, the filmmakers realized nobody saw Thor: The Dark World and decided to spend much of this time redefining the Reality stone so that everyone can understand future events. No one really cares about this terrible movie but Marvel clearly found themselves cornered in regards to denying the existence of this mess.
This ties in with Thor’s new character arc in Endgame, where his failure to prevent Thanos’s mass murder leads to a life of a shut in, playing Fortnite and drinking beer. Through his search for the reality stone and reacquaintance with Mjolnir, Thor realizes failure doesn’t make one any less worthy than they were before. Let me take a moment and dissect why this makes no sense and why I hate what this did for Thor.
Many are quick to say Taika Waititi’s Thor meshes really well with “Fat Thor” here, and for the most part I’m inclined to agree, but one thing that didn’t sit well with me was the dependence on Thor having the hammer (and arguably the axe) when Ragnarok tried so hard to remove these symbols of male power. The hammer is arguably a phallic symbol of power, and one that actively harms Thor’s character arc. In Ragnarok, Thor realizes he doesn’t need these false symbols of power to be worthy of power, and is given lightning powers instead, coming from within instead of being a product of a weapon. By reintroducing physical metrics of his worthiness, it disregards the development Thor received in the previous film.
The final stone that the Avengers have to track down is the soul stone, which the audience has experience with following Infinity War. Hawkeye and Black Widow make way to Vormir, where one must sacrifice themselves in return for the final stone. The transaction is irreversible, and in a moment of sacrifice, Black Widow gives her life to the stone.
This is the important plot of the second act, particularly because the rest of the section is exclusively fan service. Reuniting Iron Man with his father, Cap seeing Peggy/getting more fuel for the time traveling, Hulk running into the Ancient One, Thor meeting his mother, all of these moments exist only to placate the audience of loving fans. I certainly understand the interest in callbacks, but I find issue in the fact that it utterly dominates the film.
I find it important to note that I’ve reviewed this movie purely as a film so far, not a conclusion to an anthology or a majestic bunch of fanservice. If I were to view it in this lens, I would be adding a heavy dose of personal bias to the review. The fanservice is certainly interesting but offers nothing to the general flow of the film. In fact, one could argue it acts against anything positive from the movie, distracting you from the stakes at hand by waving shiny keys in front of your eyes. If this was your defining interest in the movie, maybe you should step back from blind fandom and continue to analyze the movie separate of personal bias.
Why should you, though? It’s the 22nd part of a franchise, shouldn’t callbacks be understandable? For that, I ask what the job of the sequel is. In my mind, the sequel takes the characters of the original and develops them further, retaining the experiences from the first but defining itself as a separate chapter. Empire Strikes Back embodies this extremely well, as it retains the same spirit but takes a step in a new direction compared to Star Wars. On the other hand, Disney, through Star Wars and the MCU, uses sequels to retread old grounds and offer callbacks. This way, the characters can remain the same as when you initially fell in love with them, and reinforce that past love with constant references and callbacks. The theory you ascribe to defines your hopes from this film. I wanted an original story from the Avengers, yet most of the film’s plot is relegated to retreading old ground in a new perspective. Not my cup of tea, but for audiences looking to retread I understand the interest.
As the heroes collect the stones, Thanos from the 2014 reality (through the mind of Nebula) learns of the Avengers’ plans to time hop. His pursuit of power is justified, as he knows what the endgame looks like, and it now falls on him to make sure that future exists unobstructed. Finding a vial of Pym Particles (allowing the Avengers to time-hop), Thanos leads his forces to 2023 to stop the Avengers from saving the day.
Hulk collects the stones on a mechanical gauntlet, snaps his fingers, and a white light envelops the world around them. Life is finally restored.
Before moving on to the final act, I’d like to spend a moment detailing where all of the original Avengers are by the end of this heist. I’ve glossed over some details to generalize the plot, and I’d like to focus on them here with some criticism. We’ve gone over Thor, so I’ll omit him for brevity’s sake.
Black Widow is dead.
Hawkeye has lost his closest friend, daughter, family, and morality. As Ronin, Clint murders those who were lucky enough to survive the snap but continue to hurt those around them. He’s a husk of a person, hoping to reunite with those he loves.
Hulk has balanced the human and monster parts of himself to become a towering genius. No longer does he feel the stress of shifting between bodies, reaching an equilibrium of acceptance.
Captain America fights for the good in the world, but clearly does so to make up for the loss of true love. What was once patriotism is now desperation, slowly crippling him as he loses hope. While acquiring the tesseract, Captain America finds limitless fuel for the time travel mechanism.
Finally, there’s Iron Man. The film makes it very clear from the start that Iron Man makes a final stand here, choosing to sacrifice what’s best for him to save the world. In the time between his return from space and the advent of time travel he has a child with Pepper, and clearly takes great pride in that achievement. When initially contacted to aid in the time heist, he declines, noting that putting his life on the line could cost him time with his child. The development between Iron Man and Endgame shapes the character from a selfish playboy to a selfless martyr. Tony Stark holds the strongest arc in the series, which culminates in Endgame’s focus on selfless action despite the consequences.
In a way, I must offer an apology. I found the second act of this film excruciatingly boring, which is disappointing given the extensive runtime spent on this subplot. A heavy reliance on fanservice with a rather menial plot mixes poorly, giving audiences no reason to pay attention besides a nagging fear that they’ll miss the next Easter Egg. I’m sure many found personal validation from having their fandom pleased, but that’s not what I’m looking for in a film.
Avengers: Endgame
The rest of the film is an absolute schlock fest, but some of the best schlock I’ve ever seen. Each scene panders more than the last, force feeding nostalgia overload to the point where I found myself crying. The film didn’t deserve those tears, they were stolen from me, but I digress.
After the snap, Ant-Man walks outside and hears birds chirping for the first time in the film. A subtle point caught by most in the audience, the reintroduction of life is cut short as Thanos’s ship obliterates the Avengers campus.
While the rest of the Avengers try to free themselves of the rubble, Thor, Cap, and Iron Man confront Thanos on the now flattened battlefield. No longer does Thanos seek balance, rather, he aims to kill everyone in the universe to guarantee a fresh start, likely a move from the Russo Brothers to distance themselves from the alt-right fans using Thanos’s views to justify racism.
Doctor Strange returns to Earth using portals with all the Avengers killed before the snap, and the team prepares for the biggest fight in the MCU.
I can’t explain in words what happens during the rest of the film. It’s a bunch of fighting, yes, but everything that happens is pure candy for the eyes. The cinematography for this scene prevents an overload of the senses, somehow, which points to amazing action choreography and a consistent handle on treating characters as pieces. Those who have seen the movie remember every second, and those who haven’t seen the film but have read this review wouldn’t appreciate the scene anyways.
The only way to stop Thanos now would be to take the Infinity Gauntlet, and in a final sacrifice, Iron Man remains the final hero capable of taking the gauntlet and kills Thanos’s forces with one snap. Electricity flows through his body, and he has given the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the world.
The film concludes with Iron Man’s funeral, Thor passing along the title to Valkyrie, and Captain America’s big reveal. The extra Pym Particles he got earlier in the film have been put to good use, and following his journey through time to return the infinity stones, he spent a lifetime with his long lost love Peggy Carter. Cap returns to the modern era, passes on the Shield to Falcon, and the arc of the original Avengers has now concluded.
First, I have no problem with the treatment of Iron Man’s character. Many have this notion that it “wasn’t his time yet,” but I would ask what character has stayed consistently good in a 22 film series. In the first Iron Man, he’s clearly a selfish playboy who comes to realize the company he neglects has hurt people in pursuit of money. Each film disassembles this character, forcing him to deconstruct his cold exterior (like a suit of armor) and recognize the world is far bigger than his house in Malibu. To see Iron Man die a martyr is sad, but a nice bookend to his character development.
Second, I hated the way in which the Russo Brothers have defined Captain America throughout their films. I never believed that Rogers felt lifeless without Carter, rather, it was a grounding principle showing the audience he would never truly be at home in the future. Though he’s acclimated to the customs of our time, he’ll never have what was closest to him. I perceived this to be metaphorical, but the Russos treat him as an obsessive freak. The constant checking of the compass/stopwatch/whatever isn’t a humanizing moment of lost time, instead he really just wants to bag this woman he never went out with. To conclude his story with finally getting the girl assumes that his motive throughout the series was purely that, which I find detrimental to the character. Though a sweet scene, it makes the selfless Captain America selfish to conclude a side story. I’ve had it mentioned to me that Cap’s selfish act is in direct response to Stark’s selfless act, but I fail to understand how this validates a fundamental rewrite of the character at the final hour.
Side Note: I also hate the way the scene was directed anyways. Even if we assume the plot direction was justified, the “old-cap” scene was poorly done. In my perfect utopia, Captain America never returned, Falcon found the shield in his closet with a note, and the film cut to the dancing without the need for incessant pandering to the comics. Old Cap is a carry-over from the comics, and an unnecessary one at that. Less is more, and a cut to this fantasy life works much better than senile Steve Rogers ever could.
In Conclusion
Avengers: Endgame is fanservice to the highest degree, and as a fan I appreciated that. The first act of the film provides interesting philosophical discussion, and the third act is pure visual bliss, but the second act bogs down the film with endless call-backs and incessant pandering. The three hours I burned during this film were enjoyable, but I have no interest in ever watching this again.
I can’t recommend this film purely as a film, or as a stand alone Marvel movie. If you think it shouldn’t be judged by itself, you’re wrong. By that argument, neither should Iron Man, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Thor: Ragnarok, or any of the other MCU movies miles better than Endgame ever gets.
If I can say something good, it would be in regards to the experience the film provides. Endgame transcends movies and moves into experience. Seeing this in a theater is the only way one should submit themselves to this endurance run simply because in audience with shared interest in hype will make a bland film bearable. The film will never be the same once it leaves theaters, and I truly believe this is your one chance to experience it fully.
It’s been a couple weeks since the film came out and I’ve given up all interest in the “cultural event.” I never want to see it again, and I’m already moving on to the next conveyor belt superhero film, Spider-Man: Far From Home. After a marathon of 22 films, with two or more releasing a year, the MCU deserves a long break to refresh and return later with a new perspective.
I give Avengers: Endgame a 6/10. It’s a fun film, but lacks in certain places that make a three hour runtime unforgivable. Though I really enjoyed it immediately after my first viewing, time hasn’t done this film well, and I am increasingly disinterested with returning to the movie. If the Marvel films are tied to your identity, you’ll love this endless string of MCU references. Otherwise, it’s a fun night at the movies you’ll forget about in a week’s time.
Thank you.
Ryan Dorman is a Columnist and the Content Director for the Boardwalk Times. He can be found on Twitter at @OpentheDorman, and as a host of the Boardwalk Talk podcast on iTunes.
