“Avengers: Endgame” is the perfect celebration of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

WSS intern Sam Westergaard ’21 reviews Marvel’s latest, “Avengers: Endgame.”

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Rain Richards

“Endgame” is the grand conclusion to 21 subsequent MCU films

I loved the first Avengers film. “Avengers Age of Ultron” was pretty good but not as great as its predecessor.  “Avengers Infinity War” blew me away, and became my favorite, that is, until “Avengers Endgame.” Endgame is the fourth Avengers film, and the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s hands down the best Marvel film (if not the best superhero film). This part will be the non-spoiler review. I am going start with the good, talk about the not so good, and then end with the good stuff.

Hands down the two best characters were Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans). The film feels heavily based around Cap and Tony’s relationship. The duo have always had great chemistry: Tony is a comedic know it all and Cap serves as a good foil to him. The film is built on the connections and relationships between the characters. Cap and Tony are a great representation of this.

Endgame feels like a perfect celebration of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is full of references. This doesn’t come off as fan service, and feels rather natural.

The visual effects are stunning once again. I´d say the effects are on par with Infinity War. The final battle looks amazing, and Thanos is awesome looking. Now onto the not so good. There are a few characters that feel somewhat wasted, and not used to their full potential. There are also some continuity problems that leave you scratching your head. Hopefully a few of these will be explained by a director or a filmmaker.

It’s really hard to talk about the good and the bad without spoiling it. Nevertheless, Avengers Endgame is phenomenal, with strong characters, an amazing story, and overall is a great celebration of the MCU. Sure, there are a couple of problems, however the good definitely outweighs the bad.

SPOILER ALERT: THIS PART OF THE REVIEW FEATURES SPOILERS.

The Avengers head to battle Thanos. Marvel Studios

Once again I am going start with the good, talk about the not so good, and then end with the good stuff, so here we go.

The final act is amazing, and seeing every single hero go up against Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his army is such an awesome way to end the movie. This fight scene is like something you’d see in comics. The best part of the battle is seeing Cap, Tony, and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) all go up against Thanos; it’s awesome.

Speaking of Thor, he is quite an interesting character in this film. At the start of the film he kills Thanos, and afterwards he goes into a drunken, Fortnite (yes, somehow Fortnite made it into an Avengers movie) depression because he feels responsible. For some reason this has been seen as controversial. Some think this doesn’t make sense, and don’t like it. I, on the other hand, find it quite hilarious. This version of Thor serves as good comic relief. This also makes sense for his character; Thor basically caused the deaths of trillions across the universe, of course he’d be upset.

It’s time to talk about the characters: let’s start with Tony Stark, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Captain America. Tony and Black Widow both die by sacrificing themselves. Personally, Tony’s death is way more powerful. He uses the infinity gauntlet to kill Thanos and his army. It’s a great way to to end his story. Speaking of story endings, Cap is sent to drop off the Infinity stones back in time. He chooses to stay in the past, and a live a normal life. This is a perfect way to send off Cap. He has always been a man out of time so to have him go back to the past is the perfect. Another great character in the film is Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). I have always been a fan of Hawkeye, and here he is at his best. He is willing to do anything to avenge his family, who get turned to dust. This makes him a more realistic character.

Clint Barton / Hawkeye returns in “Endgame.” Marvel Studios

Now on to the problems. My least favorite part of the film is Captain Marvel (Brie Larson). I really liked her film, and I was expecting her to be a big part of this movie. The marketing falsely advertised that she would have a big role while she actually only had a very small part. Carol Danvers is only in the film for 10-15 minutes, and the film is 3 hours long. I was hoping to see her travel back in time (I’ll get to that later) with the team. Oh well, at least she was cool in the scenes she did appear in, and her new hair cut is neat.

I mentioned time travel, right? Yes, the Avengers time travel to get the Infinity stones from the past. This is an awesome part of the film, but it’s rather confusing. In the theater I was rather lost on how they describe time travel. I kind of understand why they didn’t change the present, but it’s definitely confusing.

Like I said earlier, I think “Avengers Endgame” is amazing. Seeing all of the Avengers films in the theater one after another has been an incredible experience. Whether you have been with the MCU since the beginning in 2008 or not this is one movie you can’t miss.