By Charles Kirkland Jr.
Arguably, the most anticipated movie of the year is finally here and so is this review of Avengers: Endgame.
When we last saw our group of intrepid heroes, they had failed in their battle against the Mad Titan, Thanos. As a consequence, Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet, complete with all six Infinity Stones, to eliminate half of all the life in the universe. Now the remaining Avengers must devise a plan to defeat Thanos and bring all the lost lives back, thereby avenging the universe. Can the Avengers find the one scenario out of forty-one billion where they win as Doctor Strange saw?
Avengers: Endgame is written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and directed Anthony and Joe Russo, the same dream team that worked together on Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. With this team being responsible for more than a quarter of all the MCU movies, it is easy to see why this movie is so cohesive and comprehensive. Avengers: Endgame is the perfect summation of twenty-one movies and eleven years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It hearkens back and draws upon almost every movie that came before it and honors their contributions to the most epic saga ever created.
Endgame slaughters all of its competition. It’s bigger and more epic than The Lord of the Rings series. It’s wider in scope and more satisfying in whole than Star Wars series. It puts the paltry efforts of the DC Extended Universe to shame. It even one-ups its own efforts by improving upon the stories that came before this one. That being said, this may be the one time where it is truly necessary for you to have seen ALL of the Marvel movies in order to experience and understand this one on its deepest level.
On its surface level, Endgame is a superhero movie, filled with action and adventure. In true Marvel style, it mixes humor and conflict and is totally satisfying to comic book fans. On another level, it is a deeply psychological character study where guilt, remorse and loss are all confronted in a manner that any counselor would find appropriate and sensitive. On its deepest level, Endgame is a loving tribute to the comic book genre, its fans and the all the actors and heroes at its core.
Now if it seems that this review is all praise and light on the review, it has been done on purpose. Unlike other people who have no regard for those who are going to see this movie, this review is completely spoiler free. Unfortunately with this movie, ANY detail released in this review, that is something other than what has been seen it the expertly crafted trailers, would essentially be a spoiler which speaks to the intricateness of the storyline.
Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action and some language, Avengers: Endgame is a movie without equal. No other movie before has ever come to a glorious conclusion a series of movies the way this one has. It is a fitting and rewarding end to this phase of Marvel movies (No matter what Kevin Feige says!). This is a groundbreaking and record-breaking movie that will be a cultural landmark in the history of cinema. Be prepared to laugh, cry, rejoice and mourn on this emotional rollercoaster ride.
Grade A+