Illustration by Rafael Ramiro
By Henry Hernandez
Now that enough people have had the opportunity to see Endgame, this review can be written with all the gory spoilers intact. Know that if you haven’t seen it yet, what are you waiting for?
Ever since so many characters at the end of Infinity War blew away as dust, after the snap heard across the universe, fans have been waiting for the last installment of the third phase of Avengers. So many movies have led to this point and there was a lot riding on the line for this final episode.
It would have been so easy for this movie to be anti-climactic, with all the hype that the action just could not live up to it. However, this was not the case. In fact, this three-hour movie kept the audience in suspense the entire time. This was a real movie and not just a wrap up of the previous films. Actually, there were many unanswered questions at the end of this film. As promised, there will be spoilers.
The somber feeling at the end of Infinity War carries over to the beginning of Endgame. Half of the galaxy’s population as well as many beloved characters were turned to dust with the snap of Thanos’s (Josh Brolin) fingers. We know that many of them were going to come back, especially Spider-Man because he gets his own film, (Spider-Man Far From Home) later this summer. The real question was how were they going to do it?
Of course, time travel would play a part, especially since we found out that Thanos destroyed the stones as soon as he finished his deed. After he did what he set out to do, he destroyed the only source of power that could reverse his work.
It takes Toni Stark (Robert Downy Jr.) only about five minutes to crack the time paradox formula (with some prompting and the discovery of the time loops from the quantum realm from Ant-Man, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). We knew that was coming from the end credit scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp.
The really neat thing that going back in time (actually going back to three different times) (told you there were spoilers) was a great way to reminisce about the variety of movies over the many years leading up to this film. It was familiar and rewarding to relive the great scenes from scenes like the Hulk smashing up New York during the end of the first Avengers movie, especially since he is embarrassed by his fury now that he is Professor Hulk.
Thor also gets the chance to talk with his mother one last time, and The Hulk gets a lot of insight from The Ancient One. This is not your average time travel movie because when time is changed in the past, a new timeline is created, and it does NOT affect our time. It is mind bending and confusing sometimes, but it also creates a little humor when many of the key characters are talking about how time works using popular movies, like Back to the Future and Die Hard.
A touching scene was when characters like Steven Rogers (Chris Evans) sees and watches through a window, his girl Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), working for SHEILD. Another great scene is when Toni Stark finally gets the chance to face his father Howard Stark (John Slattery). It was on the day of Toni’s birth and his father is excited and nervous about being a father, which is a side of Howard that Toni had never seen before.
Of course, the action of this movie, all moves towards the final battle scene, where portals from all the parts of the Marvel universe open to bring warriors to fight Thanos. It gives a chance, and in fact a final chance, for Captain America to “assemble” the Avengers. Of course we all waited for Thor to become thin again, and Thanos seems oddly easy to beat in the first scene and impossibly difficult in this scene. We could also have done without the scene that actually interrupted the action, to let all the female “I have your back” heroes scene.
In the end, this was a movie about the past, and about a questionable future. The past is organized and resolved in a way that brings peace to many of the character. Toni Stark and his father, Thor and his mother, Steve Rogers and his girlfriend, all get a second chance.
However, the future is uncertain; Captain America passes on the shield to Sam Wilson, The Falcon, (Anthony Mackie). Toni Stark does not get to remain with his family and raise his daughter, Morgan Stark (Lexi Rabe), even though Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) promises to buy her as many cheeseburgers as she wants. Thor starts a new career, again giving up the throne to Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), and becoming an Asgardian of the Galaxy. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) has now melded with the Hulk, to become Professor Hulk.
One of the best subplots is the story of Clint Barton, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Natasha Romanov, Black Widow (Scarlett Johannsson). Natasha redeems him from his dark world, after the loss of his entire family. She is sacrificed willingly for the Soul Stone, to be able to beat Thanos. Therefore, he comes back and she does not.
In the end, this is a huge story that cannot be told in one or even two movies. The Russo brothers did a great job. This is a fitting end to the first major phase of the Avengers, but it is really more of a transition into the next phase of action and adventure. I cannot wait.
