Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame

I’m still riding the high from watching this movie.  This happened last time with Infinity War, and that hasn’t held up quite so well after a year.  (Still a lot of great moments, but it isn’t entirely successful as a whole.)

We’ll see if the same thing happens with Endgame, but for now, I’m so very satisfied.  It feels like the biggest series finale ever for a tv show that I’ve been watching for ten years, which it really is if you think about it.  There’s the same continuity, inside jokes, depth of character, and most of all, expectations that the whole thing will be wrapped up in a pleasing fashion.  

I am pleased.

Random thoughts:

The time travel really makes no sense.  Maybe I completely missed something, but I thought the point of returning the stones at the end was to prevent the timeline from fracturing.  But time does nothing but fracture with all of the changes that the Avengers make in their time heist.  (Mjolnir and Gamora are brought forward in time. Where did Cap’s Mjolnir end up as he traveled back forward in time?  Nebula kills her past self. Loki’s disappearance.) But if none of that affects the present version of the Avengers that we’re following, why did they make any kind of effort to keep the timeline intact?  

I don’t care.  All of the time jaunts are so completely delightful that I don’t care a whit.  Cap fighting Cap! American ass! Hail Hydra in the elevator! (No more exclamations in this paragraph.)  Robert Redford. Hulk hates stairs. Cap in Peggy’s office. Tony and his dad. Jarvis. Rene Russo. Natalie Portman came back for that???  

Did not see Black Widow’s death coming.  That whole scene w/ Clint is amazing. Jeremy Renner finally gets a chance to flex his acting muscles throughout this movie.  It just hit me that Natasha’s dead. I’m actually really sad now just thinking about it. It might be more powerful than Tony’s death, which was a lot more inevitable.  That’s two times that the tears almost came out this movie.

Fat Thor!  It’s good to see the streak of shirtless Thor continue.  Hemsworth is hilarious, but I think the bit overstayed its welcome just a little too far.  

CAP PICKS UP MJOLNIR!!!  One of the times I screamed out, “YES!!!” tonight.  

The cavalry arrives.  The last time a piece of media made my heart swell with such joy was the hyperspace jump in Last Jedi.  And this was better.  I can’t express how happy hearing Cap finally say, “Avengers assemble!” made me feel.  Actual gasping.

All the ladies running interference for the gauntlet.  Give me that movie now.

The first takedown of Thanos comes way earlier and is far more brutal than I expected.  Love that subversion of standard story construction.

Spidey-hug.  Dig Captain Marvel with the short hair.  “I love you 3000.” Ant-Man’s pants post-experiment.  Gamora and Nebula.

“I am Iron Man.”  

Steve and Peggy get their dance.

The MCU could end with this movie, and I would be okay with it.  I couldn’t ask for a better series finale with any more fan service.  It’s not perfect by any stretch, but it delivers the same things as the best of final episodes: A smile to my face, tears to my eyes, and an opportunity to say goodbye to characters that I’ve loved to watch for years.

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: Yes

Rating: Pure joy