Avengers: Endgame (https://movies.disney.com/avengers-endgame)
Sitting through the lengthy Avengers: Endgame, I reflected on what other critics had been
saying of the film. Terms like “epic masterpiece” were being bandied about.
Part-way into the film, I caught myself musing, “Is this really an epic
masterpiece?” The movie starts as a slow burn, and for a while the story feels
anything but epic. It is personal, introspective, and even a bit slow. There’s
not much real action for a while, as the catastrophic events of the previous
film are dwelt on, and we see the effects that the trauma has had on the
various cast members. (The presented effects are strangely realistic, showing
that one can never know how one will deal with trauma until it happens. The
results can be surprising.) Eventually, a plan emerges to reverse the tragedy
that has befallen the universe. The somewhat melancholic (through still
frequently funny) story shifts into being an amusing heist film for a while,
and then of course things ramp up incredibly to present a battle to end all
battles, literally for the fate of the universe. By the end of the film, the
audience truly feels the epic-ness of it all. And, yes, it’s maybe even a
masterpiece.
Gerry, who had not yet
seen the film, wrote me an e-mail a few days ago, asking me if Endgame really
needed to be three hours long. To that, I say: yes, absolutely. One might
quibble with the necessity or length of individual scenes; but if that awesome
final battle is to mean anything, if the events are to have any resonance, then
we need the first part of the film to happen, and we need those final scenes as
well. We need to feel both the pain and the joy of what transpires at the end,
and that would not occur if we didn’t first understand fully the path that each
character is on, and the significance of the sacrifices that must be made, not
to mention the sweet triumphs. Then, once the dust has settled, the film’s
various epilogues bring it all home, revealing further information about the
fates of our heroes and their loved ones. There is surprising poignancy and
deeply satisfying conclusions, though some fans may not agree with the choices
made. This is a film full of moments big and small, with an army of
beloved characters, representing the culmination of an amazing eleven-year run
of the best, most cohesive, most impressive fantasy/action series ever
produced. The Marvel films that have gone before became important to audiences
not only because of the special effects, action, and laughs; the films became
important to people because they were about relatable characters - an
amazing achievement when said characters include a time-lost soldier, a
billionaire industrialist, a green monster, and an alien raccoon. The first
half of Endgame presents characters that we can not only relate to, but most
importantly these are characters that we understand implicitly; and that makes
the finale so moving and satisfying.
Avengers: Endgame marks
the end of this phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it does so
definitively and nearly perfectly. It has flaws, certainly, but nothing
important in the face of all that ambition. I loved the choices made for the
original Avengers in terms of how their stories end or transform. You may shed
a tear here or there, but even the sad parts are triumphs when a character
reaches the end of his or her arc in satisfying fashion. If the film is a
masterpiece, it is because of how the character arcs are handled, as much as it
is due to the impressive visuals and spectacle.
This is certainly not
the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, of course. Another Spidey film is
right around the corner, and the newest stars like Captain Marvel, Black
Panther, and Dr. Strange will carry on the heroic tradition as Earth faces new
threats in future films. Marvel mastermind Kevin Fiege and his team have
created a modern mythology, building on the creations and legacy of Stan Lee,
Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko (and notably also Jim Starlin and other writers and
artists), and they have done a brilliant job of showing the mass audience what
has always made superhero comic books so appealing to their fans. In the midst
of all the brilliantly crazy ideas, and all the bombastic fights, there are
human beings just trying to overcome their failings in order to emerge as the
best versions of themselves; on their best day, maybe even heroes. It is so
gratifying to see these tales handled in such admirable fashion on the big
screen, with Endgame being one of the finest examples of the genre. A
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