Gonna go with a spoiler-free version first off.
First of all,
Endgame feels like a thank you to the entire fans for sticking around with the MCU, so the more you've seen the more you'll appreciate (which isn't to say that is solely comprised of Marvel fanservice, although a couple of sequences may fit that description). Its juggling act of an massive cast felt a little less seamless than
Infinity War's, though it managed to throw a surprising and impressive amount of character development into a movie that would normally beg to be straight-up action (a fact I appreciate after I felt the Hobbit trilogy's
The Battle of Five Armies held too much action at the expense of anything else). There's still some levity, though the circumstances restrain it more than one may be used to from prior MCU entries--a fact that oddly makes
Infinity War feel superior as a comedy despite its disastrous ending.
The movie certainly still had a few issues. Probably my least favorite part of the movie is a character's personal arc basically amounting to "give up growing as a person." I mean, one shouldn't beat oneself up about not being perfect and I could see the anti-depression theme it pointed to upon hearing that the directors said so, but this moral kinda defeats not only the point of the character's previous development but also that of superhero movies in general. Beyond that, however, the movie was a pretty satisfying conclusion to the Avengers saga, and while I'm thankful I don't have to feel obligated to keep following the story around, it was quite an fun ride. On our way back from the theater, one family member was noting that providing a satisfactory ending to such an extensive film saga was almost more impressive than having such an impressive saga in the first place, and I'd definitely agree with the sentiment.
And with that, here's the more spoilery version:
--The Good--
Okay, wow. If someone randomly told me that Endgame had Spider-Man swinging on Thor's flying hammer while holding an infinity gauntlet before landing on a pegasus, I probably would've thought it was a joke. Seriously, the final arc looked like the directors wanted to throw everything fans could want at the screen (short of having the TV SHIELD team or the Defenders onscreen, though I'm thankful for the human Jarvis' cameo) that could possibly involve the characters we know. The payoff was fantastic, the action somehow outdid Infinity War's battle, Captain Marvel was much more intelligently integrated into the final fight than Superman was in
Justice League's finale IMO, and the ending felt clever enough to justify Doctor Strange's oddly specific 14,000,605 to 1 success ratio.
Also, I'm really looking forward to Anthony Mackie getting more screen time and showing up in more extras. He's really a joy to watch behind the scenes.
--The Bad--
The advice given to Thor. I mean, is it any surprise that out of the two kids Odin and Frigga raise, one of them starts his character arc acting like a jerk and the other is Loki? In fact, why does Frigga tell Thor to eat a salad if eating a salad is something the Thor he
should be would do? I can see the moral that people shouldn't condemn themselves for their failures, but it feels like an editor should have caught the advice itself as a plothole for previous Thor movies that relied on character growth; this doesn't ruin the movie for me, though it still feels disappointing. On a separate note, Thanos is fantastic in his first few minutes of screen time, but 2014 Thanos feels rather bland compared to his
Infinity War personality.
--The Ugly--
There were a few inconsistencies here and there throughout the film. A lot of small things can show up, like character (most notably Hulk and Captain America) appearing in updated armor in the final act when there seemed to be no reason to change armor. Also, a rat getting Scott out of the quantum realm could conceivably happen, though it also felt like a bit of a deus ex machina.
takenoko wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2019 5:40 am
>I also thought that shot with all the females heroes was a little cringe, if only for the fact it wasn't organic.
Yeah, I think the sentiment is good, but it felt very on the nose what they were trying to do. Also, someone pointed this out on a podcast I'm listening to, the characters are all mostly background or support characters, so it's not a great showing considering the main lady rep for this series got offed in the first half of the movie.
Yeah, having a "Look, we're feminist" moment doesn't work for me when, out of the two female time travelers, one dies and the other gets captured. Perhaps it was meant as an apology, one may hope?