Directed by: The Russo Brothers
Written by: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin
A world of despair is what Thanos (Brolin) has left for The Avengers. A world of loss and pain, where they must face not only the reality that they failed but that they failed to protect half of the universe’s population.
Now, if you aren’t familiar with the events of Infinity War, seriously, stop reading immediately. See that movie first, or you will be completely lost watching Endgame. In fact, it’s a good idea to watch a few of the older Avengers films and Captain America stand-alones as well before even thinking about seeing Endgame. It’s called Endgame, because it culminates the final battle between Earth’s mightiest heroes and Thanos, an alien titan who wants to bring peace and balance to the universe through genocide.
While Avengers: Infinity War was Thanos’ movie from nearly start to finish, Endgame is all about the Avengers’ payback and putting the shattered pieces of their pasts back together to confront Thanos in a battle that dwarfs all other super hero battles and will be impossible to surpass.
The film starts right off with a painful cold open that leaves Clint, Hawkeye (Renner) devastated that his family has simply vanished in front of him. At first he has no idea what has happened, but we the Watchers know that Thanos has selected them to be swept away into the now infamous ash that permeates the MEME waves of the internet.
Then we see Tony (RDJ) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), an odd pairing for sure, passing the time on the Milano, floating and drifting powerless through space, playing table football. It’s actually a funny, and sickening scene as you watch Nebula delight in her tiny table victory. I mean, the poor thing never wins at anything. And, oh, man does she suffer majorly in Endgame!
[Swift aside: Let’s talk about spoilers. For this written review, I will reveal certain plot points and the like, but I won’t spoil any major story line stuff. Our podcast will contain tons of spoilers, so listen only AFTER you’ve seen the movie, or you really don’t care about spoilers.]
Tony records a good bye message to Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and the rest of the universe, and he’s basically about to drift off into the sweet embrace of death when they are saved from their steel space tomb. He is barely alive, and looks completely emaciated. He’s in no shape to fight anymore, and when the other Avengers try to console him, he doesn’t want to hear it.
Something happens that I won’t spoil here. Then . . . five years pass.
Now the broken planet is almost walking around, functioning in a kind of hazy existence where every day is a struggle. There is no one on the Earth who hasn’t endured a loss.
Meanwhile, Captain America (Evans) has created a support group for those, left behind. Hawkeye has devolved into Ronin, and he pretty much just kills anyone he considers a scumbag. The cartel, the Yakuza, anyone who got to live while his family was snapped out of existence by the mad titan are his prey. He’s ruthless.
And Tony? Well, he and Pepper have a daughter now, probably about five years old, Morgan (Lexi Rabe) who is adorable, and you can see that Tony has made his own peace with the events of the past.
And much like you’d expect, the worst thing you can offer to someone who has given up is hope. Hope is almost cruel, when it becomes clear that all hope is lost. Still, this would be a pretty damned bleak movie if that were true.
If you’ve seen Ant-Man and The Wasp, you know there is a post-credits scene that offers a glimpse of how that tiny bit of hope might manifest. See, Scott (Rudd) was in the quantum realm when the snap happened, and he was spared.
How he is sent back to our realm is a bit of an eye roll, but I forgive the writers, as they needed some way of getting him back to us. When he returns, he’s only been gone five hours for him, but it’s been five years for the rest of the universe.
He is shocked to discover what happened, but he is reunited with Cassie (Emma Fuhrmann), now a teenager, and through his eyes, we get a more stark grasp of the tragic reality on Earth.
What’s interesting here is that he now shifts from someone who was essentially a pickup player on the Avengers to the catalyst that brings them back together. He has an idea to pull off a “time heist” – where they will go back in time to steal the Infinity Stones before Thanos can get them, and undo the devastation that he’s wrought upon the universe.
As you might have guessed, Tony wants no part of this nonsense, but the other Avengers, now loosely led by Black Widow (Johansson) who has developed a sort of Emergency Action Team for the entire universe, working with Nebula, Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), and War Machine (Don Cheadle) to correct the balance of their reality, try to convince him.
That snap has taken a toll on everything, and the collapse of the entire universe is a distant, but absolutely inevitable reality. But, if you know Tony Stark, you know he loves puzzles and this is one enticing puzzle of hope that he just can’t put down.
Of course, he cracks the problem of time travel – and they are off on their time heist to steal the stones.
They split into different teams to retrieve the stones. Three are in New York, one is on Morag, one is on Asgard, and one is on Vormir. Madison has said this movie could be called “Ghosts of the Past,” because they all confront almost literal ghosts, people from their past that are no longer alive, and they can’t alter their past at all, as much as they’d like to. It wouldn’t matter anyway.
For reasons that defy every single time travel movie I have ever seen, the rules of time travel don’t make any sense in Endgame. Still, I just have to shrug whenever time travel is entered into a story. It’s beyond my mere mortal grasp, so I just enjoy being entertained and go with it.
Rather than give you a break-down and play by play of how they get each stone, I will just say that each character has a moment of self-discovery, and none more so than Nebula. Because she is a machine, she is connected to her past self in a way that the others aren’t. And her inclusion in the mission actually leads to almost utter failure!
This might be a bit spoilery, but Thanos from 2014, the one in Guardians of the Galaxy, sees that the future Nebula will betray him, and he devises a plan to use this knowledge against the Avengers.
That’s all I will say about the time heists, and I won’t reveal certain changes in some of your favorite Marvel characters. But, I will say that Hulk (Ruffalo) and Thor (Hemsworth) changed the most. You’ll see . . . if the trailers don’t freaking give it away!
The most fun you will have with this film is when they start entering into the other MCU films from the past. You will see, and hear, a different perspective with each one. And the fact that the 2023 Avengers are now spectators to these films with you is a neat tribute to the fans and the cast. Some clearly relished these moments quite a butt, I mean, a bit.
I have heard that you better not “run to pee” in the final hour of Endgame, and I have to agree, because so much is going on that you need to witness.
Avengers will fall, Avengers will rise, and you will be entertained.
It’s an all out war on a universal level, as 2014 Thanos unleashes a full onslaught barrage against the fragmented Avengers.
What happens next is indescribably beautiful. And while it’s one of those things you should see coming the whole movie, when it happens, it’s just a movie moment for the ages.
There’s a reason these movies are so popular. There’s a reason the fans love these actors, characters, and stories so much. Quite simply, because they are us. Thanos represents death, the “inevitable” Thanatos, which no one can escape. But the Avengers are a special group, a family of friends, with the determination to defeat despair – together.
If you ask me now why I love the Marvel characters so much, that’s probably my answer. They refuse to go gentle into that good night, and there’s some part of them in all of us who go on despite the losses we have endured or have yet to endure.
