Avengers: Endgame

After 21 films in 11 years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it culminates with Avengers: Endgame.

The film takes place in the immediate wake of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War with megavillain Thanos (Josh Brolin) having wiped out half of Earth’s population and the original Avengers — Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) — seeking to bring back their fallen comrades by any means necessary.

Along with surviving supporting players Nebula (Karen Gillan), James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle) and Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), plus new old ally Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), our heroes embark upon an ambitious quest to achieve the improbable.

In the spirit of this unified effort, three brave Xpress movie reviewers now assemble and showcase their own skill sets in the name of world peace and quality criticism. — Edwin “Turn Signal” Arnaudin

Why should someone who is not super into superhero movies go see Avengers: Endgame?

For starters, the film’s cautious pacing feels unique, as it painfully wades in its own traumatic aftermath for a substantial part of the runtime. It urges viewers to stew in the bleak fallout right alongside its characters — a device that smartly snuffs out any lingering feelings of initial viewer ambivalence (myself included).

This surprisingly somber tone sets up the emotional stakes for its characters in such a way that when the payoff comes, it feels cathartic (albeit a little untidy) to have such definitive endings. As a viewer who’s watched one too many macho super-bro movies with an eye roll and a grain of salt, I was surprised to meet these characters amid their own personal tidal waves of grief and survivor’s guilt, unlike the usual wake of obnoxious fanfare and vapid god complexes of superhero sagas’ past.

Robert Downey Jr. is an absolute standout in this sense, as he projects a deeply flawed yet relatable sense of fear and vulnerability onto his character’s once unflappable, tough-guy exterior. He brings Tony “I am Iron Man” Stark from narcissistic tech playboy to fully realized human being with masterful ease. While RDJ does most of the heavy lifting in the dramatic department, the film’s best comedic moments are shared by Hemsworth’s hefty, troubled-slacker version of Thor, Ruffalo’s wonderfully nuanced voice and motion-capture work as The Hulk, and Rudd’s perfectly zany freakouts as Ant-Man.

Looking at the three-hour run time, you’d think there would be ample room for bathroom breaks, but I was hard pressed to find any considerable lulls. Surprisingly, the quality of filmmaking is not sacrificed amid its staggering quantity (every MCU character makes an appearance at one point or another) — and avoiding that typical big budget movie bloat is a feat in itself. The slow build to one final, thrilling culmination feels necessary and earned because the audience is fully immersed. Over the years, we’ve developed deep affection for these characters, we understand their baggage, and we need to see them handled with care.

That’s part of the magic of Endgame. It posits that we, the viewers, are a part of something that is both vitally intimate and greater than our heroes. We feel saddened by the end of an era but comforted by the promise of a new one that will almost certainly include people of color, queer folks and women at the forefront.

Viewers are eager to see themselves depicted on screen, and Endgame does a remarkable job of recognizing this need by blending new narratives with the old. It pays homage to the beloved character arcs audiences have spent 11 years investing in with the hope and intrigue of a fresher, more inclusive, more diverse future MCU.

With the exception of a couple of time travel loose ends and a few fairly predictable fan-pleasing moments, Endgame effectively balances weighty storytelling and riveting action sequences with gratitude toward its characters and audiences alike. Ultimately, it’s that thoughtfulness that makes Endgame feel satisfying, worth the hype and has me itching for a second viewing.