Avengers: Endgame {Movie Review}

If you haven’t watched the movie yet, I suggest you watch it ASAP because it is, in my opinion, one of the best MCU movies to date, for MCU fans who have seen majority of the movies anyway.

Also if you haven’t watched the movie yet, this post will have spoilers, so please consider yourself warned. To be fair, though, the Russo brothers lifted the spoiler ban last week, so you can’t accuse me of being an ass-hat.

SPOILERS AHEAD! LAST WARNING!

I’ve seen all MCU movies in the cinema since Iron Man came out in 2008, so I guess I’d say that the MCU is the movie franchise that I love above all.

I think Avengers: Endgame is a beautiful movie for fans of the series, because it has plenty of fan service callbacks and it book-ended the series of 22 films perfectly. Casual fans or people who are not as familiar with the characters probably won’t enjoy it as much from lack of context.

The arcs of most of the original Avengers had closure. Black Widow, Iron Man, and Captain America can now retire from the franchise satisfactorily.

Though there is a Black Widow movie coming up next year, it is most likely an origin story set in the past, because obviously Nat is dead and probably won’t be resurrected. Though it’s very sad that she had to die, it made sense for her to go rather than Clint, because it was her paying her debt to him for saving her life many years ago, the reason why she ended up being a good guy and finding the only family she ever had.

I thought it was very poetic for Iron Man, the one who first kicked off the MCU, to be the one to save everyone else and have the crown as the ultimate hero. It was also pure genius to have his very last words in this his last movie to be the same last words he had in the first one. I am glad that he got to experience being a dad before he went, though. His moments with his daughter were really sweet and upon rewatch, will make you bawl like a baby.

As for Cap, I was expecting him to be the one to sacrifice himself and die, as did most people, so having that actually happen wouldn’t have been a surprise. His happier ending is a more surprising one, and I don’t care what the haters say, I think that was the perfect way for him to go, because it was also an arc for his character – the noble selfless hero realises that he can be a little bit selfish, for the right reasons, and finally gets a happily ever after.

Thor will likely continue in MCU as part of the Asgardians of the Galaxy, but what they did with his character was pure comedy. I know some people hated that he didn’t turn back to his fit self at the end of the film, but that would have been a cop-out, I feel. I like that they showed how depression can hit some people this way, because it is realistic. It was also nice that he got to talk to his mother again, and that she made him realise that he wasn’t a failure, that despite everything that happened to him, he was still worthy. And isn’t that what a lot of depressed people need to hear?

I watched the movie twice, by the way, and it’s the kind of movie that is even more poignant upon the second viewing. Sure, I teared up at scenes with dead parents and when heroes died on the first viewing, but by the second viewing I was crying over practically everything – when Tony talks to his kid, when Nat says “see you in a minute,” etc.

Anyway, the most memorable moments for me were:

• Thor going for Thanos’s head was so sudden, I didn’t expect them to find and kill Thanos so quickly
• Captain America saying “hail hydra” is so hilarious because it’s a homage to the comics
• Thor’s moment with his mother made me laugh and cry at the same time
• Tony’s moments with his adorable daughter and later with his dad
• Black Widow and Hawkeye fighting each other to be able to be the one to kill themselves for the soul stone
• Iron Man, Captain America and Thor fighting Thanos was a callback to their fight scene in Avengers
• When the mjolnir flies to Captain America, I gasped, “Oh my God!” and was probably the moment when everyone went nuts in my theatre. Thor saying: “I knew it!” is a callback to a moment in Avengers: Age of Ultron when Cap manages to move the mjolnir a bit.
• Sam saying: “On your left” is a callback from Captain America: Winter Soldier
• The moment when a lone Captain America was ready to fight Thanos and his army by himself but then everyone suddenly got dropped in is the most epic movie battle scene I have ever seen in my life (I think)
• Captain America finally getting to say “Avengers assemble!’ gave me chills
• The scene with all the female characters, though cheesy, surprisingly made my heart leap
• Thanos snapping the gauntlet again filled me with dread
• “I am inevitable” followed by “And I am Iron Man”
• Pepper telling Tony he could finally rest (earlier, there was a scene when he says he could bury his discovery and go to bed, but she asks: “but can you rest?” )
• Tony’s video for his daughter (“I love you 3000” 😭)
• Tony’s funeral scene which pans across all the characters of all the different MCU movies was so touching and shows just how far the series has come
• Captain America coming back as old Cap and them showing him finally getting his dance and kiss with the love of his life

Okay, I think I’ve pretty much summed it up, don’t you think?

I think if I never watched the future MCU movies after this, I would be fine. It was a great season 1 finale, in a way.

But who am I kidding, I probably will still watch after this!

P. S. Here are pictures of me on my second viewing. I had to watch it in Gold Class so I could cry into the blanket they provide.