Just curious, have any of you heard of this little, independent, low-budget flick called Avengers: Endgame? No? Thought so. I doubt this movie is going to make much at the box office. It’ll probably just fly under-the-radar. While that might be true in an alternate reality, it’s very much the opposite on ours. Endgame is currently the second-highest grossing film worldwide and now has its eyes set on the big prize – Avatar. All that being said, I apologize for not putting up my non-spoilery review earlier. I’ve simply been too busy with college and personal life and had very little time to post a review. No matter, I am here now and in case you didn’t read the title, this article will contain SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame! So, be warned!

What Marvel Studios has done is completely unprecedented. Creating the first shared cinematic universe under the leadership of Kevin Feige, Marvel has produced quality movies that have been received well by the critics (RT critic percentage score), the audience (CinemScore) and made ungodly amounts of money. After 22 films, Marvel Studios finally gave us Avengers: Endgame, which is such a satisfying conclusion to the Infinity Saga. Even though the movie has a lot going on, the Russo brothers are able to juggle the story, a multitude of characters, action and somehow deliver a cohesive narrative. They also resolve the major teases and set-ups from the previous movies into this concoction of awesomeness. Being a special movie, I am also going to make this review a little different. Rather than listing the pros and cons, I will talk about the movie and the performers, list the 9 most important call-backs, rank my top 5 scenes in the movie, and some questions I had.

Performances/Character Arcs

I don’t think Marvel Studios gets enough credit for their superhero castings. Most of the big Marvel stars are Oscar-nominated/ winners and have had an illustrious career. Because Endgame is the swansong for most of the OG actors, it’s only fitting that they go out with a bang and, arguably end up giving their best performances to date.

Robert Downey Jr. has done such a remarkable job as Tony Stark/Iron Man, but he saves his best for the last. From scenes like leaving his “dying” message to Pepper on the Benatar to making the ultimate sacrifice by uttering his iconic phrase “I am Iron Man,” he made the character of Tony Stark a household name and left such a mark on the character that we can’t see anyone else playing the “genius, billionaire playboy, philanthropist.”

The first Avenger himself, Captain America, played by Chris Evans, has delivered some excellent performances in Gifted or Snowpiercer, but also saves his best performance in Endgame. My favorite non-action scene from Evans is when he is leading the support group. Even though Steve tries his best to convince others to move on, it’s clear that he is unable to and reminisces of the life he could have had with Peggy. Rather than going “all-out” in that particular scene, Evans delivered a more subdued performance, which was perfectly in-line with the character.

Chris Hemsworth, as Thor Odinson, gives the most underrated performance in this movie and it’s an absolute shame that people aren’t talking about it as much. Even though this version of the God of Thunder is more broken, depressed and has a ‘beer belly,’ he’s probably the most “human” we’ve seen from Thor. Ever since Thor Ragnarok, Thor has had such an interesting character arc. After losing all the loved ones in his third flick, he suffered another loss with Loki in Infinity War and almost avenged his brother’s death if he actually went for Thanos’ head. But the thing is, even after he did chop the mad Titan’s head off, it was ultimately futile, and Thor finally succumbed to the depression and just lost his will to do anything, hence his physique. Yes, you had the comedy with his belly but the scene represented Thor’s depression and I respect the Russos for giving this incarnation of Thor.

Mark Ruffalo has always shown to be a terrific dramatic actor and even though we don’t really see Ruffalo as Ruffalo, he’s still really good as the Professor Hulk, who is the perfect mix of Banner’s brain and the Hulk’s strength. However, it is a little jarring to see this version of the Hulk right away. After all, we saw Banner struggle to bring out the Hulk in Infinity War, but the duo apparently worked out their problems off-screen.

Jeremy Renner, as Hawkeye, is no one’s favorite Avenger and people often complain about Hawkeye’s purpose because of his lack of superpowers but that is it. Not every character needs to have extraordinary abilities and one thing Clint has over the other Avengers is a– family. When you see his family turn to dust, you can’t help but feel sorry for the archer and Renner plays those scenes extremely well.

Scarlett Johansson, the sixth and final OG Avenger, gives my favorite performance in the movie and the best scene where she really demonstrates her acting chops is the scene after the 5-year jump. She learns about Clint’s murderous actions and is just so overwhelmed with emotions that she breaks down in tears. And oh man, the scene where she sacrifices herself by assuring Clint that “it’s ok. let me go,” left me lachrymose. This movie showcased these performers at their very best and it’s extremely emotional to have been a part of their journeys.

Call-Backs

Being the culmination of the Infinity Saga, Endgame has a lot of call-backs to the previous films. To avoid making this article longer than it already is, I will mention the 9 most important ones, in no particular order.

1. The cheeseburger reference is a reference to the fast-food Tony ordered after returning from his cave ordeal in Afghanistan (Iron Man 1).
2. “I am Iron Man” is the iconic line Tony uttered at the end of Iron Man 1, revealing his superhero identity to the public. It’s extremely fitting that those also be his last words before he snapped his fingers and reduced Thanos and his army to dust. Ha, puns!
3. “Suit of armor around the world” – After returning to Earth in Endgame, a physically damaged Tony reminds Steve of his plan to build “a suit of armor around the world” as the first line of defense against potential alien threats. This is a reference to his creation – Ultron. In Age of Ultron, he wanted to create Ultron to protect the Earth, but as Steve rightfully reminds him, that didn’t turn out so well.
4. Cap lifting Mjolnir – Even though Steve budged Thor’s hammer in Age of Ultron, we never thought we would actually see Cap lift the hammer because it was destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok. However, once the present-day Thor summoned the hammer during the time-travel scene, the possibility of Cap wielding Mjolnir went up drastically. Thankfully, Marvel finally fulfilled our collective wishes to see Captain America lift and use Mjolnir and boy, was it awesome.
5.  “Hail Hydra” – In Captain America: The Winter Soldier,  we learn that Hydra, the secret NAZI organization, infiltrated SHIELD and planned to eliminate their opponents using the 3 Helicarriers. In one of the many memorable scenes from that movie, Cap had an intense fight with Hydra agents in an elevator. In Endgame, Cap is confronted with the same Hydra agents (coincidence?) in an elevator but this time, he simply utters “Hail Hydra,” which is also similar to a recent comic book arc. Later in the same scene in Endgame, we also get a cameo from Robert Redford, who played the SHIELD-masquerading as HYDRA head – Alexander Pierce.
6. “Don’t do anything stupid until I get back” – In Captain America: The First Avenger, Bucky was recruited to fight in the war while a then-skinny Steve wasn’t. Before he left though, Bucky tells Steve to not do anything stupid, which Steve retorts with “How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.” In the present day, there is a nice line-reversal. Before Steve goes back in time to put the infinity stones back where they belonged, Steve is now the one to tell Bucky to not do anything stupid, with Bucky reminding Steve of taking “all the stupid.” It’s not only a nice callback but also a great farewell moment between the two.
7. “On your left” – It seems as if most of the important call-backs in Endgame came from Tony and Steve’s history, which makes sense as Endgame is the culmination to their stories. This line is great call-back to the opening scene in the Winter Soldier, where we see Steve outrunning Sam and saying “on your left,” to Sam Wilson’s competitive chagrin. In Endgame, however, Falcon gets to utter the phrase before all the dusted heroes return!
8.  Steve-Peggy Dance – At the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve, and Peggy don’t have their dance because of Steve’s “sacrifice.” After being constantly reminded by everyone to get a life and after completing his mission, Steve decides to stay with Peggy and dance with his one true love.
9. 1 in 14,000,605 chances – In Infinity War, Dr. Strange gives up the time stone to save Tony’s life, a direct contrast to his line earlier in the movie where he swore he would let Tony die to protect the stone. Fast forward to Endgame, as the Avengers are battling out with Thanos and his army, Tony asks Strange if this is that 1 future where they win, to which Strange replies, “If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen.” As the battle progresses and Thanos once again gets all 6 stones, Strange lifts one finger, reminding Tony of that 1 future where they win.

Top 5 Scenes  

1. Avengers Assemble – Ever since the first Avengers, we’ve been waiting for Captain America to say his iconic battle-rally cry “Avengers Assemble!” He almost said it in Avengers: Age of Ultron but not quite. In this movie, however, he finally says it! After Dr. Strange and Wong open portals to bring all the heroes in the MCU, including the dusted heroes, Asgardians, the Ravagers (from GOTG vol 2), Wakandans, Cap finally utters the phrase! And then, we get the money-shot with all the heroes charging into battle! Just take all my money and give me that poster!
2. Funeral – After Tony sacrifices himself to snap away Thanos’ and his entire army, we get a beautiful scene with all the remaining heroes attending the funeral of their fallen Avenger. As the camera moves around, we see all the different groups of people Tony impacted. What a legacy!
3. Time-heist planning session – I know the big battles in Endgame will be talked about for years to come, but I actually think that the time-heist planning session was one of the best scenes in the movie. The reason we love the MCU so much is because of the characters and the different character interactions. Even though there is no action in this scene, the dialogue makes this scene so riveting to watch.
4. Tony and Steve in the 1970 Camp – Even though this scene exists for Tony to get the space stone and for Steve to get additional Pym particles, it was a lot more than that. We finally get closure with Tony and his tumultuous relationship with his dad and a subtle foreshadowing for Steve’s actions at the end of the movie. Again, this was a beautifully executed scene with the two main Avengers getting their moments to shine
5. Cap, Thor and Iron Man’s stand against Thanos – After completely razing the Avengers headquarters, Thanos sits patiently, waiting for the heroes to fight him. Once the trio realizes that Thanos was again after the gauntlet but didn’t have it yet, they decide to make their final stand against him. In a nerdgasm moment, Thor double wields Stormbreaker and Mjolnir and the Marvel’s trinity charge at the Mad Titan.

Questions

1. Doesn’t Steve staying in the past at the end completely change the timeline and create a old new timeline?
2. Does the Loki Disney+ series pick up after he used the space stone to escape, during the alternate Battle of New York scene?
3. How is Vision coming back? After all, Wanda (Scarlet Witch) and Vision have their own Disney+ show coming.
4. Is the main focus of (As)Guardians of the Galaxy 3 finding the 2014 -version Gamora?
5. If a past version of Gamora can come back in present-day, can’t the Avengers bring back a pre-Vormir Black Widow using time-travel?
6. Speaking of, is the Black Widow movie a prequel?

Rating – Overall, Avengers: Endgame is an extremely poignant yet entertaining film! Aside from some pacing issues in the first hour, time-travel mumbo jumbo, this is the film of the year! 4.7/5