Avengers: Endgame Review

11 years and 21 films have led to this. Even before the record shattering box office performance, we all knew the anticipation for Avengers: Endgame could not have been higher. Yet, somehow, it managed to exceed my wildest expectations. Before we get into spoiler territory, if you haven’t seen Avengers: Endgame yet, please just go. If there is any movie you will want to see on the big screen its this one. Alright, let’s get into it.

*SPOILER ALERT BELOW THIS POINT!

**SPOILER ALERT BELOW THIS POINT!

***SPOILER ALERT BELOW THIS POINT!

I obviously absolutely loved Avengers: Endgame. But what did I like so much about it? First off, the first 20 minutes completely shocked me. How does a movie of this scale, with a big villain like Thanos, kill him off that quick? I loved it. I loved that they just went for it because it was so different and so unexpected. We just saw these characters spend all of Infinity War trying to kill Thanos and now he’s gone, just like that. I was literally thinking, “What now?, What are they gonna do for the next two and a half hours?” That unknown excited me so much and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. Then of course those words appearedâ: FIVE...YEARS... LATER. I was in total shock and I think I said, “What the f#@k.” out loud.

Besides the intro being so unpredictable, there were so many fantastic moments! The introduction of Tony Stark’s daughter was brilliant because ,it created an internal conflict about reversing the snap. If everything was reversed, Tony’s daughter wouldn’t exist. I absolutely love the time travel aspect and how they explain it so it worked a little different than in past time travel films, and manages to keep things like Tony’s daughter around. All the references were pretty fun too. Like the ones to Hot Tub Time Machine and Back to the Future.

Some of my other favorite moments included Captain America fighting his past 2012 self, especially when 2012 Cap uses his trademark line, “I can do this all day.”. Also when Captain America rides in the elevator, a reminder of the awesome elevator fight from Captain America: Winter Soldier, and he whispers, “Hail, Hydra.” to an agent to get the infinity stone. One of the things I love about Back to the Future Part II is that it goes back through parts of the first film. Similarly, Endgame does a great job navigating through the first Avengers movie, Guardians and Thor 2. The scene with Tony Stark meeting his father in the past was a very heartwarming scene and was, once again, reminiscent of Back to the Future. Hawkeye’s character was a million times more interesting than he ever has been before and actually found myself becoming emotionally invested in his character. Black WIdow's death was also a complete shock, kudos to Marvel for keeping that under wraps so well.

Now for why I really liked Endgame. I cried a lot. More than I thought I would. I melted when Iron Man first hugged Spiderman before the final fight. Then when Tony was dying, I was a mess, tears streaming down my face. . I have only ever cried harder in Toy Story 3 andd Marley and Me. When a movie can make me emotional like that, I absolutely love it. The Captain America send off was great too, and to be honest I would love a spinoff movie with him putting back all the infinity stones, but this was clearly Iron Man's movie. I saw all three Iron Man films in theaters, in fact I think I still have my ticket to the first one. What a way to pass the torch. It will be very strange to not have Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans in future Avengers and Marvel films.

Avengers: Endgame was the absolute perfect sequel to Infinity War aswell as a perfect send off for some of their major characters. They managed to keep that trademark Marvel humor throughout, even after the unbelievably dark ending to Infinity War. The soundtrack is also unforgettable, and just like with Infinity War it adds a lot to the film. I laughed, I cried, Endgame managed to hit me with all the emotions you want to feel when going to the movies. This movie felt like a cinematic event to me and many others, yet somehow it managed to exceed my expectations and keep me guessing through the entire film. Definitely, undoubtedly one of Marvel’s best. A

Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johanson, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Brie Larson, and many more.