Every once in a while, a film becomes part of the zeitgeist – capturing the spirit and mood of its time, uniting viewers in a shared experience that will never be forgotten. Think Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, The Godfather, Jaws, Star Wars, Titanic, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Avatar. . . you get the idea. Capturing lightening in a bottle, this shared experience unites moviegoers worldwide, the most recent example, Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Whether you love comic book films or hate them, it is hard to argue with what Marvel has done since 2008 (starting with Iron Man). A three phase initiative, with almost too many superheros to name, Endgame is the twenty-second feature in the last eleven years, and, in many ways, the end of this unique vision. Something never done before, standalone and ensemble films have been combined to great effect, grossing (to this point) over twenty billion dollars, and, for the most part, winning critics over along the way.
Filmizon.com’s Nikolai Adams with Karen Gillan, who plays Nebula in Avengers: Endgame
And, somehow, these big budget popcorn flicks became something more – these flawed superheros became idols, role models, and perhaps more than anything, our never-met friends. You’ve got your cocky, sarcastic Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.); the full of himself but funny Thor (Chris Hemsworth); the conflicted Hulk (Mark Ruffalo); the, as it is put in this film – America’s Ass – Captain America (Chris Evans), a ragtag team of misfits in The Guardians of the Galaxy (Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel); the quirky criminal with a heart of gold, Ant-Man (Paul Rudd); the eccentric do-gooder in Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch); your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man (Tom Holland); the righteous, full of heart Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman); and, to not get too wordy, the rest of the crew – Bucky (Sebastian Stan), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson); Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Wong (Benedict Wong). . .
Filmizon.com’s Nikolai Adams with Hayley Atwell, who plays Agent Carter in Avengers: Endgame
There will not be any spoilers here, but what makes this final Avengers film nice is that it is a payoff for fans who have stayed on the ride from the beginning to the Endgame. Almost everyone gets a cameo (I say almost, because even I can’t be sure they got to every last one of their characters). . . so, if you are a fan of Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell) or Loki (Tom Hiddleston), fear not, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and directors Anthony and Joe Russo, have woven a clever tale to bring everything (and one) together for an epic crescendo.
What I will say is that the narrative is broken into five parts – grief (following the catastrophic conclusion of Infinity War), followed by the makings of a longshot plan, which then transitions to its unlikely execution, leading to an explosive final battle, wrapping up with a surprisingly nuanced denouement. . . I will also say that most of my predictions were right (sometimes it felt like I was writing the script while I was watching it), yet one moment at the end fooled me til the last second – a wondrous twist that, on its own, made the whole experience worthwhile.
A final few notes about all of the goings on. The call backs are more than successful – a surprise meeting between father and son, a glance through a window at the love of one’s life, tip toeing by a tricky individual. . . even Stan Lee’s final cameo is perfection – funny (etched on the car’s bumper sticker is his famous saying “Nuff said”). I will also say that though this is often a darker, more glum affair, there is still quite a bit of fun comedy throughout (Back to the Future gets targeted a few times). Lastly, everyone from Downey Jr. to Evans does a stellar job, but the most noteworthy actor is Hemsworth, playing a depressed, sullen take on The Dude from the Coens’ Big Lebowski. . . who would have thought that Hemsworth would have become the funniest and most entertaining of the Avengers following his first two pictures back in 2011 and 2013?
As I sat watching the film with a packed audience, at the movie’s most climactic part, a young boy sitting right behind me said, “I’ve got to go to the bathroom – I really have to go”. . . his father, choking back tears, simply asked him to hold it for a few more minutes. A funny little story to be sure, this exemplifies the special essence I talked about in the opening paragraph – a shared experience between young and old, father and son, cousins, or friends. . . and, I must say, I have not heard so many emotional, sniffly nosed moments since the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Though this is an end of sorts, and we have all aged a bit over these last eleven years, it is not truly the end. . . it is merely a new beginning. Now I leave you with Stan Lee’s final fitting words said onscreen, “make love, not war”.