Going into Endgame, I read a lot of reviews. I was afraid this was going to be one interminable bloated battle from start to finish. Thankfully, I was wrong. The first two hours (of three!) there is hardly any fighting. It was more like a recovery from the Infinity War and Thanos flick (whose name, I remind you, means ‘death’). In fact, this movie is an excellent bringing to closure of the many previous Marvel films dealing with the characters Stan Lee and others created (and yes, there is one more cameo by the dearly departed Stan, in a retro scene from the 1960s). Of course it is not the end of such movies, but it is a coda to what has come before, and spoiler alert, don’t bother to sit through the credits at the end of the film which go on, and on, and on. There is no teaser trailer after this film—- ‘Nuff Said’ as Stan would say.
This movie is ambitious. It reaches for the sort of scope only really seen in the Lord of the Rings, and much like the third of those films, it brings things to a climax in a battle to end all battles between good and evil. It is the aftermath that is somewhat surprising. I will not spoil the ending. This film felt far less disjointed than Infinity Wars. The story was allowed to develop at its own pace, and the entering of the numerous Marvel characters one after another into the plot line was carefully done. And yes there was plenty of humor along the way, with the Oh So Serious Thor, surprisingly playing the comic relief at points. A big surprise to me is that a fair bit of the film was done in my personal favorite cathedral—Durham Cathedral in Durham England. It added some nice gravitas to the film.
This film is an enjoyable kick off to the summer films, and alas, I doubt there will be a better one all summer. For those who love the Marvel characters, this is marvelous. For those who are strangers to the Marvel universe, well, this film provides you with an introduction to a panoply of interesting and sometimes quirky characters. And this is also a fitting hommage to Stan Lee himself. I believe he would have been quite pleased with this one. One finally note, some of the scenes in the last third of the film are probably too intense and not suitable for young children. I saw the film in Real 3D, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
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