Certified Bitstastic
A cinema-shaking conclusion to one of the greatest pieces of modern storytelling and world-building in the history of the medium. Is that too much of a build-up? Or not enough?
It’s hard to be neutral about something as huge as AVENGERS: ENDGAME. After 22 films, multiple television series, and countless mixed-media tie-ins, either you’re invested in at least some of these characters or wilfully avoiding them. Either way, producer Kevin Feige and directors Joe and Anthony Russo bring home this saga in a way that fans and casual viewers alike will be unable to forget.
Picking up on a sombre note, several weeks after the dramatic cliffhanger to Avengers: Infinity War, the galaxy ponders how they will move on after the loss of half their people to Thanos. When the remaining Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy are reunited with some old friends and new, they hatch a plan to undo their losses and restore hope.
How does one even begin to write about something like this? Aimed squarely at the people who have been following the story since 2008, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s screenplay leaves no stone unturned in pulling together a unique combination of a sci-fi, heist, thriller, melodrama, and epic battle film.
In doing so, every character is given their due. It’s difficult to discuss many of them without revealing some spoilers. Indeed, anything that’s not in the trailer is probably a spoiler. (#DontSpoiltheEndgame) Yet the original six Avengers all get conclusively suitable arc closures, whether it is through a natural progression of their stories or via some clever narrative looping. Some other odd pairings, like Nebula and Rocket, nod to the success of the unlikely breakout hits on the way to this climax.
Is the back half of the film shameless fan service? You’re damn right it is. Do large chunks of the film feel like a greatest hits package? Of course they are. Yet after almost two dozen films worth of world-building, Feige and the Russo brothers can be forgiven for feeling that the kitchen sink is not nearly enough. As Natasha says earlier in the film, “I get emails from a raccoon. Nothing seems crazy anymore.“
Taking that as a cue, the Russo brothers turn everything up to a scale hitherto unseen. It’s not up to 11. It’s beyond 11. It’s at least one more. While it’s hard to know exactly how much of the reported $316–400 million budget (shared with Infinity War) went into this finale, we can probably guess that a large part of it was on the battle that takes place in the heart of the third act. It’s like Lord of the Rings made love to a Jim Starlin comic and the child of that union grew up to be AVENGERS: ENDGAME.
For all the sturm und drang, it’s a film full of characteristic humour as well. Some of this is quite broad – including anything involving a physically altered Thor – while other moments are sly winks to knowing audiences. Which isn’t to say that tears won’t be shed before bedtime. Filled with emotional departures, reunions, and other huge moments, there are points where I wasn’t sure if I was going to laugh, cry, cheer, or emit a strange combination of all three. AVENGERS: ENDGAME has its cake and devours it whole. It deserves every damn crumb.
Even with the Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer playing in front of most screenings here, where the MCU goes next is something we can only guess at. The door is left open for alternate tales from elsewhere in the universe, even if it is the end of the road for some characters. Yet it scarcely seems to matter. AVENGERS: ENDGAME lives up to its title by letting a monumental story come to a close, bringing together a group of of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, and to fight the battles that we never could.
2019 | US | DIRECTOR: Joe Russo and Anthony Russo | WRITERS: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely | CAST: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney | RUNNING TIME: 181 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 24 April 2018 (AUS)
