Before I start, I acknowledge that Avengers: Endgame has been getting an 80% positive rating both by critics and moviegoers. And I can even understand why, as it is an entertaining movie, both in action and humor. But I’m siding with the 20%, and I hope my review sufficiently explains why. I fully accept the fact that after reading this, there’s an 80% chance you won’t agree with me. And that’s perfectly fine, as I am glad people are enjoying the film! It’s not the worst one ever made, and certainly not as bad as its prequel. So let’s explore why I didn’t like it quite as much as most.
Last year around this time, the movie Avengers: Infinity War came out, the first of a two-part series ending battle that would pit the mostly inane, mental case Avengers against an intergalactic adversary named Thanos who was literally invincible. That should be a red flag right there. And it was (to me at least), if you read my scorching review of the film.
In short, Infinity War was a story about Thanos’ quest to collect five different colored stones, called infinity stones, which, when together and activated, would give him ultimate power in the universe while eliminating half of its occupants in order to solve a misconceived overpopulation problem. The Avengers failed to stop Thanos, and half of the earth’s population dissolved into dust at the movies end. Including many of the Avengers. A movie where the superheroes fail. Just what everyone wants to pay ten bucks to watch! I know, it was an obvious ploy to extend this story into a two-parter. But as a stand alone film, Infinity War stunk.
The primary plot in this years sequel, Avengers: Endgame, had the surviving Avengers, who just happen to include the original Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk, as well as Hawkeye, Black Widow, and a couple non-Avengers, trying to figure out how to bring back the disintegrated 50%. And defeat Thanos, of course. The latter, quite surprising, was done effortlessly about 15 minutes into the movie when they tracked down the now powerless Thanos (the activation of the infinity stones took all of the power he had), on a remote planet.
With Thanos gone and the infinity stones no longer available, the remaining heroes devise a plan to go back in time and retrieve all five infinity stones before Thanos originally gets his chance to collect them. Then, hopefully, when one of the Avengers activates the infinity stones, which involves putting on a glove that contains all five of the stones implanted in it, everything would be reversed and billions of people returned. Two problems though. One, no one had a clue if this would work. And two, traveling in time had not yet been perfected. But no worries, in as perfect as perfect timing can be, we are taken to Tony Stark’s lab the moment he solves the mystery of time travel. Ant-Man’s testing of it was pretty funny, I have to say. So problem # 2 solved.
The remaining Avengers then team up and return to various times in the past to snag the well-guarded infinity stones. And that’s actually where the best part of the movie occurs, as we get to relive some of the moments from prior Avenger group and individual films. Of course, getting the stones isn’t easy for any of them, as, expectedly, unexpected obstacles crop up to delay all of them from achieving their goals. A five year old kid could see that coming. But still, some nice moments came out of these excavation adventures. Particularly when Tony Stark (Ironman) runs into his dad, and Captain America into an old flame.
Not to give too much away, but one of the non-Avengers would meet with a particularly serious obstacle in their quest that would eventually blow a hole into the Avengers plan and ultimately make it possible for Thanos of the past to enter into the present day. And then, like in Infinity War, we get to watch the mighty Avengers get their butts kicked again. All of the Avengers, and I mean all, bounce of Thanos like a rubber ball. Sure, they initially get the upper hand against Thanos to give the viewer hope, but are then quickly swatted away like a fly and stomped in the ground. Old, predictable movie making technique. Did like the scene when all of the women Avengers and heroes gathered and did a female group attack on Thanos. Think the movie makers were sending a message there?!
Even Captain Marvel was ineffective, which surprised me. Last year’s movie ended with a call to Captain Marvel, and then there was a big hullabaloo when she had her own movie back in March. In the first 20 minutes of this movie, she did save Tony Stark, which was a pretty good scene, and she did some reconnaissance on a planet Thanos was on for the remaining Avengers. But then she basically disappeared until the end of the movie, returning just in time to get her butt kicked by Thanos as well. Not quite sure what the movie makers were thinking. Well, actually I do, because not being able to destroy Thanos physically set up another plot twist that led to the film’s unfortunate ending.
Because of their ineptness and ineffectiveness to fight Thanos, a sacrifice had to be made in order to stop the thug for good. All an obvious ploy to introduce a sentimental, heart tugging ending to the original Avengers saga. Blah. Because of circumstances that I won’t reveal so not to spoil the movie too much, if I haven't already, the movie makers of Endgame went the mushy, pass me the tissue route, which, personally, had my eyes rolling, not watering. Not that I don’t like movies that do that. I actually do. But not in this kind of movie! These are superheroes. They come, they’re tough, they fight, they conquer. That’s it! Read the original comics and that’s what you see. You’ll never see an instance where they face an opponent who continually pummels, outsmarts and completely embarrasses them. In short, Thanos was made to be too strong in these films. That's the bottom line. But he almost had to be in order for them to do the ending they wanted to. So yes, the ending was a bit of a disappointment for me. Watching Thanos slowly dissolve into dust like the wicked witch of the west in the Wizard of Oz just didn’t satisfy all of the frustration I had to sit through the past five hours of both films to get to that point!
I actually had high hopes for this years sequel, which has been getting pretty good reviews, as I mentioned earlier. But unfortunately, at least for me, it was mostly the same old thing. Certainly better than last year’s disaster, the script and direction continued to prove, however, that these writers and directors apparently have very little loyalty to the original franchise, and no idea how to transform the persona of the original characters to the big screen. They basically bought the rights to a franchise and then formed the characters the way they wanted in order to tell a story they wanted to tell.
Examples you say? How about a fat, alcoholic Thor? Or a hippy dippy Hulk (Hulk body, Banner personality). Funny, sure. But totally against the traits of the original characters. Something Stan Lee and the original comic book writers never came close to even hinting at in their original writings. Sure, the old comics did reveal and examine the vulnerabilities each superhero had, but the characters never became mental basket-cases like some did in these last two movies. And Captain America suddenly being able to use Thor’s hammer (something he was unable to do in the first Avengers movie)? Please.
Actor-wise, all of the characters are well cast and always have been. Mark Ruffalo in particular is good as Hulk/Bruce Banner. But, unfortunately, like in Xfinity Wars, the Hulk was underused and basically useless as an Avenger in Endgame as well. He was frequently used in a comic relief role. Strange. Oh, and speaking of strange, I do like Dr. Strange, I have to say. Benedict Cumberbatch really nails the role and is literally the perfect actor for that character.
So yes, yes, I’m a traditionalist and probably taking this too seriously. I admit it! I will grant it that this movie was entertaining in its way, but it bugs me when people take something that millions of us baby boomers or Gen X kids of the sixties and seventies grew up with, apparently knowing little to nothing about it, and then changing it to fit their vision so they can earn a buck. But all blame can’t be placed on the movie makers, evidently, as I read recently that Thor actor Chris Hemsworth insisted on the fat Thor idea being used. A quick check shows that he was born in 1983. That would explain it.
So have I liked any of these new crop of Avenger group or solo movies since they started coming out in 2008? The first of each (Iron Man - 2008, Thor and Captain America - 2011, The Avengers - 2012) weren’t actually too bad. But they were created by different writers and directors who obviously had some connection with the characters in their past. And I have a feeling that a healthier Stan Lee had a little more say in those films. But these last two have been pretty weak, in my opinion. Now the two Ant-Man movies? That’s something else. Two thumbs up for those!
