Movie Review: Avengers Endgame
There are two views of Avengers: Endgame — the standard and the meta. The standard view is to just judge the story and events in the context of the MCU. On that level, it’s pretty average. The time travel storyline is, as expected, very wonky and silly, breaking its own rules at several points. The action is not as good as in Infinity War and Thanos has lost all of his gravity. There are some funny moments, and the ending is strong — particularly the sendoff for the four original main Avengers. However let us consider the meta view — the wider idea of what Endgame represents. It is the culmination of over a decade of planning and production. From that perspective, it is an incredible creative achievement. Few studios have the nerve to even try such a feat.
To see so many of my childhood heroes on screen kicking ass is just cool, even if I dislike many of the specific artistic choices. I appreciate the writers, directors, actors, and all creative people involved for bringing this into the world. Would that they had ended the MCU experiment here. Alas there was just too much money to be made. Perhaps it is no surprise that most of what has followed Endgame on Disney+ and in theaters has been uninspired dreck. Soulless commodification and politicization of beloved franchises has been Disney’s modus operandi with Star Wars, live action remakes, videogames, and virtually their entire content catalog. Endgame was for me, thankfully, a great opportunity to step away. Thanks for that, Disney.
Grade: B
