Avengers: Endgame - The Review

Well, when they said Endgame they meant it.

I have to say the film is amazing.  Especially as an encapsulation of 11 years worth of storytelling.  The gamble of putting a cameo at the end of the credits in Iron Man back in 2008 to say the words "Avengers Initiative" worked and worked spectacularly.  This film is a love letter to the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe that has been created and to the fans that have supported it.

It's beautiful to see how it pays off moments in the comics and where it diverges from them.  The strength of the MCU has always been in taking the best of what works in the comics and staying true to it, but not being afraid to make their own twists and turns along the way.

I cried two and a half times.  I audibly cheered and punched the air for at least one moment.  In short, this was exactly the movie that I was waiting for.

Is it the greatest movie ever put to film?  No.  But that is not what it is striving to be.  This is the bookend to the first chapter of the Marvel Universe.  And it ends with a bang.

A few scattered thoughts:

• This is definitely not a place to start watching Marvel movies.  If you have never seen another Marvel movie, you will be very lost.
• There is one moment that fans have been waiting for since 2012.  This was the fist pump moment.
• There is another moment that is a payoff for a bit from 2015.
• There are so many nods to everything throughout the MCU.
• These actors are on the top of their game.  There are so many nuanced emotions displayed on the screen.  There are a couple that are masterclass moments in how to display emotion.  In particular Paul Rudd, Jeremy Renner, and Jon Favreau.
• There is finally a cameo from the television series and its quite unexpected and perfect.
• The best things about this film is that every development is driven by character.  The moments that pay off are defined by character development.
• This film is chock full of cameos and many surprising cameos.
• Stan Lee's final cameo is great.
• It's a great decision not to have a stinger in the credits.  It means this is a closing of a chapter.
• The new status quo is interesting.  And in the grand Marvel tradition, they've given themselves enough wiggle-room for everything to stick or to change depending on where they want to go.
• The movie is long, but doesn't feel it.  There is so much packed in this movie, that it keeps moving and shifting at a brisk pace.
• The payoff is incredible.  It moves from one of my favorite shots in the MCU ever, to an epic battle on a scale that has not been shown before.

I still can't believe they did it.  

I'm glad they did.  And I'm ready to see it again.