Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson. Directed by the Russo Brothers.
For nearly forty years The Empire Strikes Back remained the high watermark for downbeat endings. Vader lopped off Luke’s hand, told him his true parentage, Lando sold out his bestie Han to Jabba and was now encased in stone, Leia was planet-less, leading a rebellion against a stronger army, the rebels were outgunned, the Empire stronger than ever. Together, but hurt and damaged, they put together a plan to crush the Empire.
But that ending was dethroned last year. Thanos, the great big purple space baddie collected his cosmic stones, gloved up and with a snap of his giant fingers killed half of all life in the universe. The ending was bleak – a devastated Tony Stark sits contemplating his fate, the remaining Avengers sit in the jungles of Wakanda having failed in their life’s work, and Thanos? Doing exactly what he said he’d do. Sitting on his porch, watching the sun set on a universe he had changed.
It’s been a year since Anthony and Joe Russo – along with writing team Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely, under guidance from Kevin Feige – gave us an ending that left cinemas in silence. And what now? The finest hour of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is upon us. Twenty-two movies, two ABC shows, a Hulu, an FX and six Netflix shows, countless additional content come together as the universe asks – what do we do when evil wins?
The Russos have requested we not spoil the Endgame, and No Majesty obeys the demands of Thanos for silence, but picking up from the previous film Endgame, is a three hour comic book epic, filled with laughs, tears, break neck action, mind bending ideas and actors having the time of their lives.
From the off Anthony and Joe Russo know they’re telling a story of two tones, half a sombre reflective tale about dealing with loss and defeat, the other a getting the band back together story in which the remaining heroes must band together to do what needs doing in order to save everyone the hold close. Marvel in the past have had complaints that death doesn’t stick – needless to say, death is permanent in this movie, and the Russos are out for blood.
Josh Brolin is still the MVP of this two-part story, Thanos is one of the most perfectly realised Performance Capture characters of all time, and despite less focus on him this time around, there is still the nuance that made him so compelling in Infinity War.
Similarly Alan Silvestri’s score manages to weave music from every film previously, musical motifs that could possible refer to any number of films and moments from the previous years. And that is what the film revels in.
It’s good it came out after Easter because it’s an Easter Egg huntathon, from props, characters, lines of dialogue, the film is filled with references from previous movies becoming the culmination of everything we have witnessed, and it pays to be a fan of the franchise because the movie doesn’t flag the references or cameos, they’re there for the keen fan to pick up on.
The film is also an emotional ride, offering that one thing we always understood about the Marvel movies, hope is the key, that despite what The Mandarin scoffed in Iron Man Three, heroes? There is such a thing. The gags we’ve come to expect from Marvel films is here, the Russo brothers have visual flair and know when a cameo is out of place and when it will help.
While the plot admittedly is a bit insane, the film has earned the right to be like a crazy episode of Star Trek, and when it goes mad, it goes for it full throttle.
That’s not to say there isn’t action, if you want armies clashing, super power smack downs, for a movie to act like kids tipping out their marvel toys and smashing them into each other, then Infinity War ain’t got nothin’ on Endgame. The fights, action, payoffs are the biggest and best the series has had, it’s the culmination of an entire universe and it’s a film that wants us to cheer – and you will, it won’t be a conscious choice either, it becomes part of your marrow to clap and cheer at certain points.
This is the highest benchmark for what a shared cinematic universe can do and it is incredible. Spider-Man: Far From Home will be swinging into cinemas in two months time, and while it’s exciting, it’s impossible not to watch this and think – the hell are we supposed to move on?
