It’s been eleven years since Marvel Studios released its
first entry, Iron Man (2008). It’s been one year since audiences were hit
with a gut-punch of a cliff-hanger with the end of Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Avengers:
Endgame, directed by Anthony and Joseph V. Russo, not only concludes the Infinity War storyline, but also an era of
filmmaking. It honors what came before while hinting at what’s to come, all the
while presenting it epically, if not evenly.
The mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) has succeeded in his plan
to wipe half of all life from the universe, including a good chunk of Our Heroes,
leaving the survivors Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.); Captain America (Chris
Evans); Thor (Chris Hemsworth); Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson); the Hulk (Mark
Ruafflo); War Machine (Don Cheadle); Rocket (Bradley Cooper); and Hawkeye (Jeremy
Renner), reeling from their collective and personal losses. A glimmer of hope
comes in the form of the once-thought “dusted” Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), which leads
the remaining Avengers to embark on a journey through time and space to put
things right once and for all, a journey replete with trial, pain, heroism, and
triumph, but not without loss.
The source may come from comics, but the Russos don’t treat the
material as such. There is an overwhelming gravitas from the beginning, with each
character trying to cope with the aftermath of their defeat in their own way.
Just as it seems the film will be bogged down by that sense of oppression, the
plot kicks into high gear with a narrative that is filled with homages and nods
to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s collective history. Yet its to the Russo’s credit
that the film never loses sight of the stakes not just from a universal
standpoint, but for the characters own journeys whether it be ensuring family
safety or suffering from PTSD; the end results of same being highly effective
for some characters, egregiously ball-dropping and insulting for others (not
just for a character in particular, but ideologies as a whole). What could have
been a very dramatic examination of survivor’s guilt is offset with comedy of a,
shall we say, derogatory connotations. To say more would be spoiling, but
suffice to say that it’s one of the more off-putting, quixotic elements of the
film, even if it does come with a very emotional payoff of its own.
With a cast this
large, it would be expected that some character arcs would fall by the wayside
but, given that the majority of the film focuses on the original line-up as
presented in The Avengers, the
slights are particularly deplorable. But on the flip side, when the arcs work,
they are emotionally resonant. The film’s greatest asset is also its greatest
weakness. It cannot stand alone as its own entity (which makes it so difficult
to review in some respects) for not only does it rely on the film that came
before it, but also on the audience’s emotional investment to these characters
for over a decade. Without same, the film would be robbed of its dramatic heft.
Yet it makes good use of said investment, creating a story that is epic in
scope yet human in presentation. Yet all the goodwill in the world cannot save
a film from bad acting, and all the actors, from franchise starter Downey, Jr.
to latest additions Tom Holland (Spider-Man) to Brie Larson (Captain Marvel,
who doesn’t have all that much to do in this film despite fears of acting as deux ex machina) dial their acting talents to “11” into
this film to deliver a solid dramatic piece. It’s a cliché to say “you’ll laugh,
you’ll cry, it’ll be a part of you”, but for this film it’s a certainty, and
for as much of that credit goes to the directors and actors, a good chunk of it
has to go to composer Alan Silvestri who, after mostly repetitive orchestrations
in the past couple of years, delivers a score as powerfully evocative as the
narrative it supports. It is a varied soundtrack that is by turns ominous,
defeatist, light, humorous, rousing, heroic and, dare I say, epic. In truth, all involved in the production have
brought their “A” game (pun intended) and it shows on the screen.
Speaking as a life-long comic book fan, however, the film is
perhaps the closest representation to a living comic book put to screen. It’s
the double-sized annual concluding a multi-issue story arc and presents it with
all the grandeur and spectacle that is expected from the source medium. It
builds to a rousing climax, even if it the denouement leaves the audience scratching
their heads in some instances. Yes, it’s calculatedly manipulative. But then, aren’t all movies?
Avengers: Endgame
serves as a definitive statement of Marvel Studios’ dominance of the superhero
film market. It marks the end of an era in some respects, and the beginning of the
new in others, and does so with bombastic yet human style. It’s a film that, despite
its narrative flaws and hiccups, makes the use of its…assemblage…for an epic,
dramatic whole.
