A sight for sore eyes.
If Avengers: Endgame is anything, it’s a visual delight worthy of being savored. When it comes to a Marvel movie, great visuals and superlative VFX are par for the course. But even by those admittedly high standards, Endgame stood out for the otherworldly grandeur that it offered – both literally and figuratively.
But great visuals and effects are only one part of a movie. The other, of course, is storytelling. Here, the victory is not quite as complete or resounding.
The thing that sets Endgame apart from other superhero movies – or movies in general – is that it is not one story. It is, in fact, a culmination of numerous different stories.
This permutation and combination of many different storylines was what made Endgame what it is – epic, grand, and kind of confusing.
Multiple Storylines, a Multitude of Heroes
The film’s greatest strength was also its greatest weakness. It brought the stories of all the Avengers to an epic and satisfying close, giving long-time Marvel fans some much needed closure and catharsis.
Not just the Avengers, but the Guardians of the Galaxy as well as the Agents of Shield also got the denouement that they deserved. Well, those of them that were left alive, anyway.
The problem with this, however, was that in telling the stories of so many different people who were doing so many different things, the movie at some points seemed to lack a clear focus.
Just as you’d start to get invested in a certain group of characters and their journey, the focus would shift to another group. Just as you began rooting for one cause, another operation will take its place and the conflicts and stakes would be flipped over once again.
The Perfect Movie for Old Fans
And with so many characters – every one of them the hero of his or her own story, having his or her own motivations and conflicts and desires – it’s not hard to get confused about who is doing what and for what reason.
While hardcore fans are bound to enjoy the coming together of so many different storylines and characters, more casual viewers might be left reeling, trying to piece together the many moving parts of this massive jigsaw puzzle of a film.
A Hard-Hitting Emotional Journey
That said, what Avengers: Endgame got right was the sense of desperation, urgency, and hopelessness that permeated almost each and every scene, particularly in the first half of the movie.
It wouldn’t be overkill to say that more than any other film in the Infinity Saga, Endgame humanized the Avengers. In this movie, the heroes were more than just epic and aspirational, they were relatable.
They were real, breathing human beings with the capacity to feel real, visceral pain; debilitating guilt and all-consuming despair that drove them to make questionable decisions over and over again.
As the remaining Avengers raced against and played with time to undo what Thanos had done with a snap of his fingers at the end of Infinity War, their loss, grief, and pain was left bare for all to see. And it was both inspiring and heart-wrenching at the same time.
Epic Action and a Dream Come True
The final action set-piece of the movie, the ‘war scene’ for lack of a better word, was all that any superhero enthusiast could have wished for, and so much more!
Mind blowing action sequences worked beautifully together with heartfelt emotional moments to create a memorable scene that fans will cherish for years to come.
To sum up, Avengers: Endgame, the last installment of the Infinity Saga, was every Marvel fan’s dream come true. An epic and emotionally hard-hitting finale to a much-loved franchise, it is definitely worth a watch.
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