Already grossing nearly $2.5 billion worldwide at the box office, “Avengers: Endgame” is perhaps the biggest film event of the year. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe waited a year for the studio to deliver an epic conclusion that united all of the superheroes to defeat the mad titan Thanos, and directors Joe and Anthony Russo did not disappoint.
I’ll admit by saying that I do not consider myself a Marvel fan and find most of their films to be uninteresting and repetitive. Yet with the last two “Avengers” films, The Russo Brothers were able to craft something special. Not only did they make engaging films that balanced action and story, but they paid tribute to the characters that so many people love, beautifully.
With “Endgame,” not one second of the three-hour film felt redundant or useless. The pacing of the remaining Avengers’ time-travel mission may not have been as exciting as fans had hoped, but the process of undoing Thanos’ snap lead to a spectacular ending battle that united nearly every single Marvel character against Thanos and his army.
“Endgame” stands out amongst other Marvel films due to how it gives a strong effort to humanize the seemingly invincible superheroes and makes them vulnerable. While certainly not a complex drama, “Endgame” shined in its final tribute to the assembled heroes and blended its incredible action with a warm heart.
Most gigantic blockbusters these days ignore the use of character development and rely solely on visual spectacles and explosions, but Marvel refuses to conform to its genre’s norms.
I appreciated “Endgame” more than any other film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even though I liked and enjoyed films like “Infinity War” and the two “Guardians of the Galaxy” installments much more. What “Endgame” did was tie together a decade’s worth of stories and include them in an organized and pleasing fashion that was a love-letter to fans of the franchise. Considering how millions of people are obsessed with Marvel superheroes and their films, one can only enjoy sharing a part of the glory this enormous franchise has generated.
While “Endgame” was highly predictable, it offered plenty of surprises, laughs and tears as one of the biggest series in cinematic history concluded. It was the ultimate popcorn movie that was not only a very satisfying conclusion to most Marvel characters, but pure entertainment at its very finest.
Final Grade: A-
Dominic LeRose is a staff writer for the Daily Cardinal. To read more of his work, click here.
