By Laurie Coker
Rating: A
Even the tiniest towns in the most rural areas waited to pack theaters for opening night and weekend of Avengers: End Game. The buzz is significant, and the box office on this most recent in the series stands to bust box in an even bigger way. In true form, the gang is back in full force, not only bringing this leg of the adventure to a close and passing the reins to the next crew of crusaders, but. Visually stunning with ample nods and cameos in all the right places, End Game will please fans of the franchise. It demonstrates that Marvel and Disney managed a meaningful and masterful end to an epic series, which leads the way for future superheroes to continue to sentry over the Marvel universe.
Picking up where Infinity War left off the surviving Avengers of The Snap – including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) – must come together to undo the damage caused by the sinister, and superbly pissed off Thanos (Josh Brolin). At least half of the world’s inhabitants will cease to exist if the Avengers cannot unite. In End Game, it is not so much whether the group can rally, but whether or not their personalities or their egos can be parked long enough for the team to save the world. Ultimately, they triumph but not before a barrage of witty and emotional verbal banter and colossal physical altercations.
With so much superhero baggage, some Avengers are a bit worse for the wear, but the team and the actors that play them do not disappoint. Battle scenes, too, are action-packed eye-candy. The CGI is not nearly as seamless as expected in 2019, or perhaps more accurately, the more ambitious battle sequences are somewhat obviously CGI. Still, none of this distracts from the epic and emotional finale. With no “bumper” at the end of final credits, there is not a blatant continuation, but spinoff opportunities abound.
Diehard Avengers fans could fall into a state of perpetual melancholy except, where there are young superheroes, there is hope, and End Game promises that they are watching over humanity. The three-hour long End Game is an extraordinary achievement (22 previous films leading to it), and while the Marvel Cinematic Universe will undoubtedly continue beyond it, we should appreciate the astonishing feat of well-blended storytelling that this film symbolizes.