+ Best Blockbuster of the Year (2,797.3 mil. $ gross) + Best Superhero Movie of the Year + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 761.9 mil. $ range
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| A traditionally character-stuffed poster for Anthony and Joe Russo's Avengers: Endgame |
In the wake of Thanos' decimation of the Avengers and half of all life in the universe as such, the remaining heroes gather around a time-traveling plan to reverse the disaster and defeat the purple giant.
Avengers: Endgame is written by Christopher Markus (You Kill Me (2007)) and Stephen McFreely (Pain & Gain (2013)) and directed by great Ohioan brother filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo (Pieces (1997)). It is by far the best of the now four Avengers movies, as well as the provisional climax of the now 22 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The film picks up after the surprising ending of the preceding chapter, Avengers: Infinity War (2018), which killed off several major characters, (Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Peter 'Star-Lord' Quill among others), which has added some emotional depth to the narrative, - whether it is fully absorbed or not, (I for one have a hard time getting very emotionally invested in the Avengers superhero mashup, but I can recognize the narrative's bloom anyway.)
Absent in Infinity War, Paul Rudd's (The Catcher Was a Spy (2018)) Scott 'Ant-Man' Lang turns up with the impetus for the solution to the catastrophe: And no one with pop culture background should be surprised to learn that it is a time machine. Rudd also adds fun, - as does Chris Hemsworth (In the Heart of the Sea (2015)) as a flabby, almost obese Thor, - to the increasingly complex plot, which is luckily highly entertaining, even if certain parts of it fly by without achieving full comprehension. Brie Larson's (21 Jump Street (2012)) Carol 'Captain Marvel' Danvers turns up, - and for us who haven't yet seen Captain Marvel (2019), she arrives out of the blue, full of power, but without us gaining much insight into who she is here.
Excitement is successfully built up in the long narrative, and the co-working of the many characters that we have gotten to know through the various individual character movies, is satisfying. The action sequences and especially the ending are thrilling, and Josh Brolin's (The Dead Girl (2006)) motion-captured Thanos is plenty fascinating as a villain and visually enticing piece of work to center another film.
The ending of this super-length superhero extravaganza also has a super-length denouement, SPOILER as Tony 'Iron Man' Stark (Robert Downey Jr. (Bowfinger (1999)) is buried and Steve 'Captain America' Rogers (Chris Evans (The Paper Boy (2003, short))) passes his gauntlet on to Sam 'Falcon' Wilson, the new Captain America, it seems, and it almost - only almost - wears out the film's welcome.
The list of stars in Endgame seems never-ending, and thankfully, Marvel and the Russos have succeeded in making a great and very impressive piece of entertainment out of this colossal spectacle.
Related posts:
The Avengers franchise: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2019 in films - according to Film Excess
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Whedon disappoints with less fun, huge, ugly sequel
The Avengers/Avengers Assemble (2012) or, Farty Latex Suits: Gather!
Cost: 356 mil. $
Box office: 2,714.1 mil. $ and counting
= Huge hit (has returned its cost 7.62 times as of writing this)
[Avengers: Endgame premiered 22 April (Los Angeles, California) and runs 181 minutes. Shooting took place in Georgia, including Atlanta, and in the UK from August 2017 - January 2018. Re-shoots took place from September - October 2018 and in January 2019. Evans and Hemsworth were paid 15 mil. $ each for their performances. Russian authorities delayed the film's release in Russia to protect local films' performances. It opened #1 to a 357.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another 2 weeks and spent the following 2 in the top 5 (#2-#3), where it may yet return. It has grossed 815.7 mil. $ domestically, where several AMC theaters stayed open 24 hours a day to screen the film around the clock. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets yet are China (614.3 mil. $) and the UK (111.4 mil. $). It is the highest-grossing film of the year, highest-grossing superhero movie of all time, 2nd highest-grossing movie of all time (only beaten by Avatar (2009)), and 5th highest-grossing of all time when adjusted for inflation. It made 1 bil. $ in 5 days, - the fastest ever for a film. The Russo brothers are in pre-production with their next film, Cherry (2020), a war/drug/heist-themed drama with Tom Holland (Spider-Man). Downey Jr. returns in The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle (2020), Evans in Knives Out (2019), and Brolin in Dune (2020). Avengers: Endgame is certified fresh at 94 % with an 8.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Avengers: Endgame?
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