Avengers: Endgame

2019 blockbuster

Rating: 14/20 (Dylan: 14/20; Abbey: 12/20)

Plot: The superheroes still around after the last blockbuster try to undo the last blockbuster by finding Thanos and his bejeweled glove and engaging in space magic.

Space magic. I think that's the exact words one of the characters uses to help explain something that happens in this movie. I'm often made fun of by my son for not understanding superhero movies, but I think that's because I try to piece everything together in logical ways, the kind of thing a fuddy duddy would do. If I were more willing to shrug and accept the space magic, it's possible that I would like these more than I do. I did feel a little better watching one scene in this when Thor is explaining the entire plot of one of his movies--one I definitely didn't understand--and the characters listening to him seemed as confused as I did.

This pulls twenty-one films together, blends humor and drama, and gives big character moments time to breathe much more effectively than its predecessor. Three hours seems long for a superhero movie. I mean, just ask my ass! But kudos to the Marvel team for allowing for some time for both the characters and audience to reflect. The individual character arcs almost work because there's space.

Are there some really clumsy moments and large chunks of plot that don't work if you put any thought into what's happening at all? Well, yes. With the type of plan the heroes come up with to try to save their pals and the world, there's bound to be some issues with logic. My comic aficionado friend assures me that it makes more sense than I think it does; nevertheless, he was unable to answer a couple of questions that I had. While almost all of the humor worked--Rudd was funny, and if you know anything about me at all, you know I loved what they did with Thor's character in this--and a lot of the drama and emotion worked, very little of the action sequences did. A final showdown is completely ludicrous and, at least for an old guy like me, nearly impossible to follow. A scene with Hawkeye doesn't really fit stylistically with the rest of these movies but was aesthetically pleasing, and I almost liked a brief action scene early in the proceedings. The film's self-referential to the point where it's almost masturbatory, but aside from the times when it kind of spills all over itself, it's very entertaining and fairly emotional.

The theater, of course, was packed, and watching this with people who are bigger fans than me was part of the fun. There were two characters in particular who got loud cheers, and one big heroic moment that made people jump out of their chairs. I think a guy a few seats down from me even took off his pants.

I did get a dirty look when I snickered at a line of dialogue about cheeseburgers. I'm fairly positive I wasn't able to identify an allusion to a line or scene in an earlier movie or something.