We are rapidly approaching the summer film season--not quite there, however close enough to give us a taste of those films with the release of "Avengers: Endgame". As with the previous films of this franchise, this will give the audience what they expect out of this conclusion--replete with adventure, humor and several twists and turns in which to entertain.
Adrift in space with no food or water, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) sends a message to Penny Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) as his oxygen supply starts to dwindle. Meanwhile, the remaining Avengers--Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo)--must figure out a way to bring back their vanquished allies for an epic showdown with Thanos (Josh Brolin)--the evil demigod who decimated the planet and the universe. These fractured Avengers work to compel the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios' grand conclusion to twenty-two films.
Others to round out the cast are Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther, Todd Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp and Chris Pratt as Quill.
This was directed by two directors that are quite familiar with this genre, if not this franchise, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo ("L.A.X. 2194" (TV movie) '94, "Pieces" '97, "Welcome to Collinwood" '02, "You, Me & Dupree" '06, "Courtroom K" (TV movie) '08, "The Council of Dads" (TV movie) '11, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" '14, "Captain America: Civil War" '16, "Avengers: Infinity War" '18) plus TV and shorts. As previously mentioned, these directors are familiar with this franchise, so the ability to direct these actors was fairly easy considering they were playing the same characters. Even with this observation, this was still powerfully staged and paced probably because they did know the characters well. If you like this brand of directing, their "Cherry" is in pre-production as of now. As with the directors, this was written by familiar writers to the franchise as well, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely ("The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" (teleplay) '04, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" '05, "You Kill Me" '07, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" '08, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" '10, "Captain America: The First Avenger" '11, "Pain & Gain" '13, "Thor: The Dark World" '13, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" '14, "Captain America: Civil War" '16, "Avengers: Infinity War" '18) plus TV, based on the Marvel comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Not only are these two team writers familiar with this franchise, but with the 'comic book' film realm as well. Certainly big-budget films are their bread and butter, but it would be interesting to see them write a screenplay that is smaller in scale. Although this was handled well--movement, photography, stunts, visuals, etc., I believe, because of the massive amount of characters on the screen, it became a bit too much on the screen, and therefore became a little distracting. However, as the film progressed, it became absolutely captivating making valuable use of the characters at hand. The visual effects predominantly designed by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic), Double Negative and Weta Digital were, as usual, seamless.
Even though this is the end of this franchise, we must remember the quote by Dr. Seuss: "don't cry because it's over, smile because you saw it". There are some twists and turns to peak your interest, and it does leave us with a bittersweet ending, but it was a good run. And who knows, it does kind of leave you with an open ending, however, it would be a stretch to continue this. You must see this on the big screen since it's in a nifty IMAX and Super 70 Panavision format. Grab the popcorn and enjoy!
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: PG-13 181mins.
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