This is a lot to take in, but let’s do this. If you never watched or read the Infinity War or Infinity Gauntlet comic book (which is what the film is based on) you won’t get a full understanding of what’s going on. But if you follow the films you should be able to understand the overall storyline.
The film started slow, which is ok since it’s a three-hour long movie, but then it picks up where Infinity War ended. The team has a lingering problem they need to rectify but aren’t sure which direction to go afterward. As time moves on, the team’s adjustment to their new reality doesn’t go smoothly. Thor gains weight, Hawkeye becomes Ronin essentially, Hulk becomes a professor, so to sum it up, a lot of things have changed. Then out of nowhere, Ant-Man comes on the scene (like in the trailer) and crashes the party with some fresh ideas.
This is where the comic books come into play. The film follows the comics pretty closely (I’ll just leave it at that). Nebula plays a big role in the comics and plays a similar role in the film (doing my best to stay #spoilerfree so bear with me).
About halfway through the film, I was convinced that Infinity War was better than End Game. But once the movie picked up, I was on the edge of my seat the rest of the way.
I didn’t want Captain Marvel to be the end-all when it came to fighting Thanos and she wasn’t (thank goodness) because if that was the case, End Game would’ve been a 30-minute movie. She came, she did what she needed to do, but she wasn’t the one to beat Thanos. They even had an all-female moment that was absolutely amazing. Some real, true #girlpower, “I am woman hear me roar!” type of action. We (press) even applauded when it happened.
There was so much going on that at one point, it was too much to take in. It was complete sensory overload. But when it all comes together it’s absolutely gorgeous. There are loads of touching scenes with various characters so it’s no surprise that the theatre erupted into tears.
The women had their moment, there were tons of Easter Eggs, Thor turns into Big Lebowski, and that’s all I can really detail without spoiling it.
I give Avengers: End Game a 9 out of 10. But what’s next? I called it last year on the red carpet for Infinity War at The Fox Theatre about Avengers vs. X-Men. How will everything be introduced? Will we have to watch the Disney TV shows in order to follow? They left a lot of things open. If you haven’t read the Infinity War comic books, you definitely should so you can have a deeper understanding of what’s going on and some of the Easter Eggs.
TBZ out!
-TBZ
(I’ll post a more detailed review two weeks after the film’s release)
Photos: Courtesy of Marvel/Disney