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#MovieMonday: Avengers: Endgame Review: Slow Start with a Predictable & Satisfying Ending

2019-04-29 , 10:00 am

Disclaimer: this review does not contain spoilers. So go ahead and read it even if you’ve not watched the movie yet.

If you’ve not heard of Avengers: Endgame, you must be either trapped in a quantum realm, or you’re one of those people who’s turned into ashes after Avengers: Infinity War.

People all over the world take this movie seriously; so serious that someone allegedly got beaten up when he leaked spoilers outside a Hong Kong cinema.

And over in Singapore, getting a ticket to the movie is as difficult as finding an influencer who doesn’t travel or go to hipster places; the last I checked, even timings after 12:00 a.m. during the weekend is full, unless you’re willing to sit just in front of the screen to check out Captain America’s butt.

The movie, which cost a whopping USD$356 million to make, has numbers to back up its throne as the most highly anticipated movie of the century: it has broken every record it can break so far, from the highest opening day to the highest weekend opening to the highest-grossing film in 2019 and more.

Now, remember: the movie’s only out for a few days, so I bet Nick Fury’s other eyeball that it’ll be the highest-grossing film of all time.

Just for the record, it has already earned USD$1.2 billion—while its predecessor earned a total of USD$2 billion.

You get the gist.

Now, here’s a little background before we start on the review.

Last Film in MCU Phase 3 and the Infinity Saga

Lest you’re not aware, there has been 21 MCU movies prior to Endgame: they’re split into three different phases, but they’re all under the “Infinity Saga”—the story of those colourful glowing stones that you see in the movies.

Endgame is the last movie of Phase 3 and the Infinity Saga—in other words, it’s not the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You’re going to see more MCU movies ~~to milk money out from us~~, but they might not be about colourful stones.

What lies ahead is unknown, although the MCU might now spin out more to the small screen as Disney is looking to launch their streaming service with original contents to compete with Netflix.

So, what’s Endgame all about?

You’d have known that in the last movie, Thanos snapped his finger with the Infinity Gauntlet and wiped out half the universe population, including some of our favourite characters like Batman and Superman Spider-Man and Dr Strange.

This movie is a direct sequel to that, and here’s the official synopsis of the movie:

Adrift in space with no food or water, Tony Stark sends a message to Pepper Potts as his oxygen supply starts to dwindle. Meanwhile, the remaining Avengers — Thor, Black Widow, Captain America and Bruce Banner — must figure out a way to bring back their vanquished allies for an epic showdown with Thanos — the evil demigod who decimated the planet and the universe.

And the reviews so far?

There has been nothing but praises.

Getting a 96% approval rating in Rotten Tomatoes is a dream come true for any movie-maker, so is it really that good, or are fanboys and fangirls just swiping right on any MCU movie?

Let’s find out.

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Before anything, do remember: this is my personal opinion. If you disagree with me and want to throw rotten eggs to the Goody Feed office, please ensure that the eggs are cooked because we’ve no stove in the office.

Well, here goes nothing.

Slow Start

One of the issues I’ve with the movie is the extremely slow start: I understand Marvel’s trying to get us to feel for the characters who’ve lost their friends and family members, but this’s an MCU movie: we’re expecting a fast-paced movie right from the start, or at least, say, after 20 minutes.

But no—it drags on and on before any real action starts.

Despite its slow start, you’d expect lots of recap, but no: the movie just makes a little effort to explain what leads to the movie.

Therefore, don’t make this your first Marvel movie. Heck, don’t even make this your first Avengers movie; if not, you’ll be spending a bulk of your time asking questions and disturbing others.

Either that, or at least Google what happened in the last few movies. That’ll give you a brief idea of what’s going on.

Now, while it’s slow, it’s at least got something right…which is the humour.

Right Doses of Humour

With such a tragic ending in the last film, you’d have expected Marvel to remove humour from this movie, or at least reduce the number of jokes.

But no. Instead, I personally feel that this is one of the funniest Marvel movies to date.

While the beginning is boring, the jokes fully made up for it. As usual, they’re clever jokes and one-liners that put slapstick comedy to shame, and considering that the movie’s careful to leave breathing space for tears, I’d say that it’s done a marvellous job.

If you’ve a friend who knows nuts about MCU, then you can convince him or her to watch it by saying that it’s a comedy, though there might be some insider jokes that only an MCU fan would understand.

Predictable, But Satisfying, Ending

The movie aims to serve one primary objective: to wrap up the Infinity Saga with a bang.

But it’s rather easy to do, considering that the plots of MCU movies are usually rather simple—it’s unlike LOST whereby tying up loose ends and ensuring there’s no plot holes are a pain in the ass.

The entire storyline (yes, not just the ending) is so predictable, you’d have known what’s going to happen in the end halfway through the movie. But hey: which sane person watches an MCU movie for its ingenious plot?

Moreover, every superhero movie follows a same formula: superhero fights and kills bad guy.

However, despite its predictability, the ending is indeed satisfying. For the lack of a better word, the final battle is massive and epic; something you’d have expected for an MCU movie.

Conclusion

So, should you watch it?

If you’ve been following every MCU movie, then this is a must-watch. If you’re one who’s just watched one or two MCU movie, then this is definitely not for you, for you’d not feel for the characters.

But honestly speaking? I’ve no idea what’s the hype all about after watching the movie, but the entertainment factor is definitely there.

Rating: 4/5