Avengers: Endgame [movie reaction]

I waited for the hype to die down before writing my reaction to Avengers: Endgame. Most of you have probably watched it by now, but for those who haven't yet, I'll be talking spoilers below (or maybe you already have an idea about the story because the internet won't shut up about it).

This year 2019 seems to be the end of many stories and movies. The Avengers franchise, the Star Wars sequels, and Game of Thrones. It makes sense, when this year is the end of another decade, and next year will be the 2020's. Endgame is THE END, the final conclusion to this story phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe which started with 2008's Iron Man. 2012 gave us the first Avengers film, where the six main Avengers first team up against Loki. That story was a major blockbuster and a classic "vastly different people try to work together for a common goal" story. Over the years, especially in this decade, Marvel superhero movies has been very popular and is a big part of pop culture.

As for Avengers, I have been an avid fan of the story for many years. I have written reactions of past Marvel movies in this blog too: Captain Marvel (2019), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Black Panther (2018), and Thor: Ragnarok (2017). So far, my favorite Marvel movies are Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok, and the Ant Man movies which I only watched prior to Endgame.


Avengers: Endgame happens after Avengers: Infinity War. Thanos has taken all the Infinity Stones, snapped his fingers, and half the population of Earth turns to dust. Except for the original six Avengers, of course. Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Thor, and Clint Barton also have to deal with their failure in stopping Thanos.

In the movie, we see a different sort of Avengers. They have always won before, but this is the first time that they failed and felt that there is really no going back. Tony goes back bitter, Clint's family is gone, Thor's home and his brother are forever lost, Bruce tries to move on. Steve and Natasha try to keep it together, and still have not lost hope that they can reverse the situation somehow. The other Avengers still do what they can to keep the world in order.

Scott Lang (Ant Man) eventually returns from the Quantum Realm and suggests a wild idea to the remaining Avengers, a weird possibility that if they can pull off, just might save everyone. They try to retrieve the Stones again, and it will be a scary journey and challenge that will really test them.

Tony Stark (Ironman) starts a family and has tried to move on. When Scott, Natasha, and Steve proposes a possible solution to bring back those who were lost, Tony initially refuses. Though, one character trait of Tony Stark since his first movie is he always, always tries to do the right thing and save what he can even when it's a danger to himself. Pepper Potts has also always tried to stop him, but to no avail. This time, though, Pepper has accepted that it's what Tony is, and let's him do the right thing.

Bruce Banner's (Hulk) existential crisis has always been living with two personalities - the smart, calm, analytical scientist and the 'angry green monster'. It was weird to see that he decided to combine the two - he eventually lives with Hulk's body but has somehow found a way to stay in Bruce's mindset. So we get a calm, nerdy Hulk. Which is kind of weird and takes time to get used to.

Thor also suffered a lot and changed. After the five-year time skip, he's depressed and hopeless, contrary to the Thor we're used to seeing. After losing Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok and deciding to get his people to Earth, he came face to face with Thanos and lost his brother. They lost. I think his reaction to it is pretty reasonable even if he's practically a god.

Clint Barton (Hawkeye) also lost his family. After that, he didn't seek out the remaining Avengers, instead choosing to work as a mercenary assassin for various gangs and shady groups all over the world. Nat finds him again in Tokyo, and his fight scenes are probably the coolest in the whole movie. This movie also has many great Clint/Natasha moments.

Steve Rogers (Captain America) has still not lost hope, and is still on the lookout for something that can reverse the situation.

Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) is also on the same boat as Steve. I love how Natasha's character has evolved throughout the films. She had a dark past, and working with the Avengers has given her life meaning, and she considers them family. Since the first Avengers film I really love Nat's relationship with Clint Barton. "Whatever it takes," is what Steve and Natasha always says, and they're both the beacon of hope that they can finish this mission.

As for the other Avengers, there's still War Machine, Rocket, Nebula, Captain Marvel, and Okoye still working with the main team. Though Thanos snapped away half the population of the planet, they still try to keep what remains in order.

My favorite in this movie is probably Ant Man. Paul Rudd is funny as usual and I was really amused with all his scenes. Without him, their plan wouldn't even be done.

I also love Nebula in this film and it showed how she changed from the first Guardians of the Galaxy films. As one of Thanos' adopted daughters, her duty was to follow him. Nebula always wanted to prove herself to him, though always falling short. She had a troubled relationship with her sister Gamora, even if she acts like she hates Gamora, Nebula has always been insecure and jealous of her sister.

There are many scenes on Nebula, showing her struggles, and how she confronted her past.

As an Ending
I love how this movie tries to pay tribute to previous movies. There's many smart references throughout this movie and avid fans will have fun trying to spot them.

I love endings that make sense, that neatly ties up the story and does justice to the characters. Many people didn't really like "Fat Thor" though. Thor was depressed throughout the five-year timeskip and gained some weight, which was meant to be comedic. Some viewers saw it as fat-shaming. I personally didn't like how Captain America made some decisions there.

Tony Stark or Iron Man is one of the characters that really carry the Avengers stories. The ending, though tragic, I think did him justice.

I actually watched this film three times in the cinema! First, I was alone. The second time, I accompanied a friend and the last time was with my sister who didn't get to watch it on its opening weeks. Though we all know that it's not really the 'ending', since another phase of the MCU is starting, and there will still be stories around the main characters and maybe we'll see new people and superheroes too.

I think the Avengers movies and the MCU really defined this decade. Over the years we have grown up with the characters and loved them, watched their stories and relationships. We may not be superheroes ourselves, but even with fantastical elements in the story they are still facing the same challenges we face. I think that's what makes these movies such a big hit.