'Avengers: Endgame' is a satisfying piece of pop culture wish fulfillment
“Avengers: Endgame” - ★ ★ ★ ½
In this age of pop culture wish fulfillment, when every beloved movie gets a sequel and streaming services resurrect TV shows canceled years ago, it seems nearly impossible to top the fan-service of last year's “Avengers: Infinity War,” in which all the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe came together in one titanic film.
“Avengers: Endgame,” while not the most purely entertaining or narratively sound entry in the 22-film franchise, succeeds.
Opening Thursday night, “Endgame” begins shortly after that gut-punch ending of “Infinity War”: Thanos (Josh Brolin) collected the six Infinity Stones, colorful cosmic MacGuffins that had been sprinkled throughout the previous Marvel films, and turned half of the universe's life-forms to dust. That included comic-book heavyweights like Spider-Man, Black Panther and Doctor Strange.
So who's left?
Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) is adrift in space, waiting to die aboard the ship that used to belong to the Guardians of the Galaxy. His only companion is Nebula (Karen Gillan), Thanos' daughter who had a change of heart even before Dad sacrificed her sister.
Back on Earth, Captain America (Chris Evans) is leading a support group for people coping with the disappearances of their loved ones. In a universe where a big purple guy can kill trillions with a snap of his fingers, a World War II vet who was trapped under ice for 70 years seems a bit more relatable.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) blames himself for the Avengers' defeat - he failed to deal a fatal blow to Thanos in the closing moments of “Infinity War” - and even his talking raccoon buddy, Rocket (Bradley Cooper), can't pull him out of his funk.
Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) are holding down the fort at Avengers HQ, hoping that their assemblage of extraordinary friends can find a way to make things right.
Enter Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), who comes back to Earth after answering the S.O.S. sent by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). She presents the remaining Avengers with an intergalactic solution to their problem.
But wait: Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), fresh off the miniaturized adventures of “Ant-Man and The Wasp,” has a solution of his own, one that involves a crash-course in quantum physics.
And here, roughly 20 minutes into “Endgame's” three-hour running time, is where I will stop describing the plot.
“I am inevitable,” a sullen Thanos tells our heroes. Much of what ultimately happens in “Endgame” feels inevitable, but the journey is peppered with the MCU's trademark sense of humor, and satisfying payoffs to 11 years' worth of setups. And yes, you will be rewarded if you have seen (and studied) all 21 previous films.
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely had an unenviable task in juggling all these characters and plotlines. When the juggling works, it feels as if what happens in “Endgame” must have been planned by executive producer Kevin Feige from the very start, before 2008's “Iron Man” even hit theaters.
But it doesn't always work. When the credits roll on “Endgame,” one beloved character's fate is unclear. Another has been dealt a poorly motivated, emotionally unsatisfying conclusion to his/her arc, one that might even inspire outrage from some fans. And the logic of the film's main adventure doesn't quite check out in the end, even if Banner and Lang tell us it does.
Luckily almost everything else works in “Endgame,” which at last finds a way to make Banner's Hulking alter ego as interesting as Banner himself. Most importantly, it emphasizes how valuable Downey and Evans are to the Marvel franchise. Downey's Tony Stark began as a snarky warmonger and evolved into a wounded warrior who feels the weight of the universe on his shoulders. And it's hard to imagine a more perfect Captain America than Evans' Steve Rogers, idealistic without being jingoistic, warm without being soft.
Those characters are why this Marvel franchise has succeeded. All the smashing and shooting doesn't mean anything without them. One glaring misstep aside, “Endgame” is true to those characters, and the audience.
And the last shot is exactly what it should be.
<b>Starring:</b> Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin
<b>Directed by:</b> Anthony Russo & Joe Russo
<b>Other:</b> A Marvel Studios release. Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and some language. 181 minutes.