Avengers: Endgame - Reaction Post
Sep. 7th, 2019 09:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ultra_ficI have finally seen Avengers: Endgame - the end of the Infinity Saga. Wow, what a ride it's been! I laughed and I cried and just about everything in between. Please stand by for the full review...
Before I started Endgame, I'm glad to say I managed to avoid most of the major spoilers for it. I had heard a few vague things - that Thor was fat, that Cassie Lang had aged-up, and that there was going to be flashbacks/revisits/something in that realm to the Battle of New York from 'Avengers Assemble'. Then a few days before I finally got to see the film, I heard a random comment on YouTube about Tony Stark being dead - major spoiler! That said, I was pretty sure RDJ was done with the MCU, so I was half-expecting Tony to die anyway, and of course, I knew Chris Evans was out after Endgame, so I figured Steve had to go too. Still, I knew there was probably plenty I didn't know and I was right!
The first part of the film was, frankly, pretty depressing, but I wasn't expecting much else given the way Infinity War ended. Barton losing his family was awful. Tony slowly dying in space was tragic. Those left behind struggling along was so sad. Given what I had heard about Tony dying, I did think when Nebula propped him up in the chair on the spaceship that he was already gone and that the blinding light was the end/the afterlife/whatever the MCU believes with regard to that, but no, Captain Marvel to the rescue. Now, THAT was cool!
I really wasn't expecting the infinity stones to be destroyed, Thanos to be killed so fast, the 'Five Years Later', the Hulk-Bruce hybrid, or Scott suddenly returning from the quantum realm with no concept of how long he'd been gone and an idea that they could time travel to fix things. I did sort of think that Tony would be married to Pepper with a kid in tow once we flashed forward and it was so cute to see, with the only issue being that I knew he was going to die at some point and wouldn't really get his happy ending :(
Nat finally finding Clint was nice, in a way (nice is probably the wrong word, but I just loved when she took a hold of his hand like that!) but my goodness, he has been doing some damage and was clearly in a very dark place. Understandable, but still, very, very bad! I figured he would redeem himself, because he's Barton, and that scene with him and Nat in the spaceship, saying they were a long way from Budapest? Loved it! (I totally shipped Clint/Nat until I found out he was married in 'Age of Ultron'! lol) Of course, when I realised they were headed for the soul stone I started wincing - one of them was going to have to die. I didn't want it to be either of them, but logically, I really did think it was going to be Barton. Nat's death was a real shock - I was so not expecting that! Sad about it too, because I've always liked her as a character.
So, the time travel back to the Battle of New York was cool, as I thought it would be. I did love how that whole thing went down. Tony & Steve working together again made me giddy, Steve fighting Steve was epic, and Hulk hating stairs was hilarious! lol Banner and the Ancient One was cool for explaining how things would work out after the stones had been retreived and everything seemed to be on track. In Asgard, the stuff with Thor and his mother was tough to take, but I'm glad he got to talk to her one more time. (Seriously though, Beerbelly!Thor? That was strange, though I do get his depression - the guy had been through A LOT at that point. At least Korg and then later Rocket were there for a little light relief!)
Who knew that even when Nebula tried to be on the right side of the fight, she would still (albeit inadvertantly) screw everything up? Thanos seeing the future and knowing to come after our heroes from the past to the future was super creepy. To be honest, even then, I didn't realise he was going to try to come back to the future (to coin a phrase!) and make things even worse, and right when everybody was back and things were right on track! Of course, I knew from the fact I was at the 2hr mark in a film that runs almost 3hrs that it was not going to be as simple as Hulk unsnapping the snap and bringing everyone back (although that part did work, so yay!) I just didn't realise Thanos was coming, along with Nebula, 2014!Nebula, and 2014!Gamora. (Suddenly, I thought I understood how they could make Guardians 3, though it'd be a real shame that Quill & Gamora would have to start all over again... but then didn't she disappear again with all the bad guys at the end?)
Anywho, epic battle began, and epic battle was super-epic! My favourite part was definitely when all the portals opened behind Steve and everybody who had ever been a good guy in the whole MCU stepped out to fight the good fight. I was literally cheering because that was awesome, especially when Steve was like, 'Avengers... Assemble!' Just. So. Good.
So, all that was left to do was hold off Thanos and his army of darkness and get the stones back where they came from. It seemed like it could work, but I wasn't sure how, and I knew that somehow in all this Tony was going to die, and probably Steve too. Captain Marvel returned to help in the fight, which was very cool, but somehow, Thanos still got the gauntlet and was about to re-do the snap. I just loved the sequence that followed with Tony looking at Strange and realising this was the one way that they could win, so he grabs the stones from Thanos, fixes them into his own glove and mutters the immortal words, 'I am Iron Man'. Snap! All the bad guys are gone.
Obviously, it was going to be too much for Tony and that was how he died. I was holding it together, just, until Rhodey came over to his best friend's side, followed by a sobbing Peter Parker, and then a very brave and amazing Pepper. That's when I cried, as he just faded away. I liked what they did with his voiceover that turned out to be a hologram he had recorded pre-time travel and the whole funeral thing. I was so confused about the teenaged boy in the middle of all the mourners, but turn's out that was the kid from IM3, all grown up. Thought that was pretty cool actually.
So, at this point the Avengers have lost Tony, Nat, and Vision, and the Guardian's have lost Gamora and Yondu, plus Loki and half of the Asgardians are gone too. The Infinity Saga has taken it's toll! I was amazed Steve was still standing at the end, but then he was about to be shoved back through the quantum realm, so I figured maybe he got stuck on re-entry or whatever. I was not expecting what really happened with him returning as an old timer. Bless him, I'm 99% sure that was his plan all along AND that Bucky knew about it - he seemed to. Then the shield was passed to Sam, which is fine, I guess. (I was in the camp that wanted Bucky to be Cap after Steve, but what can you do?) and then we see that Steve has a wedding ring, a wife he doesn't want to talk about. I guessed then that he finally got the life he should've had with Peggy (which makes me feel just a little bit bad for Sousa, but again, what can you do?) It was very cool to know that Steve got his happy ending, and that both he and Tony can get some rest now, even if it is sad that they're gone. The MCU definitely won't be the same without them.
All in all, I think Avengers: Endgame was just about as epic as it should be, a fitting ending to the saga, and a good send off for Tony & Steve who were kind of the godfathers of the whole thing, when you think about it. Good job, Marvel Studios. I now plan to go back and watch Phase 1 again on BluRay with many fun extras - yay! :)
.
Before I started Endgame, I'm glad to say I managed to avoid most of the major spoilers for it. I had heard a few vague things - that Thor was fat, that Cassie Lang had aged-up, and that there was going to be flashbacks/revisits/something in that realm to the Battle of New York from 'Avengers Assemble'. Then a few days before I finally got to see the film, I heard a random comment on YouTube about Tony Stark being dead - major spoiler! That said, I was pretty sure RDJ was done with the MCU, so I was half-expecting Tony to die anyway, and of course, I knew Chris Evans was out after Endgame, so I figured Steve had to go too. Still, I knew there was probably plenty I didn't know and I was right!
The first part of the film was, frankly, pretty depressing, but I wasn't expecting much else given the way Infinity War ended. Barton losing his family was awful. Tony slowly dying in space was tragic. Those left behind struggling along was so sad. Given what I had heard about Tony dying, I did think when Nebula propped him up in the chair on the spaceship that he was already gone and that the blinding light was the end/the afterlife/whatever the MCU believes with regard to that, but no, Captain Marvel to the rescue. Now, THAT was cool!
I really wasn't expecting the infinity stones to be destroyed, Thanos to be killed so fast, the 'Five Years Later', the Hulk-Bruce hybrid, or Scott suddenly returning from the quantum realm with no concept of how long he'd been gone and an idea that they could time travel to fix things. I did sort of think that Tony would be married to Pepper with a kid in tow once we flashed forward and it was so cute to see, with the only issue being that I knew he was going to die at some point and wouldn't really get his happy ending :(
Nat finally finding Clint was nice, in a way (nice is probably the wrong word, but I just loved when she took a hold of his hand like that!) but my goodness, he has been doing some damage and was clearly in a very dark place. Understandable, but still, very, very bad! I figured he would redeem himself, because he's Barton, and that scene with him and Nat in the spaceship, saying they were a long way from Budapest? Loved it! (I totally shipped Clint/Nat until I found out he was married in 'Age of Ultron'! lol) Of course, when I realised they were headed for the soul stone I started wincing - one of them was going to have to die. I didn't want it to be either of them, but logically, I really did think it was going to be Barton. Nat's death was a real shock - I was so not expecting that! Sad about it too, because I've always liked her as a character.
So, the time travel back to the Battle of New York was cool, as I thought it would be. I did love how that whole thing went down. Tony & Steve working together again made me giddy, Steve fighting Steve was epic, and Hulk hating stairs was hilarious! lol Banner and the Ancient One was cool for explaining how things would work out after the stones had been retreived and everything seemed to be on track. In Asgard, the stuff with Thor and his mother was tough to take, but I'm glad he got to talk to her one more time. (Seriously though, Beerbelly!Thor? That was strange, though I do get his depression - the guy had been through A LOT at that point. At least Korg and then later Rocket were there for a little light relief!)
Who knew that even when Nebula tried to be on the right side of the fight, she would still (albeit inadvertantly) screw everything up? Thanos seeing the future and knowing to come after our heroes from the past to the future was super creepy. To be honest, even then, I didn't realise he was going to try to come back to the future (to coin a phrase!) and make things even worse, and right when everybody was back and things were right on track! Of course, I knew from the fact I was at the 2hr mark in a film that runs almost 3hrs that it was not going to be as simple as Hulk unsnapping the snap and bringing everyone back (although that part did work, so yay!) I just didn't realise Thanos was coming, along with Nebula, 2014!Nebula, and 2014!Gamora. (Suddenly, I thought I understood how they could make Guardians 3, though it'd be a real shame that Quill & Gamora would have to start all over again... but then didn't she disappear again with all the bad guys at the end?)
Anywho, epic battle began, and epic battle was super-epic! My favourite part was definitely when all the portals opened behind Steve and everybody who had ever been a good guy in the whole MCU stepped out to fight the good fight. I was literally cheering because that was awesome, especially when Steve was like, 'Avengers... Assemble!' Just. So. Good.
So, all that was left to do was hold off Thanos and his army of darkness and get the stones back where they came from. It seemed like it could work, but I wasn't sure how, and I knew that somehow in all this Tony was going to die, and probably Steve too. Captain Marvel returned to help in the fight, which was very cool, but somehow, Thanos still got the gauntlet and was about to re-do the snap. I just loved the sequence that followed with Tony looking at Strange and realising this was the one way that they could win, so he grabs the stones from Thanos, fixes them into his own glove and mutters the immortal words, 'I am Iron Man'. Snap! All the bad guys are gone.
Obviously, it was going to be too much for Tony and that was how he died. I was holding it together, just, until Rhodey came over to his best friend's side, followed by a sobbing Peter Parker, and then a very brave and amazing Pepper. That's when I cried, as he just faded away. I liked what they did with his voiceover that turned out to be a hologram he had recorded pre-time travel and the whole funeral thing. I was so confused about the teenaged boy in the middle of all the mourners, but turn's out that was the kid from IM3, all grown up. Thought that was pretty cool actually.
So, at this point the Avengers have lost Tony, Nat, and Vision, and the Guardian's have lost Gamora and Yondu, plus Loki and half of the Asgardians are gone too. The Infinity Saga has taken it's toll! I was amazed Steve was still standing at the end, but then he was about to be shoved back through the quantum realm, so I figured maybe he got stuck on re-entry or whatever. I was not expecting what really happened with him returning as an old timer. Bless him, I'm 99% sure that was his plan all along AND that Bucky knew about it - he seemed to. Then the shield was passed to Sam, which is fine, I guess. (I was in the camp that wanted Bucky to be Cap after Steve, but what can you do?) and then we see that Steve has a wedding ring, a wife he doesn't want to talk about. I guessed then that he finally got the life he should've had with Peggy (which makes me feel just a little bit bad for Sousa, but again, what can you do?) It was very cool to know that Steve got his happy ending, and that both he and Tony can get some rest now, even if it is sad that they're gone. The MCU definitely won't be the same without them.
All in all, I think Avengers: Endgame was just about as epic as it should be, a fitting ending to the saga, and a good send off for Tony & Steve who were kind of the godfathers of the whole thing, when you think about it. Good job, Marvel Studios. I now plan to go back and watch Phase 1 again on BluRay with many fun extras - yay! :)
.
