Avengers: Endgame Movie Review-It Is An Unmissable But Disappointing Experience

Avengers Endgame

Starring Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johannsen, Jeremy Rainer,Don Cheadle, Josh Brolin

Directed  by Anthony & Joe Russo

Rating: ***(3 stars)

 Entering the  cosmic universe  of  the Marvel super-heroes as  they all assemble  in a  swaggering  spectacle of  strength  and  temerity,  is like a child  being put in  a middle of  the  largest toystore  in  the world and told he can  buy  any and everything he wishes.

The child is so confused  by  the  big treat he  forgets why he was  there in the haven for escape in the  first place.

The  extravagance  of  this epic-designed  non-epic is meant to salute one last hurrah  of the great  superheroes who all have their  individual  mass  followers.  Imagine what happens  when they all come together  under  the same  roof…Yeah,  just imagine!

 Firstly  the scriptwriters  must be credited  for  their audacity,  if not their  ingenuity. To write something that accommodates  more than a dozen super-heroes  without toppling over into the abyss is  no mean achievement.

Avengers Endgames doesn’t topple  over .  But just about. It manages to keep its head  above the water as  the  propulsive  but not compelling storytelling ambles through what looks a gallery  of emphatic episodes  that  spotlight  the  ‘cool’ proportion of the characters  without making any genuine effort to  understand  why  these superheroes  find themselves becoming  irrelevant in comparison with the  super-villain.

The harder  the superheroes  try  look relevant the  less we are impressed.

 Thanos( played with majestic  gravity  by  Josh Brolin)  the  villain  is  the reason why we have all gathered here  today(all, on screen and down below clapping and cheering). Thanos is  a villain by default.  He  believes the world needs  more than a  slew of super-heroes  to make  it relevant. And he  is right.

And  there lies the problem in this posh but pale sendoff to the beloved Marvel super-heroes. Its  lineup of heroes(which includes many cameo appearances by beloved  heroes,male and  female,  whom we may  have  forgotten) seems  a like  a  bunch of over-the-hill do-gooders  who  could do with a long break from saving the world.

And they are getting, it seems.

These super-heroes are  no match to the  magnificent  rhetorical heft and tonal supremacy of Thanos.And they know it. The  narrative  therefore  revels in their underwhelming  presence enjoying their post-prime  existence  . They throw barbs jokes and taunts at one  another.

Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is  shown to be  s  potbellied  beer-guzzling former idol, now idle.  Hemsworth as well as  the  other  hugely  popular super-heroines seem to enjoy themselves but are held back  from letting go  by a hafisted unbearably selfimportant script which  knows the  audience is with  the characters  and allows itself to take the audienc for granted.

 Everybody is  shown taking him or herself dead seriously. The  writing clearly  reveres  the  outdated  heroes  too  much to question their relevance.  Hence many scenes seem like  guests  that have long overstayed welcome. In  one early sequence when the plot is trying to build itself up into a universally  likable construct, a half-eaten sandwich plays an important part. The super-heroes are constantly shown searching for  their relevance  in a world that has  all but abandoned them.

By the time the  great war  between the super-heroes and Thanos’s  malevolent kingdom breaks  out—and this is  clearly  what  we’ve all been waiting for– the  writing is clearly on a downswing.

The poorly constructed  plot  derives its primary energy   from the  various  eras that  the superheroes visit via a time machine whose presence suggests  an  infantile silliness rather than a  homage  to H G Wells.

I am  pretty sure these characters   have never heard  of  Wells.  Nor do they seem  to care if their  worldview of global destruction never goes beyond  the comicbook spirit. For a film so  high on testosterone  it  seems ironical that we come away with so little that’s  like  a toystore-unlimited.    Avengers  Endgame is  a surge  of  temporal spectacle that  begs to be supported  by  something  more than mere  idol-worship. What we  get is   not so much the end of an era  as a marathon  farewell  episode to  a saga that  is  clearly  in  the  mood for  a re-invention.