AVENGERS: ENDGAME - All Good Things

Short answer: they did it.

Not only is this a worthy end of the line for some characters of the MARVEL Cinematic Universe and an immensely satisfying finale to the "Infinity Saga," but if this were the last film (at least for a while) to even bear the name "Avengers," it would almost feel right.

WARNING: I will be keeping this review as spoiler-free as possible. However, given how tightly the overall plot of the film has been kept under wraps, it will be impossible to discuss it in any meaningful way without at least talking about some of the basic structure of events (as well as spoiling the end of Infinity War, but if you haven't seen that yet what are you doing here?). You have been warned.

After the events of the last big MARVEL team-up, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, along with Earth herself and the rest of the universe, are reeling from the crushing defeat at the hands of Thanos. Endgame is a story that could have gone in a number of predictable directions, and perhaps the canniest move it makes is to do the obvious "thing that you'd expect the whole movie to be about" in roughly the first 10 minutes of the movie, only to go off in a very different direction for the remainder of the film's titanic 3-hour run time.

The second smart move it makes is to structure the majority of the film as something of a heist. Not only does this accomplish the task of making the characters all very pro-active where they were completely reactive in the previous film (in all 3 previous Avengers films, you could argue), but you'd be hard-pressed to find a better basic structure for an action movie than "we need to assemble this group of individuals to pull off this very specific job" outside of "it's just a fighting tournament." Endgame hits the ground running, and while it maintains the same propulsive momentum that made Infinity War such a harrowing epic, this film finds the Russo Brothers (back for their fourth at-bat in the MCU, and looking very confident and comfortable indeed) and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (who also penned the Captain America Trilogy) keeping pace not through breathless fights and chases, but the dramatic dominos of seeing what these beloved characters have suffered through, lost, or fought like hell to regain.

While its predecessor cast several of the team as supporting players in a Thanos-centric story that gave a lot of heavy-lifting to characters like Thor, Tony Stark, and a couple others (at the expense of Captain America and Black Widow, or Ant-Man and Hawkeye - who didn't even appear), Endgame is far more deliberate in balancing dynamics, personalities, and arcs of every remaining Avenger to the fullest possible extent. This means a couple of the heavy hitters from last time take the bench for a while as the new status quo is explored, but the unexpected story turns involving Thor and Tony and their involvement in the fray are delightful and even heartbreaking at times. I've long maintained that Chris Evans is the best superhero casting of the 21st century, but Robert Downey Jr. gives him a run for the money here, as well as turning in arguably the performance of his career.

Personalities get to bounce off of each other in fun and varied new combinations and in settings that are both inventive and delightfully familiar. The movie deliberately calls its shot with a certain pop culture reference early on, and then proceeds to actually be a better version of "that thing" in execution of its conceit. And that's before the filmmakers cut completely loose and pour in every last kitchen sink, and a few bathtubs for good measure, into a finale that sets a new standard for scale, payoff, and fist-pumping satisfaction in the realm of superhero cinema. The color palette isn't as sumptuous or eye-popping as it is in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 or even Black Panther, but the complexity of the action is breathtaking. Alan Silvestri created two genuinely great themes for both Captain America and the Avengers as a team, and seems to take this film as a challenge, alternating skillfully between mournful, bombast, playful, and weaving together familiar leitmotifs as characters get their Big Moments.

And for all the Big Moments that land like the Hulk hurtling from orbit, it never becomes an overload of noise. Not just because the film takes a surprising amount of times to give characters personal care in between the jumping around chasing enchanted jelly beans, but because its built to a point where you have to throw the biggest punch you possibly can or you may as well walk away. More than other "big" superhero movies, the "final chapter" this recalls in many ways is Peter Jackson's Return of the King, in scale, bringing together of disparate heroes, and in giving real time to bid farewell to this sprawling narrative.

Because for all that MARVEL has talked about taking serialized storytelling from the panel page to the silver screen, this is very definitely an End. There will be other movies starring Spider-Man and Black Panther and Captain Marvel and the Guardians of the Galaxy, but no one comes out of this movie unchanged - even with the help of crazy space magic. Sacrifices are made that ripple through the heart of this world and of our heroes, burdens are laid down that are as tear-jerking in their sweetness as the losses are bitter. None of us have been here before, and not all of us will be here again.

Others will be, but that's for another day.

The Avengers are dead. Long live the Avengers.