OT: Endgame (WARNING: Spoilers)

[Bill H.]

No spoilers please. Avengers: Endgame is a dish that's best served cold (as in having no idea what to expect before viewing).

 

After reading that the red carpet world premiere at the LA Convention Center was presented in conventional widescreen (details here ) I passed on IMAX and saw it on the biggest 2.39 screen in the area - the mammoth 80 foot Cinetopia. I figured if widescreen is good enough for the Hollywood elite, it's good enough for me. And it worked. I did not notice heads being chopped off or details missing like last year's Infinity War in widescreen.

 

I was completely blown away by the movie - as was everyone else in the theater. I have never experienced an audience laughing, clapping, cheering, gasping, and even shedding a tear towards the end like this while watching a movie. For anyone even remotely connected to the MCU, this is a must see - and an event unto itself. Highly recommended.

[ElmerJFudd]

In your estimation, which movies are a must watch prior to seeing End Game?

 

[Bill H.]

I think it would help to brush up on the previous Russo brothers Marvel movies - Captain America the Winter Soldier, Captain America Civil War, and of course last year's Infinity War. These guys like to reference themselves the most If you've seen them you can just read their summaries.

 

Other prominent callbacks that were kind of a surprise were Thor the Dark World, Captain America First Avenger as well as the Ant Man movies - all rather minor entries in the MCU. But you could really watch Endgame and enjoy it with nothing else but Infinity War under your belt.

[Bobadohshe]

Hi, I'm afraid if you really want to talk about this movie, we need to talk spoilers.

 

IT WAS AMAZING

[Bill H.]

^ Maybe we can in a couple of weeks after everyone who plans to see it has done so.

[MotiDave]

My son saw it (age 13) - hes a complete afficionado of all things super hero and has been for about 7 yrs. He said hands down this was the best super hero genre movie ever made.

 

$1.2B worldwide first weekend, shattered all records by a mile. Its supposed to be the last of 4, my only question is how can a studio possible hold that position after $1.2B the first weekend?

 

I expect a v5 in 2 yrs - which has to employ some fantastical plot gimmicks to undo some of the conclusions of v4 and keep the brand alive. I wont divulge - i didnt see but my son told me many (Im not really into superhero movies, i said he could so he was able to talk about it with me).

[CEB]

That was totally cool when Captain Marvel ran out in an steel bikini and picked up Thor's hammer and killed Thanos with it.

[marino]

I have a friend who is into 3d modeling, so I saw about every MCU movie so far. (that's my excuse...)

Here's a no-spoiler impression of Endgame, from a grumpy old man:

 

First of all, it's very well done and quite enjoyable. However, I have three main criticisms:

 

In my opinion, it suffer from gigantism. Being the ending stage of a 11-year multi-saga, they tried to make it as epic as possible, by stuffing as much references to the past movies, characters and stories into it as possible. Pleasing the hardcore fans seems an high priority, sometimes at the expenses of the story's linearity.

 

In the same way, they tried to balance the action stages with moments of drama, sentimentalism, tragedy, and - urgh - humour, which in my view is very easily overdone in this kind of movie. (to me, the whole Ragnarok movie, for example, is plagued with so much childish pseudo-wittiness, to almost ruin the whole experience).

Btw, all those turns of mood contribute further to the fragmentation of the story.

 

Finally, the action is almost all concentrated in the last part. The first two hours (!) are interesting and entertaining, but a bit of more superhero-style battles in the early stages could have helped the viewer's experience in my view.

 

There are also some plot holes, and the usual logical incongruences... but this is based on comic books, so you must be prepared to this.

 

Despite these small faults, I found Endgame very enjoyable. I suspect that a Blue-Ray version will extend some scenes which just hint to subplots and backstories.

 

[David Emm]

I'm due to see this Tuesday, so spoilers, STFU, thank ya!

 

I think the MCU has stylistically honored the work of many creators listed in the various closing credits, especially the amazing artist Jack Kirby, whose visual prints are all over the general look of things. Its been a fun fictional run, but also with the right emotional beats, such as Ant-Man having dinner with his daughter, ex-wife and her new cop husband at the end of his first solo flick. It may not be Great Art in the usual sense, but the very human *craft* of it comes close. Kudos to the composers, from Alan Silvestri to Danny Elfman, who always nailed it. Here are two observations about it I laughed upon reading. Enjoy!

 

Can I watch "Avengers: Endgame" if I have my head stuck in an empty ricotta cheese tub? ~ Andy Richter

 

Do not drink fluids for six hours before you watch ENDGAME, which is the longest f***ing episode of COMMUNITY you will ever sit through. ~ Warren Ellis

 

[nursers]

Yep enjoyed it a lot. On the point that they'd need to undo stuff from this movie to make another Avengers movie, I tend to disagree - the Avengers in the comics constantly changed over the years and I'm actually expecting they'll do something like a West Coast Avengers movie with Black Panther leading etc.

 

That said, Marvel is nothing if not a chronic offender of killing chronology and relentlessly reviving characters to improve sales, so who knows That's not a specific spoiler - Marvel Studios have been saying for years this is the last in this story arc and that the next phase of movies will be different.

[CowboyNQ]

In your estimation, which movies are a must watch prior to seeing End Game?

It is exceptionally helpful to have seen Inifinity War and both Ant Man movies before watching this, otherwise there'll be a little bit of head scratching in the first hour or so.

 

Here's a no-spoiler impression of Endgame..

To provide another perspective, also sans spoilers:

 

Assuming you enjoy the modern MCU movies to begin with, this movie is a thrilling, entertaining and clever ride.

 

It runs at three hours which is very long, but I didn't find viewer fatigue setting in which tells me it was well paced.

 

I agree with Marino that humour can be laid on a bit thick in modern action movies (I'm looking at you, Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy 2) but I disagree that it's overdone here.

 

The trend of infusing intense and violent action movies with humour really had its genesis in the early James Bond films. It provides a good counterpoint to what can be pretty bleak subject matter - and Endgame is no exception. If you take the humour out it's very tough stuff indeed, especially for kids and teens.

 

Chris Hemsworth (who plays Thor) is possessed of a healthy sense of humour about himself, the roles he plays and has excellent comic timing to boot. This, plus the natural fun factor in juxtaposing a good layer of self-deprecating humour around a seemingly very serious idea (The Norse God of Thunder) informs the way that directors have chosen to interpret Thor in the MCU movies. On the subject of Ragnarok specifically, director Taika Waititi is also blessed with an excellent sense of fun, like 99% of Kiwis I know - so the whole thing works for me.

 

Endgame doesn't stand up to a great deal of intellectual scrutiny, but as Marino said, it's based on a comic book series so who cares!

 

I'd happily watch it again tomorrow.

[o0Ampy0o]

No spoilers please....

Apparently they take this VERY seriously in Hong Kong and beat a man outside a theater for it.

[marino]

I agree with Marino that humour can be laid on a bit thick in modern action movies (I'm looking at you, Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy 2) but I disagree that it's overdone here.

Well, I never said that humour is overdone in Endgame. My remark was about stuffing so many "genres" in one movie to make it more, let's say, "big" and important. Then I added that it's very easy to include excessive doses of cheap humour in this 'kind' of film. My example of choice was Ragnarok, but of course Deadpool and GOTG are the main culprits!

 

Edit: I think that the humour part in James Bond films is (usually) absolutely perfect.

 

 

[nursers]

Just on Deadpool - like the comics it is meant to be totally over the top humour-wise. I'm not a huge Deadpool fan but the scene in Deadpool 2 where he and his X-Force team jump out of the chopper is one of the funniest things I've seen in any movie genre for years

[Bobadohshe]

Well, I never said that humour is overdone in Endgame. My remark was about stuffing so many "genres" in one movie to make it more, let's say, "big" and important. Then I added that it's very easy to include excessive doses of cheap humour in this 'kind' of film. My example of choice was Ragnarok, but of course Deadpool and GOTG are the main culprits!

 

All the Marvel Movies each had a slightly different tone. Captain America: Winter Solider had a gritty spy vibe. Ragnarok and Guardians are jovial space romps. The Russos, who directed Civil War, Infinity War and Endgame seem to be absolute masters of representing all these tones and not compromising the overall presentation of the 3 hour behemoth. It was so well paced that not for a moment did it sag. I watched it at 11:30 PM on Thursday night on 5 hours sleep after a 4 hour corporate hit in 90º weather, and I knew I wouldn't get sleepy for a second.

 

The gargantuan scale and stakes were not overwrought to me. Rather they were perfect and fitting for the end of an 11 year 22 movie mega arc; something that has never been attempted in the history of cinema. The execution was spot on.

[tfort]

I went and saw it with my daughter on Saturday. Id seen only 5 or so of the prior movies completely, but saw bits and pieces of some others, read up a bit and discussed with her enough to know the storylines pretty well. My daughter was wrecked at the end.

 

Overall, Id say it was fun pablum, but not as great as what the early reviews are saying. If youre a big fan of the MCU, itll give you what you want. Otherwise, meh but fun. A good, diverting action movie.

 

I did have two issues with the movie which Ill save until theres no fear of spoilers.

[CowboyNQ]

Just on Deadpool - like the comics it is meant to be totally over the top humour-wise.

Yeah I think that's why I struggled with it. My 19 yo son saw it first and raved about it and I really wanted to like it but I couldn't engage with the main character. I didn't bother with Deadpool 2 because I just think those flicks are not for me.

 

 

[o0Ampy0o]

^ Maybe we can in a couple of weeks after everyone who plans to see it has done so.

Please reconsider that idea. Many wont see it until the crowds die down. Many wont see it until its on TV. After it had run its course in theaters and was to get a new boost from its Oscar attention Siskel & Ebert revealed a plot twist to something the movie viewers managed to keep secret about a film during one of their If We Chose The Oscar Winners episodes. I for one hadnt seen it yet and would have based on that specific theme of their series. The biggest scene in Deer Hunter, another spoiled moment when some guy was sobbing in a bar I happened to be at. All the attention on Heath Ledgers portrayal of The Joker, ruined it for me. I thought he was one of the greatest and interesting actors but didnt appreciate that role perhaps expecting more I just think it needed to be seen without thr hype to see how good it was, he was capable of being so good. Please talk in PMs about spoilers if you must. This sounds like a rare great film and long even. So more to relish..........well everyone can do whatever really I will just avoid this thread. I have heard enough.

[U.Honey]

Stupid question but there are several Avenger movies made before this one. Should I watch them before this one?

[Outkaster]

Yes

[Stokely]

The scene with Korg and Miek sitting on the couch playing Fortnite had me laughing uncontrollably. I would agree that Ragnorok was a little too much comedy, this had some but nothing to that degree.

 

I wasn't hooked in by all that many of the previous MCU movies...the first Avengers was good, I disliked Civil War, Winter Soldier was excellent. Captain Marvel was "pretty good" and I'd argue that one should be seen before this as well. Dr Strange I really enjoyed, always liked that character, and I'd see that one too. Actually, you could say that the non-"Avengers" movies (Iron Man, Cap, Ant Man etc) are more important to knowing what is going on than the actual ones with Avengers in the title. Guardians of the Galaxy (both) may be the ones that you really need to see as those characters are central to what is happening--and they are my favorites of any of them. Fighting a giant space monster to the tune of Mr. Blue Sky?

 

Infinity War raised the interest bar for me a LOT...I didn't even go to the theater for it and I regret it mightily...that was just a great movie and got me really pumped for this one. It didn't disappoint.

[RandyFF]

Stupid question but there are several Avenger movies made before this one. Should I watch them before this one?

How to watch every Marvel show in the right order

 

[Bill H.]

^ Maybe we can in a couple of weeks after everyone who plans to see it has done so.

Please reconsider that idea. Many wont see it until the crowds die down. Many wont see it until its on TV.

 

Maybe we can do it in a separate thread marked "Spoilers"? I dunno... if someone wants to start one, I'm sure I'll be in. But I don't want to start two OT Endgame threads myself (kind of frowned on around here).

 

I concur with film analysts who predict that Endgame will be very front loaded (an astonishing $331 million three day domestic haul) because everyone is seeing it ASAP. These numbers are going to drop quickly, and after a couple of weeks it's going to be openly discussed everywhere.

[Joe Muscara]

I went to see Iron Man when it was in theaters because the trailers looks So Damned Good.

 

Then I went to see Iron Man 2 and afterwards had lunch with a couple of friends who said that yes, Captain America and Thor were great too. So we saw those and they were right. I've been pretty much hooked on the MCU since. Since my wife works a "flex" schedule and is almost always off the day the films premiere, we usually go during the day when the crowds are much lighter.

 

* I almost didn't bother with Guardians because the trailers didn't appeal to me at all. Fortunately, a friend hooked us up with tickets and I ended up loving that one, too.

 

All that is to say I've actually been having some feelings after seeing Endgame. I won't give away any plot points, but I'll hide some thoughts anyway.

 

 

I've been a bit down since then. It isn't because of what happened to any of the characters specifically, though that may be a small part of it. What I think is that it's like saying goodbye to an old friend, or knowing your favorite TV show is ending. While the MCU still has great characters and people making the movies, I feel like a big part of my life has gone towards this arc and now it's over. Friday was a Big Moment I have been waiting for a long, long time, and now it's done.

 

Yeah, I need to get a life.

 

One more spoiler: I read this yesterday and I absolutely love this theory. I'm not sure it totally works after rewatching the Peggy scenes in Winter Soldier, but I'm much happier thinking this is what really happened.

 

Why 'Avengers: Endgame' Final Scene Isn't What It Seems

 

[MotiDave]

Stupid question but there are several Avenger movies made before this one. Should I watch them before this one?

 

if you actually care to fully understand it all. I don't have that much care, maybe it does cause me to miss the extra margin that would make the overall investment enjoyable.

 

I went to about half of them with my son, the other half he went with friends before I could take him. I didn't and don't care that i missed half of them.

 

I did want to see the second antman movie - with ... wasp? I enjoyed Guardians of Galaxy movies for their humorous content. My wife said GoG were the best because they are the only Marvel movies where the lead had mix tapes. He had some good mix tapes.

[MotiDave]

Yep enjoyed it a lot. On the point that they'd need to undo stuff from this movie to make another Avengers movie, I tend to disagree - the Avengers in the comics constantly changed over the years and I'm actually expecting they'll do something like a West Coast Avengers movie with Black Panther leading etc.

 

That said, Marvel is nothing if not a chronic offender of killing chronology and relentlessly reviving characters to improve sales, so who knows That's not a specific spoiler - Marvel Studios have been saying for years this is the last in this story arc and that the next phase of movies will be different.

 

not sure where their next sequence of movies are going/planned - but a movie exec has to swallow the artistic integrity pill pretty hard to not look at $1.2B opening weekend and revisit the entire strategy

 

[hatricklov]

I think we ought to be able to talk about the movie in this thread. I'm not saying it out of spite since I'm not "that guy" who's out to ruin a movie for anyone.

 

I started seeing all sorts of YouTube videos regarding spoilers and details from the movie in my news feed before I'd had a chance to see the movie (which I saw Saturday).

 

So guess what I did? I didn't watch anything with spoilers, duh!

 

Point is, if people don't want to take the chance of ruining the movie for themselves, maybe don't click on the link that's very obviously talking about the movie?!

[Joe Muscara]

Or we can use the Spoiler tag like I did above.

[hatricklov]

Or we can use the Spoiler tag like I did above.

 

Cool trick... how do you do it?

[Joe Muscara]

Or we can use the Spoiler tag like I did above.

 

Cool trick... how do you do it?

just wrap the text you want to hide with the tags

 

[ spoiler ] text to hide [/ spoiler ]

 

without the spaces inside the brackets, of course. You can also access this tag on the Full Reply Screen, which we all forget is there.