Clueless Comments and Decisive Opinions – Avengers: Endgame (Collab)

Yet another collab – this time with Kyri from Energized and Salty, who has been wanting a collab for a while. You’ll probably realize soon enough anyways, but I watch 5x more animated films than live action, while Kyri is a complete film buff.

First things first, I have little to no background with Marvel films. Apparently, the only one I’ve seen was Deadpool (up until a week ago, I thought I’ve seen a few more because I thought Batman counted…). I admit that I’ve always been a little biased against superheroes. This is one of the reasons I never jumped onto the BNHA hype train when I still had time for long-running anime. Endgame didn’t give me enough context to cry, but it definitely still blew my expectations away. How about you, Kyri?

Man, I watched this little gem on the opening day and it was an experience. Apart from a few films here and there, I’ve mostly kept up with the MCU and all its various “occurrences”, so the emotional impact was strong from my perspective. That ending will forever be stuck in my mind. Marvel, you’ve irritated me on many occasions, but this time, you’ve redeemed yourselves!

*Spoiler zone below

Early Impressions

Alright, let’s talk about the opening! I had no idea who anyone was or why anyone was disappearing, and at the risk of embarrassing myself, I should add that I thought I was still on ads until I realized that there was no punchline. So to me, the official start was when Tony and Nebula were on the spaceship (also didn’t know that Tony = Iron Man until, well, until he said so in the end). It felt pretty unspectacular, if not a little cheesy (especially when Captain Marvel showed up in all her flashiness at the right moment), but hey, what do I know about superheroes and their sacrifices.

Being a “survivor” of Infinity War myself, the opening had a pretty significant impact on me. Poor Hawkeye, I felt for him throughout the entire film. Dude just wanted to be back with his family y’know. Seeing the sheer impact the “snappening” had left the entire cast was an emotional experience. It all goes to show that the events of Infinity War have instilled PTSD in not only the characters, but also the audience. The Russo Brothers really wanted to remind us of the damage Thanos had caused. In a way, they did a good job of highlighting how Thanos actually made things worse in the long run, rather than better. 

Take that guys-who-think-Thanos-did-nothing-wrong! 

Also, Captain Marvel appearing all of a sudden was fairly uncalled for since there was no build up to it after her solo outing and it just sort of came out of nowhere. But then again, this is a literal Mary Sue we’re talking about, so can’t say I’m surprised. Deus ex machinas are technically her forte at this point.

Highlights

I simply adored the final fight sequence in this movie. It’s just so epic in all of the right ways, from the bombastic orchestral score by Alan Silvestri to the overall shot composition all used to bring about the flashy, superpowered fights in a breathtaking manner. Captain America wielding Thor’s hammer brought the theatre I was in to a tremendous applause – first time I’ve actually witnessed this in a cinema, by the way. It’s just all these little bits and pieces that manage to bring audiences together, and The Russo Brothers have succeeded immensely in that regard.

Ah, the infamous feels of this film. Natasha Romanoff was probably my favourite character. Even without any context, seeing her overwork herself near the beginning did something to me. Her platonic relationship with Clint was a sweet thing. About her death – it was certainly unexpected (I was told that superheroes never die), but I’m glad that it wasn’t overplayed. 

In fact, one thing that I thought worked in favour of the film is the fact that none of the deaths (and to-be deaths, such as Thor’s mom) were overdone. It also serves the message that the sacrifices of heroes are driven by conviction, which are made valuable by the people who support them instead of mourn. 

“I am Ironman” was definitely the coolest line (also because it was a revelation to me, lol). That finger snap can compete with Roy Mustang’s.

I shed manly tears at that.

But, to balance out the feels, the comedy is hilarious in this one. Marvel has their way around jokes you see and this film ain’t no exception. I especially love their portrayal of Fat Thor as this alcoholic cosplaying as The Dude from “The Big Lebowski” (fun fact, they even lampshade this in a later scene). There’s a reason why my profile picture on twitter now is Thor in his Big Lebowski getup, all slumped on a chair and not giving a crap about anything. 

But, the biggest highlight has to be Noobmaster. Just the way Thor threatens him in that scene has to quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve bared witness to in a superhero flick. I just hope the guys working on Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will include him as some sort of antagonist; it would totally make my day. 

Lowpoints

I’m not much of a film person, so I’m rarely picky with cinematic or Marvel Universe-based nitty gritties. The logistics behind the grand fight was unconvincing at parts, but oh well, I thought it worked! I guess I wish Gamora was a more pleasant shade of green?

The plot was probably the weakest part for me. I mean c’mon, time travel again? Why does every franchise feel the need to include this as a plotpoint? Harry Potter, X Men, most anime I’ve watched – just why? It just completely removes any stakes because the heroes could just go back in time to reverse everything. So yeah, while the deaths here did have some finality to them (especially given the closing of their actor’s contracts), there was always this feeling that an alternative version of them from a different universe could be brought back into the MCU. So, it did kind of ruin that for me. The writers of Infinity War may have crafted an unforgettable ending, but they did sort of wrote themselves into a corner with this.

Time traveling makes it all the more fun! It puts a spin on characters and info that you’re already familiar with, which is always pleasant to me. El psy congroo.

On Thanos

Meme source

So, what is your opinion on Thanos? Doesn’t halving the human population make a lot of sense in the long-run? One thing I wished the film addressed was how the Avengers plan to solve the resource problem that Thanos clearly foresaw.

Endgame ruined Thanos’ character for me personally. In Infinity War he was this powerful behemoth able to decimate heroes by the hundreds. Here, he’s kind of an nobhead (no offense to Thanos fans, please don’t murder me). I found it funny how he snapped his fingers in the end only to realize all the stones were missing. Infinity War’s Thanos would have clearly noticed that. 

As for his plan, he has good intentions, but should have gone about executing it in a different way. His snap basically took out half of all life, but it was done randomly. Sure it would have culled half of the human population, but what about animals? His snap probably killed off most of the farm animal population and the remaining humans on the planet could have used some of those resources. What about bees, wouldn’t their absence threaten the stability of the planet? What if most of the humans remaining were criminals? And speaking of how random the snappening was, and given how the user of the gauntlet does retain some control over how he wants to use it, why couldn’t Thanos have just chosen who to snap out of existence? He could have rid the world of all heroes, preventing anyone from trying to stop him through an arbitrary time machine. He could have left the vast majority of engineers, doctors and professors alive as they contribute so much towards society as a whole. Why just choose who to snap at random, when you could have that power? Instead, Thanos’ snap just made things worse in the long run, which completely goes against his philosophy.

But where does it say that most of the farm animals might be gone? If 50% probability applies to all creatures, I’m sure there would still be a natural balance. And if it’s the realllly long run we’re talking about, the collective emotional damage of this generation wouldn’t be as relevant. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong, but Thanos seems to care more about Earth than its inhabitants anyways, so I think his actions are quite logical. Snapping people selectively is a smart amendment though.

Bonus Buzzfeed Quiz?

Bonus section: do this spoiler-free Buzzfeed quiz to find out which Avenger you are! (Who cares? I care) 

I got Black Widow, so yay.

Hey, I got Black Widow to- wait what?!

 

Anyways, that’s the end of our collab. Hope you guys had tons of fun reading this and we apologize for all the spoilers. 

Don’t apologize! It’s a review! They clicked on it.

I love you all, 3000.