Avengers: Endgame is a superhero saga for the ages

It’s really long; three hours long. There is a bit too much time travel. But overall it’s just the kind of extravaganza you’d expect.

movie reviews Updated: Apr 26, 2019 14:52 IST
Can the remaining Avengers rally, defeat Thanos and undo the damage he’s done? Fans will not be disappointed in the finale to this 21-film, decade-long franchise.
AVENGERS: ENDGAME
  • Direction: Anthony and Joe Russo
  • Actors: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin, Brie Larson
  • Rating: 4 / 5

Eleven years after Tony ‘Iron Man’ Stark kicked off what we now know as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the multi-billion-dollar, 22-film MCU-Avengers franchise (arguably the most lucrative franchise ever) has finally been wrapped up.

The question most fans are asking is, does it all end with a bang or a whimper? Happily, and despite the film’s bum-numbing three-hour runtime, the answer is without question the former.

At the end of last year’s …Infinity War, the intergalactic despot Thanos (Josh Brolin) had with a snap of his fingers wiped out half of all life in the universe, including several of our super-powered friends.

Their numbers depleted, it’s now up to the surviving Avengers — among them Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) — to figure out a way to reassemble, fight back, and tackle the genocide unleashed by the arch-villain.

The narrative is bogged down from time to time by hoary time-travel and heist tropes, but the co-directing brothers Anthony and Joe Russo do manage to still keep it engaging. They spend as much mileage on character interplay and emotional stakes as on CGI-augmented spectacle.

The plot also provides adequate representation to super-heroines such as Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson).

In addition to playful banter, the script is stuffed with cameos by A-list actors from earlier films in the series. Seamless storytelling and majestic visuals commingle in …Endgame making it a superheroes saga for the ages.

First Published: Apr 26, 2019 14:52 IST