Action gives way to emotion in ‘Avengers: Endgame.’

‘Avengers: Endgame’ puts a button on the superhero epic

ARNOLD WAYNE JONES | Executive Editor
jones@dallasvoice.com

If I were feeling uncharitable, I would say that audiences have spent the last 11 years slogging through 21 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe hoping that it was all going somewhere — that it wasn’t some shell game like the last episode of Lost that built and built with promise but didn’t have the guts to issue a bold follow-through.

But the fact is, I’ve enjoyed most of them, and some (Black Panther, all three Captain Americas) have been outright fantastic. Still, it was hard not to worry, after the cliffhanger ending of last summer’s Avengers: Infinity War, that the capstone of Phase 3 of the MCU wouldn’t pull its punches a little. Disappointment seemed baked into the cake.

It’s good to be wrong… so, so wrong.

Despite clocking in at more than three hours, Avengers: Endgame may have the fewest action scenes of any superhero movie ever made. And in that, you discover the sly genius of the entire series. We really, sincerely care about these impossible people. We finally know why so many high-caliber actors got hired — where the rubber meets the road, the emotional connection is the payoff.

It picks up with a cold open at the moment ending Infinity War when Thanos snapped his fingers and half of all life forms (including Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and Black Panther) blinked out of existence. The remaining superheroes (significantly, the original six) decide on a plan to track down the infinity stones and snap their own fingers, creating a Big Bang in reverse.

Things don’t go exactly as planned, of course. But what does happen has an epic majesty, like 2001 or The Right Stuff the totality of Game of Thrones. Without giving much away, there is time travel, echoes to past adventures and characters and one of the most satisfying endings to a huge Hollywood film that I can remember. (There were plenty of sniffles in the preview screening throughout, even from me.) The directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, unfold it all with a sense of nostalgia and melancholy more than anger and action. They orchestrate the plot like Ravel’s Bolero — languid, dreamy, sad, until it blossoms in a fury of feverish revelations. The Russos subtly but methodically offer nods to other movies (inside and outside the MCU) and focus on the emotional resonance capable when you stick to the fundamentals — the O.G. Avengers. For most of the run-time, there’s very little clutter, just clean, well-earned laughs and tears.

I’m not betraying any secrets to say the closing credits (which, trust me, do not include any additional scenes) feature the main cast’s signatures — which I last saw at the conclusion of Star Trek VI, the final film with the full cast of the original series. This one feels complete. If it were the last one (it isn’t), you wouldn’t feel cheated. I’ve only had one relationship last as long as this series; both left me bittersweet, but I sure enjoyed this ride more.