Events of the caliber of Avengers: Endgame, a film directly linked to Infinity War which, after a one-year hiatus - and with a film like Captain Marvel - takes up a story that has kept millions of spectators glued to the big screen. Every beginning has an end, and the Russo brothers know this well, directors who have found themselves the moral duty to produce a film with a triple value: first of all Endgame is a final film for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (at least as we know it today); in secundis he must take what happened previously and take it into account faithfully; in tertiis, it cannot disappoint the huge expectations of the fans placed in the film. Despite the undertaking close to impossible, will they have managed to package a worthy film?
Shield, Sword and Reactors
Avengers: Endgame comes 11 years after Tony Stark's first hammer blow on metal to create his Mark I, and 8 years after his first shield toss for Captain America and Mjolnir for Thor. It also comes after the harrowing events that have left spectators with bated breath for a whole year, eager to find out what happens next. The film in terms of plot fully succeeds in the task of connecting every single point of the plot. The story runs on a double parallel thread: on the one hand we have all the events that will characterize Endgame, traveling in 3 hours on a roller coaster made up of twists, masterful sequences and never a moment of boredom, even in the slowest phases; on the other hand, a lifeblood made of self-quoteism, which rewards loyal viewers from the first film with a set of winks and fans of print media, and previous films.
The homogeneity with which these two things go hand in hand is incredible, especially in the focal points of the film where a sort of change of pace takes place (these phases are concentrated between the first and second act, and between the latter and the third). The risk of falling into traps made by deep plot holes are promptly thwarted by prudent and never trivial choices, which manage to give a worthy conclusion to a ten-year journey.
The epic redefined
Avengers: Endgame not only does it proceed at full speed from the beginning to the end of the film, but it does so by creating a path of its own. We have already experienced gigantic conclusions in media terms (just think of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King or what is now triggering the final season of Game of Thrones), but this time we are faced with a multi-level creative process , formed by a convergence of films of different genres (if Ant-Man it's a heist movie, Captain America: Winter Soldier is a spy story, while the first Thor follows very classic rhythms). For this reason, a single film would not have been enough. For the same reason, it could not have been anything other than a one-of-a-kind film, epic, but capable of breaking those classic dogmas and evolving into a totally different product than usual. For this reason, the pace of the film will be particular: by dividing the film into three acts, the film will continue with an ever-increasing acceleration, ready to culminate in the climax of the film. What's really amazing is that it manages to do so with a stellar cast, featuring films that expand the psychology of these heroes and villains, while constantly adding meat to the fire.
For this reason the flavor that Avengers: Endgame leaves in the mouths of the spectators is a large single dish, formed by a convergence of different but perfectly blended stylistic elements. To top it all off, a great homage created for both MCU and comic fans alike: many scenes feature spectacular photography, very close to splash pages seen only in the best Marvel books.
The worthy conclusion
Avengers: Endgame is the worthy conclusion not only of Infinity War, but of the whole gigantic narrative arc born in 2008 inside a cave in Afghanistan, and which now sees dozens of different characters - each played by a great actor - riding the same screen. We are facing the end of something, and all the grand finals always have a big bang. This movie is epic in every second, it holds great value in every fiber of its body and will certainly set new standards for the genre. There are so many things made impeccably, that the problems - of the caliber of a stone in the ocean - become minimal: they are reduced only to a few small flaws in the management of speed, which is quite normal for a film that exceeds three hours. and carrying tons of things to say.
Finally, Avengers: Endgame is undoubtedly also the most profound film among the various films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: either for the past 10 years, or for the consequences of Thanos' actions: what was really lacking in Infinity War and which is instead present here, is the comparison, not only between the various characters, but also between who these heroes were before of the battle of New York and what they have become now. Precisely this dynamic, among all the merits, makes this film worthy of putting an end to a great page, which we hope will be only the first of many others written in the same way. Every beginning has an end, but seeing an end of this type, capable of moving, of touching some strings of the soul that had been standing still for some time, makes the conclusion of the narrative arc sweeter.
