Not only is Endgame the most ambitious movie Marvel has made, but it also is the grandest. Even more so than Infinity War. No other movie can utilise the emotional ties that have been embedded within our hearts over the build of 11 years. And boy does it use them well. Stringing together scene after scene of nothing but impactful tension in the third act. But this doesn't leave the other two boring or bland. It allows these parts to build off of the aftermath of Infinity War. Never once was I bored, or felt like I was sitting there for three hours. For the action is no letdown, lovely dynamics are interwoven for a fantastic spectacle.
I don't want to say much, but it is hands down the best Marvel can offer. It is not Infinity War, Part II. It's something much better, the true culmination of everything and I do mean everything. The fan service here is through the roof and done so damn creatively. Not one thing feels hammered into the story. Even some major elements in its plot stem from the smallest details of previous movies I would have never seen coming. Taking even lesser liked fragments and stringing them into a more meaningful poetic story than the original movie would have ever told.
Using style and grace to tell this bold epic is strong with this movie. Gone are the golds and purples of Infinity War. And in comes a bleak atmosphere with hope lingering yet far. Visual storytelling is a bit lacking, but that is not what you come here to expect. You have been supported with all the exposition you need in previous movies. Since this is the case, it must be judged as a singular part of a series.
The themes in this movie are unity, utilisation, and more importantly; revelation. Kevin Feige has given this movie a lot to work with through these themes and has finally made his magnum opus.
Yes, there are a few hiccups. But that's to be expected. Captain Marvel was not given her full potential again sadly. But worked well with what was given. There is an amazing moment within the third act that truly gives her and a certain cast of characters time to shine. Plus the time it takes to leave out is a bit jarring. Not to mention, that to me Thanos seemed less threatening than in Infinity War because of something that happens. Still great impact by Josh Brolin of course.
Everyone will cry. Everyone will laugh. Everyone will leave sad yet satisfied with this amazing conclusion to the MCU so far. It's no Dark Knight, but then again, that was more drama than superhero epic. But this is modern hero gold. Here is the Holy Grail of superhero cinema.
9.6/10
8/10 After second viewing - Hype obviously had its hands around my neck I admit. Review doesn't meet my current thoughts about the film
Check here for my rankings on the MCU:
https://trakt.tv/users/corruptednoobie/lists/my-mcu-rankings?sort=rank,ascCheck here for my 2019 movie rankings that I've seen:
https://trakt.tv/users/corruptednoobie/lists/best-to-worst-2019-movies-so-far?sort=rank,asc
When we first met Violet, Sousa's new California squeeze, I rolled my eyes a bit. After the longing looks shared between Peggy and Sousa upon the former's arrival in Los Angeles, Violet seemed like a cliche, unnecessary corner to a standard TV love triangle. But then, a funny thing happened. Violet was charming. Whether she was having a pleasant conversation with Agent Carter, or being incredibly understanding about her boyfriend's day job, there was a spark to her that made her feel like more than just a nondescript hurdle between the inevitable Peggy-Sousa love story.
And that continued in the early going of "The Atomic Job". Much of the credit goes to actress Sarah Bolger, who has a sparkle to her in the few times she's shown up on screen. But even Sousa, who's more or less defined the concept of bland love interest, felt warmer and more real in his bumbling proposal to Violet than he's felt in the entire rest of the show. There's a chemistry between the two of them, and while the moment fell into the proposal-wing of the Museum of Meetcutes, the performances sold it well, and gave me hope that maybe the show was on to something despite the forced romantic tension between Agent Carter and her chief.
Then, of course, Peggy is injured (Cordelia-style), and can't go to a hospital for ill-defined reasons, so she ends up on Nurse Violet's couch being looked after by her and her now fiancee. As is seemingly unavoidable, Violet witnesses Sousa telling Carter that she's important and getting that puppy dog look in his eyes. So of course she suddenly knows that he came to L.A. to run away from his feelings for Peggy. It's overwrought, and the score swells to a pique of ridiculous melodrama, and we're back to the same tired love triangle we'd seemingly escaped as viewers.
One of the nice things about the first season of Agent Carter is that the show didn't feel the need to pair Peggy up. Sure, there was something going on with her and Sousa at that point, but it was mostly shuffled to the background, and even when Sousa asked her out, Peggy turned him down, with the implication being that it wasn't some smoldering sense of forbidden love that made her brush off the question, but that she was strong and independent, beyond the simple cliches of Strong Female Characters™, and that just wasn't what she needed or what the show was about. But now, whether it's Sousa's drama or the goo goo-eyed, just as dull Wilkes, we can't go an episode without some forced romantic element. It's a shame because it's not the show's strong suit, and it discards Violet, a character who can actually make Sousa a little more likable, in favor of a worn out trope.
But there are still a few things the show does better than its Marvel television counterparts, and comedy is chief among them. The scene where Peggy continues to use the memory ray on Hugh Jones while she searches for the key to the Roxxon facility and grows more and more annoyed with his increasingly bad yet hilarious come ons was a laugh riot. There's a timing that this show has down pat in its comedic scenes that really helps it shine in the humor department.
At the same time, the band of misfit toys that Peggy puts together, adding Rose and Scientist Daniel to her usual coterie of Jarvis and Sousa, results in a hilarious little slow motion walk segment that's half-Resevoir Dogs and half-The Big Green. Rose and Daniel themselves, however, were a mixed bag. When Peggy chastises Sousa for underestimating Rose, and points out that she has the same training as the men upstairs, it's a nice moment, and expands the female solidarity element of Peggy's character in a natural, non-showy way. (The call out to Agent Thompson was a nice touch in that regard.) But both Rose and Daniel are played as pretty broad characters, with a generic nerdy romance, replete with the usual stammering and whatnot. Rose got a few good lines in (and a good punch for that matter), but it was a part of the episode I liked more in concept than in execution.
But it deed lead to another nice comic setpiece, with Jarvis playing his overwhelmed butler best as he has to be coached how to disarm an atomic bomb through a locked door. I've praised James D'Arcy's performance to high heaven, so I'll just say that he has the upper crusty, timid tiger nature of Jarvis down perfect at this point, and his final rejoinder to Sousa (not to mention his sweet exchange with Peggy) at the end of the episode were the icing on the souffle.
Of course the main plot had to advance a bit as well. It's a fine concept to have Whitney Frost and Wilkes each feeling the call of the zero matter, and having it pull their allies into conflict with one another. Frost's feeling more like a generic baddie as this season unspools, but I did appreciate the evolution of her dynamic with Chadwick. The sense in which he's frightened by a woman with so much power, the way he tries to escape and continually is stopped and stongarmed by the wife he used to effectively order around is an effective one. And while their final scene, where Frost tells him to watch his tone, is a little too over the top (in performance and in the overdone musical sting) to work as well as it needs to, it's a good beat.
What's more, Frost's part of the episode also leads her and Chadwick to mafia boss Joseph Manfredi, played by the inimitable Ken Marino. Like with Frost's show of strength to Chadwick, Manfredi is far more interesting than the ham-fisted final beat he's given that's meant to establish his ruthlessness, but it's impossible not to love the charming smarm that Marino imbues Manfredi with as he toys with Chadwick on his home turf.
As a whole, there was a lot of momentum to this episode, with solid comedic highlights, a steadily progressing plot that gave good reasons for the good guys and the bad guys to come into conflict, and some nice character moments as well. But a handful of overdone performances, and a completely unnecessary turn in an unnecessary romance, drag this one down at the end.
