Avengers: End Game

In this three-hour film, Avengers: Endgame (2019; dir. Joe Russo, Anthony Russo), the first hour is relatively slow. Then things speed up. The film picks up some years (five?) after the end of the last installment, Avengers: Infinity Wars (2018), when half the population of the earth, including many Avengers, vanished into dust, the consequence of Thanos’ desire to improve the planet by depopulating it. The agenda of this film is three-fold: bring the plot-line of the Avengers series to an end, resurrect those who were dust bound at the end of the last film, and allow graceful ways for certain of the characters—Ironman (Robert Downey, Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and others to exit the scene. (Surely the actors must be sick of these films). A lot of loose ends are tied together and, perhaps unfortunately, readiness is made for a new series.

The film is entertaining. The plot is absurd, but absurdity is not the point here. Numerous high-production value, enhanced CGI action moments hold your attention. Quantum mechanics come briefly and unscientifically into play—pay no attention to scientific inaccuracy. The loose-end tying becomes tedious. One character throws herself off a precipice so that her partner can return to his family. Another character time travels into the past, marries his sweetheart, and returns to the future (the present-time) an old man. Ironman’s artificial heart wears out after a prolonged battle with the forces of Thanos. To show that this is a film which respects diversity, a group of superhero women go on the attack against Thanos. Characters from Black Panther (2018) also appear, and there’s a brief glimpse of Stan Lee. The film left me exhausted and stuporous. The ponderous funeral for Ironman, which allowed all the surviving characters to reunite one last time. Last time, that is, before the next series of films begins.