My Top 10 Favorite Things About Avengers: Endgame [SPOILERS]

On Friday night, I saw a movie that I’ve been hoping for ever since I read the Infinity War comic book series as a kid. At least, I think I hoped for it–at the time I may not have been able to conceive that movies of this size and scope would ever be possible.

I get very nervous–perhaps too nervous–about spoilers when it comes to movies like this, so I’ve avoided trailers and reviews. In fact, I ignored significant parts of the internet all day Friday. I wasn’t so much worried about the outcome of the movie, as it’s clear how high the stakes are, but I really just didn’t want to know anything about the plot.

However, I’d really like to talk openly about my favorite elements of the movie today, so I’ll block off a big section for that. As for whether or not I enjoyed the movie, the answer is absolutely yet. I don’t yet know where it fits into my overall list of favorite MCU films, but I thought it was a monumental achievement to wrap up a 22-movies series in such a satisfying way (and still have a film that stands on its own in terms of narrative arc and entertainment factor).

I do have some small quibbles that I’ll mention near the end of the spoiler section, but they’re very minor.

[BEGIN SPOILERS]

These aren’t really in any particular order.

  1. I loved the choice of the first scene of Hawkeye with his family. The snap is a big, global event, but I think we needed to see how it impacted a specific character–that’s more effective than showing a big number.
  2. Just 20 minutes into the movie, Thanos is dead. What?! I did NOT see that coming, and I realized then that I had no idea what this movie was about. Was it a trick by Thanos? Is there another bad guy in Endgame instead of Thanos? Would time travel be involved? Obviously we knew the answer then, but the uncertainty presented by such an early dispatch was brilliant.
  3. I really liked the 3-act structure of the film: The post-world snap, the time heist, and the finale. The first two acts served to remind me of how much I care about these characters and their story. It’s kind of weird to say, but parts of the movie felt like an homage to the MCU itself…in a good way. We got to see scenes we already know and love from different angles.
  4. I loved that the movie focused only on a few characters (mostly the original Avengers). As impressively as Infinity War jumped around between different groups, I thought it worked well to make this movie a little more intimate.
  5. Chunky Thor! His belly delighted me every time it appeared on screen. I also loved when he briefly had two hammers (which also had the impact of instantly braiding his beard).
  6. I rarely emote verbally in movies, but when Captain America wielded Thor’s hammer for the first time, I audibly gasped. How awesome was that?! I also love Captain America’s me-against-the-world moment when Thanos’ forces cover the battlefield.
  7. My favorite moment in the final battle is when all of the female superheroes joined forces to try to get the gauntlet to the right place. It wasn’t just one or two women–it was around a dozen strong, beautiful, badass women saving the world. I love it! I also enjoyed the many entrances at the beginning of the battle–that was a comic-book moment brought to life on the screen in a way I’d never thought possible. Also, I liked that the final battle mostly focused on the Infinity Gauntlet instead of on heroes fighting endless hordes.
  8. Given that this is considered the end of Phase 3 (right? Phase 3?), I was a little worried about the number of deaths. So I was pleasantly surprised that they were really just limited to 2 characters. I think that gave us the chance to feel the weight of those deaths, especially since they were separated by about 45 minutes.
  9. I also thought it was a great choice to only have a few “passing of the torch” moments (Thor and Captain America). Having too many of these could have made the movie overstay its welcome.
  10. Last, and perhaps most importantly, Ant-Man’s admiration and idolization of Captain America led to some of the best humor in the movie, particularly the gag about “America’s Ass.”

I mentioned that I had a few small quibbles. Really, it’s a combination of two things: I wish the final battle was a little longer, and to make room for it, I wouldn’t mind a few earlier scenes being trimmed or cut. They’re scenes that I enjoyed (like Captain America in the death support group and Thor with his mother), but I would sacrifice a few slower, sadder scenes to make the final battle more epic.

But overall, I found the movie to be immensely satisfying. In fact, I’m still in awe that they pulled it off. There were so many ways they could have messed it up, but time after time they made what I consider to be excellent choices. Well done, Russo Brothers, Kevin Feige, and Disney! I look forward to watching it in the future when I’m not as concerned about spoilers.

What were your favorite things about Avengers: Endgame?

14 thoughts on “My Top 10 Favorite Things About Avengers: Endgame [SPOILERS]”

  1. So the best was, ofc, everyone coming back for the fight. “Cap, on your left.” and then a few minutes of entrances.

    Then some little moments: Future Hulk pretending to be angry back in the past, Cap vs Cap (“I can do this all day–” “yeah, I know”), and Dr. Strange holding up 1 finger to Iron Man. The look on his face, the slight quiver to the finger… this is the one!

    Reply
  2. As you said, it was immensely satisfying. I don’t remember when it happened, but somewhere in the middle of the MCU I realized that I really liked the overarching story and world so much that I would pretty much see any of the movies as soon as they came out. Really, no other franchise/series has ever been able to pull off so many great, entertaining, and interconnected movies in such a short period of time (11 years). It’s quite astonishing.

    I greatly enjoyed fat Thor. One thing I’ve always loved is how each movie is able to do something different with the characters. They were also able to pull it off with Hulk. I loved the callbacks to the previous movies, even the not-so-popular ones like Dark World (which I actually enjoyed very much). Speaking of, I was also surprised to see Natalie Portman as I was under the impression that she was done with the MCU.

    I immediately want to see it again. I’ve already rewatched the first Guardians since Endgame and my kids are watching Ultron right now (I’ll watch it tomorrow). I also got to see Captain Marvel a second time just before Endgame. I did think she was underused just a bit.

    Great movie, and I can’t wait to see what they do for an encore in the next phase

    Reply
    • Joe: I agree, it’s incredible that the level of quality of these movies is so high across the board. I think I may have started to take it for granted, but I really shouldn’t–it’s an amazing achievement.

      I heard that the footage of Natalie Portman was older footage repurposed for this movie.

      Reply
  3. What a movie! I watched it at the midnight opening night showing, and then again 18 hours later (so twice on the first day), and I cried once the first time and three times the second time! I think I appreciated the movie more the second time, and noticed a lot of nuances that I hadn’t the first time, and the second viewing only amplified my feelings that this was a tremendous movie. Many reasons the same as yours, I thought it was an immense achievement to wrap things up so well after so many movies, and to make us feel such deep and genuine emotions. I thought the film was a great balance of poignant (sorrow in act 1), action (battle scenes in act 3) and enjoyment and humour throughout. A fitting finale, and I really think Infinity War and Endgame combined make one of my favourite movies of all time.

    Reply
      • That’s exactly what our showing was – Infinity War on Wednesday evening at 8:30pm, half hour break, then premiere of Endgame at midnight on Thursday morning. Can’t recommend enough – when you get the opportunity to do so, it’s a better way to spend 6 hours of your life even than playing Twilight Imperium! 😉

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  4. Favourite moments that haven’t been said already.

    Hawkeye and Black Widow literally fighting to sacrifice themselves. I had no idea which way it was going to go.

    Tilda Swinton. Everything with her, because Banner could be honest with her about what happened. She was an ally from the past that knew the future, and they had set up that she couldn’t see passed her own death.

    Captain America in the elevator with the enemy, mirroring the scene from Winter Soldier, but ending peacefully rather than with him besting them all.

    Tony Stark’s story. His initial reluctance to risk what he had, his inability to stop himself from trying to solve the puzzle, and talking it through with Pepper before making the decision.

    The incredible number of pay offs from 22 movies of set ups. As an example, the scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron where they were all taking turns with Thor’s hammer, and Captain America moves it a little. Hilarious in it’s own right, but it will have so much more meaning now, when I rewatch that film.

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  5. I think there were three things that got me excited verbally: Cap wielding Mjolinir, Cap saying “Avengers Assemble!” with an army of heroes ready to battle, and him finally getting that dance.

    This film was amazing and I think that if they stopped here, that would be enough. I honestly have to say I am kind of liking the MCU probably more than the Star Wars saga. There is something beautiful when something like this film helps bring about a beautiful story and brings it to an fulfilling end to some of our favorite characters.

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  6. Ok, so I didn’t like it. To call some of the issues I have with the story plot holes is an offense to actual plot holes. To discuss here openly would go far beyond spoilers though.

    Reply

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