Avengers: Endgame review: Deaths, mayhem and destruction but plenty of love

After 22 movies and 10 years, we’ve come to the end of the current phase of Marvel movies. Avengers: Endgame was full of deaths, mayhem and destruction, but you can’t deny there was plenty of love at the same time.

Caution: There are spoilers in this movie. While the spoiler embargo has been lifted, I know not all of you have had the chance to watch it so this is a warning.

For the last 22 movies and 10 years, we’ve been building to this point. Avengers: Endgame delivered a powerful ending to an excellent string of movies. Sure, it wasn’t perfect (there is no such thing as the perfect movie) but it was excellent.

Between the deaths, destruction and mayhem, there was also plenty of love. Yes, we got to see how the Avengers got rid of Thanos but we also got to see how they split up and came back together in the struggle and pain of it all. For example, Tony Stark didn’t want to lose what he had gained but he also didn’t want so many people to suffer. He was able to put everything behind him to work with Cap, the Hulk and Black Widow to bring almost everyone back.

And the almost was one of the powerful moments. It’s not possible to rewrite everything. Rewriting everything would have meant nothing good came from Thanos’ snap. While people did lose those close to them, the five-year time jump gave us a look at how Tony was able to get away from it all. He was able to start a family – and little Morgan was just so adorable.

Yet, it was clear that Tony missed one person. The kid. Yes, Peter Parker. When they did manage to find a way to bring those snapped away back – you knew that was going to happen, right? – we got to see his relief that Spider-Man had returned. He likely held so much guilt for the loss of Peter Parker and he certainly felt grief, that I’m happy we got to see that emotional reunion.

As for the people who didn’t come back, well, it all made sense. However, this is a new timeline. Somewhere out there, Loki and Gamora are probably out there. It’s just a case of figuring out the timeline they’re on. After all, there’s one timeline where Loki was able to get the tesseract and I feel the movie wouldn’t have shown that had it not been a hint for things to come on the Disney+ streaming service.

There is one death that can’t be undone. It’s a bittersweet ending for Black Widow, but it does make sense. Out of Black Widow and Hawkeye, she was the right one to sacrifice herself. Hawkeye’s family would return and they needed him, Natasha knew that. There weren’t any long, drawn-out speeches though. The two made their decisions the way they always have: fighting for it.

Graphics-wise, Avengers: Endgame brought so much color to a dark world. There were tiny details everywhere that gave us more of an insight in what could happen next. Thanos’ destroyed arm at the start of the movie was a hint of what would happen to Professor Hulk at the end. Each scene was full of beauty and color, even in the gravest of situations. I saw it in 2D but I would love to know what those who watched it in 3D experienced.

My favorite part of the whole movie was the focus on the original main characters. This was the goodbye to the Avengers, and that’s what we got. For Iron Man and Black Widow, it was a permanent goodbye. Captain America (by the way, I called it on him being “worthy” years ago!) can come back in another form. Hawkeye, Thor and Hulk have an option to return in another capacity. My only disappointment was Nick Fury not getting a bigger part when he was brought back from the snap, but it’s clear there’s more for him.

I know there was disappointment that other characters didn’t get a bigger role, but they didn’t need it. Seeing the core Avengers at work against Thanos was everything this goodbye needed.

I’ve chosen to leave out the time travel plotholes. Quiet honestly, I work by a rule of not falling down the time travel rabbit hole. It gets extremely messy! It’s best to just accept the version of time travel the writers have given us.

What did you think of Avengers: Endgame? Share your thoughts in the comments below.