*This movie is very difficult to review without spoilers so I will keep mostly everything vague in terms of plot and I will focus on the other aesthetics of the movie besides the plot. *
1) Avengers: Endgame is the end of 11 years of MCU films culminating in a mind-blowing finale which leaves movie goers and fans of all characters incredibly satisfied. While there are times that the movie feels rushed (which is weird for a 3-hour movie) and some moments along the way where the audience is forced to make assumptions regarding some “hand-waving” plot-holes by the Russo Brothers, Avengers: Endgame is a perfect sendoff for this era of the MCU and celebrates the success of the Marvel franchise in ways that will leave you feeling every emotion possible. Like previous Marvel movies, this movie balances action and humor incredibly well. I have never felt the highs like I did in this movie, especially in the third act. Watching these characters interact and save the universe for over 10 years now has been a joy and this final movie rewards the audience for being part of this journey with them.
This movie had the potential to be an absolute disaster. Picking up after one of the best comic book movies ever and trying to successfully conclude 10 years of films for over 20 Marvel characters is no small feat. The fact that this movie was actually really good is a testament to the dedication and love the Russo Brothers, Kevin Feige, and so many other behind the scenes at Marvel Studios for making this movie come to life.
Visually this movie is the best-looking Marvel movie to date. The sound effects, the music, and the acting all complement each other perfectly. Each of the original six Avengers give their best performances to date (especially Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans) and, because of that, there are multiple scenes that will have you laughing and crying at the same time. The rest of the other Avengers don’t really do much as a result, which makes sense because they will be featured more in Phase 4, but it still felt like they could have done more with them. For example, Captain Marvel was not utilized very well in this movie in my opinion. That is probably because Captain Marvel was not yet filmed, and Brie Larson played Captain Marvel in this movie before her origin story. Her character seemed a bit awkward and didn’t have the same type of charm and chemistry with this cast like she did with Nick Fury in her movie. She was really the only character I had a problem with in this movie. Everyone else was great!
Ultimately, this movie reminds you just how many incredible actors and actresses have been in the MCU. These movies are not just superhero comic books come to life, but they are movies respected by artists in genres that so many famous creators have been a part of.
Avengers: Endgame begins right after the conclusion of Infinity War and it really feels like the first ten minutes of this film could have just been attached to the end of the previous movie. These first ten minutes move really quickly and end on an even more depressing note than Infinity War does. It will be interesting, once both of these movies are out on DVD, to watch them back to back because when it is all said and done, Infinity War and Endgame feel like one giant movie after finishing this saga. After the first ten minutes I mentioned, the movie is really well paced and feels like the distinct sequences and each character feels like they have a moment to shine throughout. The first is about mourning and loss, the second is a heist movie, and the third act is an all-out action movie.
In the first part of the movie, our heroes are in shambles. They are trying to recover after the brutal loss to Thanos and they can’t live with their failure to stop him. This is what drives them the entire movie and at a major point in the movie is forces them to do something that could have had tons of problems from a storytelling point of view. However, the movie masterfully establishes their specific rules for this universe which allows them to pull off what they do in the second act to perfection.
This movie is one of the longest in cinema history and the last 15 minutes feel a little bit like the last 15 of The Return of the King. It goes on a little too long, but you care so much about the characters and you care about seeing their stories end that you are more than willing to stick around for a few extra minutes to watch them one last time.
This movie is a comicbook movie masterpiece on the levels of movie like Logan and The Dark Knight, and Infinity War. It is truly incredible what they were able to pull off and I am even more excited to see what Phase 4 of the MCU brings us as a result.
My Final Score: 95/100
+ Amazing performances
+ Highest of highs
+ Perfect end to this phase of the MCU
- A little jumbled at times and moves very quickly
2) Game 1 and 2 of Round 2 thoughts (plus Game 3 of Raptors/Sixers)
Bucks and Celtics
The Bucks finally came to play in Game 2 of this series, and they hit tons of crazy difficult threes like they have been doing all year. The Bucks looked like they didn’t make too many adjustments from game 1 to 2 with the exception that Giannis played better. Despite their really good play in Game 2, the Bucks are still a minus 1 in the series.
The Bucks were still more than happy to let Al Horford take open mid-range jumpers and they were helped out greatly by Kyrie having another bad playoff game. The Bucks need to keep blowing out the Celtics in every game because the closer these games get, the more I’d favor the Celtics in this series.
Rockets and Warriors
Stop complaining about the refs, Rockets fans and Rockets players. What Harden is doing is baiting the refs for fouls. When he shoots open jumpers, he clearly doesn’t kick his feet forward. When he shoots contested shots, he kicks his feet forward. It’s obvious he’s doing it and we have video evidence he’s doing it. This was a massive controversy in Game 1, and despite the controversy going into Game 2, the refs were not a story in the second game which was good.
It was interesting to see the Warriors fall into the same pattern they did last year against the Rockets. They seem to be settling for isolated, Durant jumpers just like they did one year ago. On the flip side, the Rockets are so desperate to take away the Warriors 3-point jumpers that they are willing to live with Durant jumpers against smaller defenders all day.
Nuggets and Blazers
Lillard was right about the Blazers after Game 1. The Blazers let the foul calls get underneath their skin and it got them out of their game. They looked like a team that has been off for over a week versus a team that has been playing tough playoff basketball two nights before. It took the Blazers a half to get it together and they had a much better showing in Game 2.
In case you didn’t know this, Jokic is really good at basketball. He isn’t just good at passing, like we all know, his handle is pretty good too. When he gets a head of steam, drops his head, and barrels to the basket pretty much no one can stop him. His ability to pass out of the dribble is pretty incredible because most big men need to be set before they can make accurate passes like him.
The Blazers can win this series and they took the first step to doing so by winning Game 2. They need a few more things though. They need McCollum to play better first of all. He scored 20 points in Game 2, but he’s below 50% shooting in the series and a lot of the burden to score has fallen on Lillard as a result. I also wish Jusuf Nurkic was healthy because it would be so great to see him play versus the team that traded him. Nothing like a good playoff revenge series.
Raptors and Sixers
The Raptors shouldn’t have lost Game 2, but all of that being said, it was a weird, chippy game that Philly desperately won because Danny Green missed an open three to win the game. Jimmy Butler also won that game for them and that may have shifted the series momentum when you couple the outcome of that game with Game 3.
In Game 3, the Sixers played their overall best game of the year. They shot 8-13 from 3 in the first half and they played incredibly hard on defense. Their trapping on Kawhi Leonard was incredibly successful and they even forced multiple arrant passes from him in the third quarter. Joel Embiid also had his best overall game of the year, and while I think most of it is replicable, the three-point shooting probably isn’t.
Also you should never fall for an Embiid pump fake ever…ever.
This dunk was awesome though.
3) Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 4 Predictions.
The show made a controversial twist, the show pissed a lot of people off. The show made a lot of people happy. It’s over now. It happened and we need to move on. Yes, this most recent episode was a sudden conclusion to what seemed like the end of the world.
However, we still have three episodes left, and while we can judge the episode in the moment, I think it is just as important to remember we have three episodes left. Perhaps we’ll feel differently about the episode after the entire show has finished.
We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it though so let’s get into the prediction business once again and guess what’s gonna happen next week! These predictions are gonna be quick, accurate, and good. Let’s do it!
1) They mourn the dead. We see them burning people in the next episode preview. Easy prediction.
2) Jon’s going to tell everyone about his real parentage, and we are going to get a public divide between Dany’s supporters and Jon’s supporters. Jon and Dany will continue to hash out their remaining problems about Jon’s sudden reveal. We are also going to get a confirmation that Bran and Sam are telling the truth. Perhaps during the clean up the crypts we’ll find a harp in Lyanna’s!
3) While the battling up North has been happening, we’re going to see that Cersei has been making some moves to give herself an advantage. She will have taken Dragonstone and maybe some other castles further north.
4) Bronn is going to show up and not kill Tyrion or Jaime. But he may kill someone else by accident.
5) Tyrion and Sansa are going to complain to everyone about being stuck in the crypts which will create even more rifts. We need as much drama as possible to end the show. Tyrion is also going to admit he loves Dany; Dario is going to come back and now we are going to have three guys all around Dany who love her, but she feels differently about all of them.
6) I believe that Cersei won’t attack our heroes this episode because we don’t want back to back battle episodes, but we will get plenty of set up for the next one.
7) The best part about the Night King being dead is that anything can happen! The show is at its best when it is about politics and drama, not prophecy and the dead. The books are very good at describing the magical elements of the world and I feel like the show was never fully comfortable embracing them. That is probably why they killed the Night King.
They just needed to get back to what they were doing best. So if you want more magic, then read the books. They’re really good!