May 1st — Labour Day — is a public holiday in Belgium so, on Wednesday, wee all trooped to the nearest Mutiplex to see Avengers: Endgame. The reason we made the trip to the multiplex rather than the smaller, cheaper and close cinema we normally go to is that they were screening an Avengers: Endgame Marathon. This comprised of a double bill of Infinity War immediately followed by Endgame, or six hours in front of a big screen. It was fun, and an excellent way of reminding ourselves of the events that led up to Endgame.
I was expecting this to be a single film in two parts, but it really isn’t. The Thanos storyline is closed off very quickly and we jump forward five years to find what’s left of the Avengers trying to deal with the ongoing fallout. Things pick up with the return of Ant-Man, who has been trapped in the Quantum Realm for the past five years, and he’s come up with a plan.
What follows is less of a film and more a series of sub-plots as various Avengers dash through time and space as they try to reverse Thanos’ actions. Much of this involves returning to the events of previous films and allows several of the characters to bring their story-arcs of the past decade to a close. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that not all of the Avengers survive and, of the survivors, it’s quite possible that some of them will hang up their capes after this.
In many ways, then, Endgame is a long goodbye to the characters we have been watching for the past decade. That’s not to say that the film isn’t entertaining, it is. And, of course, things come together for the inevitable climactic battle which is both well executed and thrilling to watch.
For me, Infinity War is the stronger of the two films, but Endgame continues to maintain the high standard we have come to expect from Marvel and provides a solid send-off for the original Avengers. I look forward to seeing where they go from here.
Lightly Seared on the Reality Grill 