Take 3: Avengers: Endgame (SPOILER-FREE) Review

After billions of dollars, millions of fans, thousands of talent, hundreds of source material, eleven years, and one dream, Avengers: Endgame has finally made its grand entrance. This seems like a movie for the history books, even before its release. Websites offering tickets crashed multiple times, yet the film still owned records in the process. Trailers and tv spots appeared wherever they could, announcing their message like the sound of a trumpet. The official premiere had their carpet decked out in purple, representing the villain’s signature color. With the opening weekend upon us, the time has come for me to review the film! I’ll be honest, I had lower expectations for this movie than I did for Avengers: Infinity War. This was due to the ending and end credits scene of the aforementioned predecessor. However, because Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame are a two-part story, I wanted to find out what happens next. With positive word-of-mouth and skyrocketing levels of anticipation, it seems like other people had the same idea I did. Speaking of ideas, I requested six films for a potential Breening review at Pure Entertainment Preservation Society. One of these films, The Moon-Spinners, was just given a Breening Thursday article on the blog! This was such an insightful review about how the Breen Code could be applied to this film. Make sure you check out that review as well as this review of Avengers: Endgame!

https://pureentertainmentpreservationsociety.wordpress.com/2019/04/25/breening-thursday-24-the-moon-spinners-from-1964/

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When I saw this at my local cinema, I knew I just had to take a picture of it for this post! Screenshot taken by me, Sally Silverscreen.
Things I liked about the film:

  • The acting: Like in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame had a great cast! Everyone did a really good job at portraying their characters, no matter what the size of their role was. All of the reactions, expressions, and behaviors appeared as realistic as possible, helping me, as a movie-goer, stay invested in the film. Also, like in Avengers: Infinity War, the comedic and dramatic timing was perfectly executed. This helped both types of moments stick the landing.

 

  • The different ways of dealing with loss: Within Avengers: Endgame, one of the narratives was how the heroes dealt with loss. This aspect of the film reminded me of Flicka: Country Pride, where grief affected almost all of the characters. Each of the heroes faced the subject of loss in a very different way, highlighting how everyone has their own way of dealing with this topic. This aspect of the story really added some depth to the overall project. It was an interesting addition to each of the characters’ stories, as this narrative helped incorporate a distinct stepping stone in these individuals’ character development. Understanding the different ways that the characters react to loss helped to show how they move forward from it.

 

  • The special effects: All of the special effects in Avengers: Endgame looked really good! They were not only photogenic, they also had very unique color palettes. The different colors that were used for these special effects were complimentary, working in their favor to be appealing to the eye. The various locations in this film appeared so realistic, I wondered if one scene in particular was filmed on location or created with CGI. This reminded me of the scenery in Avengers: Infinity War. Also, just like in Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos’ overall design looked and felt very real. This helped continue the believability of the character as well as my investment in his story.

 

  • Balance between comedy and drama: As I already mentioned, the comedic and dramatic timing was perfectly executed. This was not only because of the acting performances, but also because of the writing. Both the comedic and dramatic moments were spaced out really nicely, with the narrative maintaining a good amount of intrigue. What also helps is that these moments felt genuine. It makes their emotional weight effective, whether it is light-hearted or serious.

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Like last year, Bucky, Bucky, and Thor joined me on this cinematic adventure! Screenshot taken by me, Sally Silverscreen.
What I didn’t like about the film:

  • A slower first half: Because this a spoiler-free review, I will be very mindful of what I say in this post. To me, the first half of the film had a slower pace than the second half. I understand that this part of the film was meant to be build-up for upcoming events. However, that build-up seemed to be a little bit longer than I expected. This pace does eventually pick up at the start of a particular event.

 

  • Confusing plot points: In this film, there were a few plot points that confused me. They didn’t confuse me in the context of the film, but they did confuse me in the context of future MCU projects. These plot points seemed to bring up more questions than I was expecting. Since this is a spoiler-free review, I’ll explain more about what confused me in my spoiler-zone review.
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It looks like I’m not the only one who was impressed with this display. Screenshot taken by me, Sally Silverscreen.

My overall impression:

History is a very interesting thing. It makes us who we are and helps us shape the world around us. What do you we want to be remembered for? What legacy do we want to leave behind? When we look back on Avengers: Endgame, what will this film be known for? Even though it’s way too early to determine this film’s place in history, we can definitely talk about its immediate impact. Starting with my own thoughts, Avengers: Endgame is a great film! While it’s not perfect, it does do a good job at being an entertaining and enjoyable movie. Something I noticed while watching this film was how much heart, soul, love, passion, and care seemed to be put into this project. It felt like the creative team behind this movie tried their best to make something that a large amount of people would enjoy. It’s unclear what the future holds for the MCU, but we at least have an idea of the kind of legacy it will leave behind.

 

Overall score: 9 out of 10

 

Have you seen Avengers: Endgame? Are you looking forward to my spoiler-zone review? Tell me what you think in the comment section!

 

Have fun at the movies!

Sally Silverscreen

Take 3: Avengers: Infinity War (SPOILER-FREE) Review

The day has finally arrived for me to review my most anticipated movie of 2018! Successfully avoiding possible spoilers, I had excitement and anticipation riding on my shoulders. This movie was definitely a cinematic event, probably one of the biggest this decade has ever seen. Avengers: Infinity War has been dominating the box office recently, dethroning previous champions and achieving almost every record imaginable. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) celebrating a milestone birthday, the hype for this film was absolutely real. But is Avengers: Infinity War worthy of all this attention and popularity? While you’re reaching for the stars, make sure to check out my review of Marvel’s newest installment; Avengers: Infinity War!

This review has no spoilers ahead!

Avengers Infinity War Bucky poster
Bucky and his friend, Bucky, really wanted to get a picture with the Avengers: Infinity War poster! Photo taken by me, Sally Silverscreen.

Things I liked about the film:

  • The acting: The entire cast of Avengers: Infinity War was fantastic! Everyone put everything they had into their acting performances and it truly showed in the film. All of the comedic and dramatic timing was perfectly executed, as all of the actors and actresses’ portrayals appeared natural and believable. Because of the superb job from the cast, it helped me as a movie-goer put emotional investment into the characters.

 

  • The cinematography/special effects: All of the special effects in Avengers: Infinity War looked beautiful! Not only were the different environments pretty to look at, they all felt so distinctive and life-like! I also really liked the character designs of the CGI villains, especially Thanos. They all looked and felt very real, helping to make these characters come across as believable.

 

  • A balance of comedy and drama: While Avengers: Infinity War is a film that has a more serious tone, there are comedic moments that help prevent the movie from being “doom & gloom” from start to finish. The insertion of the jokes never felt forced, as they were both well-written and well-executed. But whenever there were dramatic moments in the film, it felt like it matched the overall tone the creative team behind this movie was trying to achieve.

 

  • Thanos as a villain: When watching Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos ended up scaring me. One reason for this is how Thanos felt like he was justified in creating and attempting to execute his plan. The other reason is how Thanos felt like nothing could stand in his way of his goals. Both of these aspects of Thanos made him one of the most memorable villians in the MCU.
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Avengers: Infinity War logo created by The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios. © Disney•Pixar. All rights reserved. Marvel and Avengers Characters: ©2017 Marvel. Image found at https://marvel.com/.

What I didn’t like about the film:

  • The ending: Since this is a spoiler-free review, I can’t really elaborate on why I don’t like the ending. What I will say is that I felt like it was shocking just for the sake of it. Also, it didn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me.

 

  • The end-credit scene: Like I said about the ending, I can’t explain why I didn’t like the end-credit scene. All I’ll say is I felt it didn’t make a lot of sense and to me, was not worth the wait.
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My friends were excited to see Avengers: Infinity War! Photo taken by me, Sally Silverscreen.

My overall impression:

Avengers: Infinity War was a good movie! There are a lot of things that this film did right, such as effectively balancing both comedy and drama. However, I didn’t think this was a great film. Going into this latest Marvel movie, I knew this would be a “set-up” film. But I was hoping that it wouldn’t be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 all over again, where the majority of the events in the film happened for the sake of setting up the next film. While Avengers: Infinity War is a better movie than the seventh Harry Potter installment, it still felt like a “set-up” for the next part in the Avengers story. Because the next chapter in this saga is coming in about a year, I’m only bothered by some of the events in the movie to a certain extent. Hopefully “Avengers 4” will be a better film than what we ended up receiving this time around.

 

Overall score: 8.5 out of 10

 

Have you seen Avengers: Infinity War? Was it worth all the hype for you? Please tell me what you think in the comment section!

 

Have fun at the movies!

Sally Silverscreen