The Rat Flew Straight and True

So I finally saw Avengers: Endgame, two weeks later than most of you.  I made up for the delay by seeing it in IMAX and 3D, which I suspect really didn’t improve it that much, though I did duck when Starlord kicked the rat at my head.

If this is the sort of movie you like, then you’ll like it.  If you don’t care for films in which costumed characters bash each other in a fight over a bunch of plot coupons, you won’t care for this one, either.

I’ll leave detailed analysis and criticism with those of you with the energy to do it, and confine myself to a few observations.  While the film generally did a fine job of keeping track of its enormous cast, I noticed that Captain Marvel kept disappearing, particularly in the climactic battle scene.  Thanos literally tossed her away, and then we didn’t see her again till the epilogue.  Weird, because she was the most powerful of the heroes, and if Cap and Stark could keep coming back after being thrown half a league, then certainly she could.  Odd that the movie lost track of her, but then I suppose it was so that other, more established characters could battle Thanos to the finish.

The final climactic battle went on too long, the way they all do nowadays, but in this film it made more sense.  With more than thirty superheroes all in the same scene, the scene had to expand so that each could have his or her moment.

But the best thing about Endgame is that it was truly the end.  The giant story that produced 22 films and one TV series is actually over, and from now on they’ll have to find some other maguffin for superheroes to chase.

You don’t see that in the source material.  In the comics, you know that the Joker and Lex Luthor will always escape custody, and you know that when Superman (or any other hero) dies he’ll be back sooner or later.  That’s why I’ve lost interest in superhero TV— nothing fundamental ever changes.  But movies are different— in the movies they can build to a climax, then have that climax, then move on to a new story, and the guys whose contracts are up die or retire or otherwise find some place to be.

Oh, and one other thing.  Could people stop arguing about the logic of superhero films?  Because there was never any to begin with.