MovieChat Forums > Avengers: Endgame (2019) Discussion > Just watched

Just watched

posted 5 years ago by wozi (41)
5 replies | jump to latest

So, I've been avoiding this board and any kind of reviews or spoilers and finally managed to get to the cinema today. I don't know what the general consensus is and I'm posting this before reading any of the threads.

Gotta say I was somewhat disappointed, not a bad film by any stretch but I was definitely underwhelmed. It felt 30 minutes too long, the first hour was very slow, the last 10/15 minutes reminded me of the scene in Return of the King when they went on for another 20 minutes after the hobbits had been picked up by the eagles. Totally unnecessary. The scene when all the women got together in the battle made me cringe - its so fake and contrived I see it as an insult to women rather than a homage.

The battle sequence in general was well done, quite liked how they handled Hawkeye, Nebula and Black Widow, not a fan of how Thor, Hulk were treated. Sure Thonas was tough but he didnt seem to have that wisdom from Infinity War.

Can't question the box office numbers, they are spectacular. I was expecting an excellent movie and I saw one that was perhaps good at best. Maybe I was just expecting too much. Infinity War was a far superior movie in my opinion.

Am I on point or am I way off mark?

[–] NorrinRad (5019) 5 years ago

When you ask if you are on point what does that mean?

Each person takes away from a movie what they might bring in to the movie as well as any expectations that they might have for the movie. As a culmination of a "Saga" there are many things that you didn't mention that one might think you would have noticed in the three hour run-time.

You speak to a 30 Minute potentially unneeded length of time and the first hour being slow. The first hour has moments of non-action but build the overall emotional arcs of the film and refresh stories told in previous films. Those moments may or may not add to your experience with Endgame and those characters as the movie is very much character driven first and action adventure last.

Comparisons to Return of The King are for those who may have seen Return of The King or any movie with opposing forces pitched in battle with Ebbs and Flows. The treatment of fan favorites is very POV driven and are decidedly unexpected in this film but fulfill a multi story character arc. Subverting expectation is a hallmark for most good films and can be quite controversial for some characters. See BvS for an example.

If the story doesn't or didn't follow your favorite character or lure you into following a different character it is hard to say if the film carried you along for the ride. For those following along without cliff-notes or a cheat sheet Avengers:Endgame can seem like a cluttered too busy unattached experience.

What did I just watch?

For many it was and is a highly emotional experience. Your mileage did vary.

Last thought. Because A:E is a deeply packed story, 2nd and 3rd viewings have proven to be quite rewarding for many along with a desire to watch (and of course own) when the media is released for home viewing. You will find many who will say they will never watch A:E again but I am NOT one of them.

There is the term "Fan Service" that some throw around as a pejorative but the Fan Service for this film is a penultimate reward for audiences. All of those little moments that the writers have included both visual and spoken are just outstanding.

[–] wozi (41) 5 years ago

I only came away from the movie a couple of hours ago, perhaps I need to digest it a little more. My observations were just the things that came to the forefront and that stayed with me. Simply wanted to throw a few examples of flaws and tiumphs (in my opinion of course). I could have gone into more depth about the running time and why I felt it slow etc but the longer posts tend to get ignored.

I was just hoping to see what the general consensus was, you seem a reasoned and rational person, how did you feel about it?

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

you are entitled to your preferences.
if you don't dig it, then you don't dig it.
i loved endgame, think it's just about as good as it could have been. i think the first two hours are just about perfect, and it's ending had a genuine emotional punch. it moved me in a way no other mcu or really any other wide released blockbuster has.

my only gripe with it, and it's a gripe i have with almost all large scale films these days, is that when the grand action scene comes, it becomes a bit of a chaotic cgi blur that leaves me feeling a bit underwhelmed.
i think the final hour of endgame is filled with thrilling, exciting moments, and it's probably the best extended action scene in the mcu, yet it still at times left me feeling like i was watching pixels instead of people, watching weightless special effects. as i said, i certainly don't single eg out for that criticism, and it's far from the worst offender, but it is the one element of the film that slightly let me down.

[–] wozi (41) 5 years ago

Don't disagree about CGI battles - filmmakers are trying to create bigger scenes all the time so much so that it becomes sensory overload. The scene in Aquaman particularly springs to mind. Although I didnt have a major problem with the battle scene in this one.

[–] Jehosaphet (1055) 5 years ago

Nope, you pretty much just echoed my own sentiments.
I hate coming across as that one guy, who has to poo-poo stuff everyone else is raving about, that's just not me. But yeah I'm with you on this one.
My reasoning on it was that Infinity War was just THAT superb of a movie, that anything that came after it was going to have a helluva time coming close to that kind of amazing. The pacing was great, the set pieces, the dialogue, humor...that movie was a diamond IMO.
If movies were apparel, Infinity War was that sleek leather outfit that Trinity wore in the opening scene of The Matrix. Endgame was more like what Cinderella wore around the house. Okay, not really, but...yeah, definitely not as nice and less fitting. And no, this analogy doesn't really work and I'm not sure why I chose it. But yeah, Endgame had some issues.

The worse for me, and this is probably pretty nitpicky, but it was when Pepper showed up in an Iron Man suit, with that SUPER-dramatic entrance. BOOM...there she is. Gwyneth Paltrow. Creator of Goop, seller of overpriced snake-oil items...Gwyneth friggin Paltrow. Not sure why, but that moment made me feel childish...took me completely out of the movie.

Anyway, good post. And great movie by any other standards, but not so much at all when compared with Infinity War.