Avengers: Endgame (2019)

20190428:
Avengers: Endgame is the big finisher to a decade of films. It takes place right after Avengers: Infinity War and it was impossible for me no to go watch it. In fact, I have been so busy around the house watching my son that I jumped at the first chance I had to watch the film: the evening of April 27, 2019. However, out of all the showings available at the theater near me, I was only satisfied with the seat availability and theater size of the last showing at two o'clock in the morning (i.e., April 28, 2019 02:00 AM). Living close to the theater, I went at nine to buy the tickets and a good number of people were coming to buy tickets but learning they were sold out.


After watching the film, I thought about my decision to watch it at the last showing. Pros: seat at a great angle (seating is reserved), no one sitting in front of me, reactions are more personal (not induced by crowd), and skip all the needless clapping (can sometimes be annoying). Cons: I had to stay up late at night (I brought a can of Monster), missed out on a full crowd which can be full of energy, and the bar had closed. Having gone alone, I should have considered a less optimal seating position (there were a handful of single seats in reasonable locations) at an earlier show time.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS TO FOLLOW*
*Normally I black out spoilers, but I may have missed something or the reader might consider some information to be a spoiler which I did not consider. As such, I'm playing it safe and asking readers to proceed at their own risk.

Moving on to the movie itself, the main problem I had with this viewing was that I didn't go into it with the right mindset. What I was expecting to see was a good story that gave characters onscreen time proportional to their strengths (e.g., more Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel). Instead, I needed to bear in mind that this was an Avengers movie, and it makes sense that the movie focuses on the original (MCU) Avengers: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Hulk (although the Hulk probably got the short end of the stick in this regard).

I generally hate films whose primary plot device is time travel. This movie is no exception.

SPOILERS

Favorite Moments:
All-female frontline
Ancient One
Thor and "I like this one."
Iron Man vs. Thanos
Captain America wields hammer

Are these plotholes?
1) Thanos not being returned to his reality.
2) Did Thanos transport his entire army? That's what it looks like when I was watching the film. But it doesn't make sense.
3) Could the Soul Stone be returned in exchange for a soul?

Trailers: 21 Bridges: Chadwick Boseman; the trailer doesn't tell me much about the movie | Gemini Man: was CG used to make Will Smith look younger? | Hobbs & Shaw: Hahaha, Access Denied | Men in Black: International | Dark Phoenix: What's even canon in the X-Men universe? | Long Shot: trailer was preceded by a clip of Rogen talking about The Avengers: Endgame | Detective Pikachu | The Lion King: some big names listed as voices | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

[20190504 Edit]

20190504:
I originally planned to roam around the internet looking for questions regarding the plot of Endgame. But as I soon learned, most questions revolve around the shitty time traveling and attempting to answer them was pure torture. As such, I decided to stop just before I got knee deep.

Instant Comments:
Before the movie started:
Good thing I set an alarm.
Although I arrived early, the bar was already closed and there was a long wait for the employees to clean up. They let us in at 1:56 AM.
I was seated at K14, and I would have preferred K13 except that K12 was occupied and I preferred the elbow room (kind of like using every other stall/urinal in a restroom).
Hmm. The viewing angle of the front row of this back section is good, but if someone were to sit in the back row of the next section, it might be worse. In other words, from a height perspective, it might be best to be in the back row of the middle section.
The previews start at exactly 2:00 AM. They end at 2:23 AM.

WARNING. SPOILERS.

SPOILERS.

Barton loses his family in the snap.
Hehe. Nebula and Stark play paper football.
Different from the trailer (this is the first trailer I saw - Iron Man talks to his helmet), but still sad.
Hehe. Captain Marvel.
"50% of all living creatures."
Haha. Build-a-Bear
Captain Marvel doesn't flinch. "I like this one." (I saw this in one of the trailers, but it felt different.)
Interesting, I thought the Captain Marvel end credits scene would be included in Avengers: Endgame.
"I went for the head."
Five years later. (ah okay, I was wondering how Barton had time to transform)
Half is still a lot though, for humans [I'm not sure why I made this comment. I'd have to watch the movie again to know for sure.]
LOL. Saved by a rat!?! Ridiculous.
Ken Jeong is the Security Guard
What a slow scene (Black Widow and Captain America)
So the trailers for Scott are misleading (or at least out of context)
Five hours
"Mom never wears anything I buy her."
Muahahaha. "I'm wearing shirts now."
LOL. Dab.
Peed himself. Comedy.
"Let me guess, you turned into a baby."
Smile. Hulk gives tacos to Scott.
New Asgard.
Hahahahaha. Fat Thor.
Haha. Thor uses his ax as a bottle opener.
"You look like _(?) ice cream."
"There's beer on the ship." "What kind?"
"What I want, you can't give me."
List of time travel movies. Die Hard. Haha, the ensuing conversation.
New York 2012 (Avengers)
Ancient One!
"Five years too early."
My question is how do the obtain the stones without disturbing reality? [My question is eventually answered]
I looked down and missed what people were laughing about (Loki did something)
He doesn't remember _(?)
Morag 2014. Nebula
So far it seems like a closed loop timeline, which would imply that no one will bring any stones back!?!
America's ass.
Probably not closed loop, Captain America is fighting with himself. He would have remembered doing so.
Oh, Captain America used the scepter on his past self. So a closed loop is still possible.
Interesting. Proposes returning stones.
"Why the hell would he give it away?"
Stan Lee cameo?
SHIELD
His dad...
Oh I get it. They use their one way trip to get more for a return trip.
"The better good has rarely outweighed by my own self interest."
Carter
Gets to hug and thank his dad.
Jarvis.
I guess this is where Gamora learns about the Soul Stone. Closed loop.
Interesting Soul Stone. Due to Hawkeye's new character, it's likely that he would live, but it's a matter of how.
Rocket. "Booo!"
People laugh at Cheez Whiz.
(4:25 AM) Snap!?!
What a moment.
Perhaps Nebula already switched back, we'll have to see.
Hehe. "You lose this again, I'm keeping it."
Dual wield.
Kind of like good-cop-bad-cop.
Captain America is worthy. "I knew it." - Thor
Through Vibranium??? [Oh, the MCU wiki says it's "nearly indestructible."]
During the scene where "Thanos loss arm_(?)," I noted "Where is Strange!?! Give me Strange!!!" [While there are iconic MCU characters like Iron Man and Thor, I'm a fan of Doctor Strange.]
Ha! Soon after I asked for Strange the orange magic appears
Some shouts for Spider-Man (small number of viewers in the theater) [which makes me kind of wish I went to one of the full showings and suck it up and sit in a crappier seat]
Pepper! [I was expecting this after it was foreshadowed by Tony: his child was wearing the helmet which Tony gifted to Pepper. Presumably there was a full suit that went with it]
Avengers Assemble
Huh. No one g_(?) me there.
Haha. Yellow sparkly(?) thing(?).
"Choices were him or a tree."
Oh right, Captain Marvel [the fact that was she was missing from so much of the movie is initially upsetting; however, I read a comment somewhere that made sense: she was off helping many other worlds affected by the snap, but she made her way to the field of battle as soon as the snap was reversed; it would have taken her a while]
Some clapping.
All-women front line. Nice! [one of my favorite scenes in the movie; also a good sign of the future of the MCU]
Honestly though, does Captain Marvel need assistance, lol.
Ah, it does seem like some cover fire does help as she makes her way through the enemy forces
Hmm. Maybe Captain Marvel isn't as powerful as she was made to appear
"And I am... Iron Man."
He leaves Thanos alive. Oh, never mind.
Move aside for his wife, kid. LOL
Five years past... so it's possible that some of Peter's friends are five years older. Though the scene shows that Ned, like Peter, disappeared in the snap
Quite a shot of the remaining cast
(5:05 AM) Lots of close stories(?)
Asgardians of the Galaxy [My original note says "Guardians of the Galaxy" but I later read that Thor was making a joke which is also a reference to an actual team in the Marvel Universe]
He decided to live in the past with Carter? [Ugh. I hate this ending because it seems out of character for Captain America and it reveals that the time travel plot is poorly thought out; case in point, the writers and directors disagree on whether Captain America is in an alternate reality or not]
Captain America hands it off to Falcon, but Captain America has soldier serum. What makes Falcon capable of wielding Captain America's shield? [Apparently both Falcon and Bucky have been Captain America in the comics]
This Captain America ending is dumb.
(5:15 AM) The credits begin rolling. I list my favorite moments in the film.

Credits:
Signatures for the original (MCU) Avengers: Hawkeye, Black Widow, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man
Performance capture

Released 20190426
Watched 20190428 Theaters.
Avengers: Endgame (2019) Anthony Russo, Joe Russo. 181 min

Relevant Links:
Avengers: Endgame (IMDb.com)
Avengers: Endgame (RottenTomatoes.com)
Avengers: Endgame (Wikipedia.org)

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