Timothy Johnson
Lantern Staff
Avengers: Endgame is a movie with a slow, while still important, first act, that gives the moviegoer one of the greatest third acts in the history of film. Seriously, there may have not been a better way to end this film. The third act is such a work of heart it makes the view forget that they almost fell asleep in the first act. On the note of the first act, it was slow, but it still had many meaningful heartfelt scenes that needed to happen. This first act was carried almost entirely by Robert Downey Jr.’s (Iron Man) incredible acting. He should be considered for an Oscar for his performance in Avengers: Endgame. The raw emotion that he projects is truly heart wrenching at moments, as he deals with the losses suffered in the preceding movie (Avengers: Infinity War). The second act was hilarious. The Russo brothers wisely went in a comedic direction, making the second act action-packed and just flat out fun.
The characters in this film were phenomenal. It really seemed like the actors went the extra mile to give even the more forgettable members of the team more memorability. For instance, Jeremy Renner does an excellent job as Hawkeye, who has long been a very forgettable member of the avengers team. However, Renner’s acting combined with proficient writing truly imbuing this character with much more charisma than has been seen in previous entries to the Marvel universe. Chris Evans as Captain America delivers once again as always. Additionally, Scarlet Johansson was great as Black Widow, giving a very solid performance as she continually has in all of the Marvel films she’s been in. Nothing will be spoiled here, but Thor (Chris Hemsworth) was great in this film and incredibly hilarious. The film just has to be watched to understand the comedic genius involved in the writing of Thor’s character in Avengers: Endgame. While also being funny, Thor is once again a worthy opponent of Thanos’.
It was Thanos though that once again stole the show every second he was on screen. The brilliant writing infused with Josh Brolin’s phenomenal acting once again gave Thanos that complexity that made him so good in Avengers: Infinity War. Brolin perfectly maintains the duplicity of Thanos’ character, which demands sympathy, but is horrifically evil beneath the surface, for who would so mercilessly torture their own daughter like Thanos did to Nebula (Karen Gillan) all her life. Only the mind of a truly evil being would do that.
This movie is exceptionally good. While Avengers: Endgame does drag a bit at the beginning, those scenes were still relevant to the story and carried an occasional extra punch when Robert Downey Jr. was acting. This film earns itself a solid eight stars.
