00:00Before we're done, we still have one promise to keep.
00:06Marvel and Disney's Avengers Endgame is almost here, signalling the conclusion of a
00:10superhero story that's been building since 2008's Iron Man and, according to the
00:14majority of critics, it does a pretty solid job of wrapping up its plotlines in its
00:18three-hour and 58-second runtime. Writes THR's own Todd McCarthy in his review
00:22with a follow-up to 2018's Infinity War,
00:24although there's loads of action and confrontations, what's distinctive here in
00:28contrast to most of the earlier Marvel films are the moments of doubt, regret and
00:32uncertainty, along with the desire of some characters to move on. Granted, this is
00:36almost always undercut and or cut short by some emergency that pulls them right back
00:40in, and decisive action always remains paramount. But there is growth here.
00:45Matt Singer of Screen Crush, however, feels that Endgame is actually lighter fare than
00:48Infinity War, which he felt verged on depressing at times. Writes Singer,
00:52even with the fate of half of the universe riding in the balance, Endgame
00:56maintains a buoyant, bantering vibe that's closer to the spirit of the first Avengers from
01:002012 than either of its previous sequels. For her part, Susanna Polo from Polygon
01:05agrees on the lightness of the tone, musing,
01:08times when Endgame drops back into the bleakness of Infinity War, then rescues itself.
01:12There is still no getting around the fact that three hours is too long to spend in a theater,
01:16and as with most superhero movies, the final confrontation is a bit of a mess of punching
01:20and yelling. But Endgame knows what its audience wants and delivers that without feeling like
01:24quote-unquote fan service. However, Eric Cohen from IndieWire doesn't see eye to eye with
01:29Polo on that last point, describing the superhero flick as a dense nostalgia trip, writing,
01:34Amid the noisy CGI of the final act battle, there are plenty of rousing moments,
01:38but they're all fragmentary with payoffs according to the level of viewer investment.
01:42Newcomers to the series may as well be watching a Transformers movie.
01:45Charles Barfield of the playlist seems to concur expressing his opinion that,
01:49Without going into detail, suffice it to say that you really need to have watched most,
01:53if not all, of the previous 21 films to get the most out of Marvel Studios' latest.
01:57If you're the unlucky plus one that gets dragged to opening night by your significant other
02:01having not seen any Avengers films, you're going to miss just about every emotional beat,
02:05every in-joke and every callback, of which there are many. Basically, you're completely
02:09wasting your time.
02:10While it seems that a certain amount of prior investment in the franchise would be beneficial,
02:14across the board critics agree that the Russo brothers' directed pick delivers the thrills
02:18and the action no matter what. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian sums it up this way,
02:22The sheer enjoyment and fun that the movie delivers, the pure exotic spectacle are irresistible,
02:27as it's its insouciant way of combining the serious and the comic. Without the comedy,
02:32the drama would not be palatable. Yet, without the earnest, almost childlike belief in the
02:36seriousness of what is at stake, the funny stuff would not work either.
02:39Endgame lands in theaters April 26. To read more of what the critics are saying about
02:44Marvel and Disney's Avengers Endgame, head to THR.com. For The Hollywood Reporter News,
02:49I'm Lyndsey Rodrigues.
02:52All right, I love you.
02:53All right.
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