Avengers: Endgame

There is no doubt about the fact that the realization possibilities of a Hollywood blockbuster are at their peak. An expertly crafted ride that has no time to hesitate or fumble. But it lacked emotionally for me more than I was willing to admit at first. The anticipation of Thanos' uncompromising body count disappears at the snap of a finger, and where others had tears rolling down their faces, I just sat nervously. In that spectacular wringer of emotions, I actually enjoyed one very unexpected emotion when the two grown men just chat on the way to the car. The rest passed me by. Kevin Feige will be taught about someday. Hats off to him. (05/06/2019)

If I were to look at it as a separate film, then I would have reservations about the lengthiness of the first (dramatic) third. God forbid, I could get bogged down in the time paradoxes of the second third, and God forbid I could be offended by the sentiment of the final third. But The Avengers are in a category for themselves, and blaming them for not being coherent doesn't make much sense. The films combine so many characters, positions and partial motifs that I can't think of a better solution than the similarly conceived 182-minute catharsis. If we start to see Endgame as a season finale, everything suddenly makes perfect sense. The focus on the key characters in order to give their existence absolution, the way in which elements of nostalgia (Endgame is a matrix of memories of previous films) are humorously inserted into the action, and even the epic climax that has the emotional impact of a falling meteorite. There is a feeling that there is a plan behind everything, which is so lacking in DC. The individual pieces fit into a jigsaw puzzle, and if you want one example, use Thor. I don't expect ground-breaking thoughts, formal stimuli or psychological depth from Marvel. I expect satisfaction. If anything comes after Endgame, it's a feeling of pleasant satiety. It may not be a generational Star Wars caliber event, but it's still more than a dignified end to hours of fun and years of honest work. If Nolan's Batman showed us that a super protagonist must be human to the point that he ceases to be super, the Avengers insist that he can be both. It may be naive, but it is uplifting. (04/24/2019)

For the first time, Marvel has made a solid comic book drama with existential overtones instead of a flat CGI fest about the destruction of the world, and everyone's completely stoked. Easily watchable, character-driven, with a delightfully sentimental finale. The catharsis of Captain America's character outweighs the others, though it's hard to say whether intentionally or not, while the time travel with all its paradoxes – equals an annoying pile of bullshit, as usual. (05/11/2019)

Avengers assemble! A crushing beginning, a pile of iconic moments, where whispers of disbelief mixed with deafening silence spread through the cinema, three movies in one, the best performances in eleven years (Robert Downey, Jr., Jeremy Renner), and a phenomenal conclusion that defies even the most daring expectations. In a way, three hours is too little, because those three hours are so full of glory that even a few days after the screening, I am still only retrospectively recalling fascinating scenes that were cautiously concealed under my first impressions. Definitely the movie of the year and, in terms of its pop culture impact, also a well-deserved, undeniable, extremely moving, and – precisely due to the intimacy of individual interactions – the unrivalled event of the decade. (04/24/2019)

Years ago, Marvel films were all the same for me. It is unbelievable how much the whole Marvel universe evolved, and I’ve gradually grown fond of even the characters I originally disliked. The climax came with this installment of Avengers, which I consider worthy of the walk of fame for films in Hollywood Boulevard. This is the ultimate filmmaking epic. For ten years the American filmmakers shower you with comic-book-based movies, just so everything connects into one endlessly awesome final battle against Thanos, probably the scariest adversary of comic book heroes ever. His goal is not to create evil, but to establish neutrality and the worst thing is that he has some solid arguments and fully believes in them. I had so much respect for this guy. I have also enjoyed the three hours long experience that had a good premise and message, entertained me and most of all, it gave enough space to every hero, which deserves applause. To put together all of this must have taken an enormous amount of work and I am happy I can award it today with the ultimate five stars. I could try to find some faults with it, but why would I do it? It was awesome! (05/09/2019)