Marvel’s last “Avengers” film has the world in tears.
After “Avengers: Endgame” opened to a record-breaking weekend at the box office, raking in $1.2 billion worldwide, the film made audiences laugh, applaud, cry, and even require medical assistance: One fan in China had to go to the hospital after bawling so hard during the film that she began to hyperventilate.
Even Captain America actor Chris Evans said he cried “like six times” during the film. One super fan responded to the story with a viral tweet saying, “i cried once. but it lasted during the entire movie.”
NJ.com features reporter Jeremy Schneider couldn’t hold back tears, either. He wrote an article titled, “‘Avengers: Endgame’ made me cry like a freaking toddler. Here’s why.” The “why” was “an almost flawless conclusion to a seemingly impossible mission, with an incredible payoff.”
After 11 years and 21 films, Marvel Studios has worked toward the culmination of all its superhero storylines in “Endgame.” Considering the amount of content it had to address, the film was destined to disappoint some fans. But by the looks of it, most of them are satisfied.
Critics have grumbled that the movie “narrows the inner lives of the characters” or is too juvenile, an odd complaint to lodge at a superhero flick whose goal is to cater to all ages for the highest commercial (and merchandise-promoting) success. But if the box office numbers, the positive reviews, and the profusion of tears say anything, “Endgame” has more than succeeded at its task.
With minor spoilers, I’ll say that the film is full of nods to previous films and conclusions to nagging plot points. It had a lot to tackle, and with a three-hour runtime, it did its best to celebrate some of America’s favorite fictional heroes.
In many ways, the film gave audiences exactly what they wanted. Of course, there’s an epic battle, but the denouement is really where the story’s strength lies. We don’t watch the “Avengers” films just for cool fight scenes (we have “Pacific Rim” and “Transformers” for that). We watch “Avengers” for its characters, to see the relationships between Iron Man and Captain America, Thor and Captain Marvel.
As the dust settles on their last fight, the Avengers readdress their relationships with the rest of the world and with each other. Ant-Man reunites with his family, and Thor re-emerges as Star-Lord’s humorous foil. Each character is put imperfectly in his or her place, but the viewer may not mind the occasional plot hole because the journey is so satisfying.
Despite its flaws, the film gives fans the type of heart-wrenching, gratifying conclusion they wanted. “Avengers: Endgame” may be “just a superhero movie,” but that doesn’t mean it can’t bring you to tears.
