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Avengers: Endgame (2019)

I have to admit, I have been reading a lot of discussions and speculations after watching Avengers: Infinity War in my excitement to see the next instalment, Avengers: Endgame. And then I stopped when the movie started showing in the cinemas because I didn't want to come across advanced information and actually spoil the surprise for myself. The only advance information I checked was about movie length and the best times to take a toilet break while watching the three-hour film.

Right after its opening weekend, I went to the cinema to watch it, finally. People were still flocking the theatres to see it... the audience reception suggests that this movie is probably going to break records like Black Panther and Infinity War... or even Avatar (just the top-grossing movie of all time so far).

I was excited to watch Endgame because (1) it's the end of a series of movies that I thoroughly enjoyed; (2) I was so shocked with the Infinity War ending and I wanted to see how those who remained (the original Avengers team) handled defeat.

The movie could be divided into three parts. The first part was all about how people coped with Thanos' decimation using the Infinity Gauntlet (I was shocked with how swiftly they caught up with Thanos... and actually thought that the movie would end there). The second part was all about how the Avengers devised a solution to bring back what they've lost (yes, the MCU's rules for time travel were quite different from those of Back to the Future). And the third part was about the second round of fighting with Thanos and his minions. Doctor Strange saw more than 14 million alternative scenarios and this, hopefully, was the one in which the Avengers would win. The movie's writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, created a well-developed and suspenseful story that did not divulge until the very end if this was that one endgame that Doctor Strange foresaw.

As I watched the scenes in Endgame unfold, I remembered the scene in Infinity War in which the young Gamora in the Soul World asked Thanos, "What did it cost?" And he replied, "Everything." This attitude about his sacrifice (he threw Gamora into the pit in Vormir to get the Soul Stone, after all) mirrored the Avengers' state of mind: they were willing to recoup their losses "whatever it takes."

It was an emotionally charged film for fans. In the three hours, people in the cinema cried, cheered, and gasped as the characters took one unexpected turn after another. The story arcs of the original Avengers (Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Hawkeye) came full circle as they took their destinies into their own hands and found catharses at various points of the movie. Iron Man and Black Widow found their peace by sacrificing their lives for the greater good. Captain America found his by actually giving himself a chance to live. Hawkeye drew strength and happiness from seeing his family back after the Hulk's snap. Thor, who let go of his weight because of his failures, found peace in embracing his destiny: he was not built to be a king; rather, he was an adventurer and a defender... a guardian. And Hulk? By being able to live both as Bruce Banner and the Hulk in one body, he no longer had outbursts of extreme anger. He was, among the group, the understated hero. Without him, it wouldn't have been possible to un-snap what Thanos did..

I finally understood why people want to discuss the movie ad infinitum right after watching it and why the cast and crew discourage posting spoilers online. My friends and I opted not to talk about it until everyone has watched it. As I wait, I wonder what's next for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If Infinity War was an initiation to the newer members of the Avengers, Endgame felt like a graduation of sorts. It heralded the passing of the torch to the newer heroes, giving them a chance for the character development they deserve.

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As of May 19th, the box office sales of Avengers: Endgame has reached over USD 770M in the US market and USD 2.6B globally, making it the second highest grossing movie in the whole world without adjusting for inflation.
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