Film

Critics Are Calling ‘Avengers: Endgame’ The Best Superhero Movie Ever Made

The reviews are in.

by Joseph Earp  24 April 2019
List of Avengers: Endgame films you need to watch

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Well, the day is almost upon us: Avengers: Endgame, the conclusion to the first stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s multi-property entertainment takeover, is finally drawing to a close.

A lot has changed since the MCU launched with Iron Man eleven years ago — Donald Trump is the President now, Disney owns pretty much every franchise under the sun, and the very nature of big budget blockbusters has irreversibly changed. Movies don’t make millions anymore, they make billions, and if a film can’t launch an entire string of sequels behind it, it’s considered a failure.

Speaking of movies making billions, according to estimates, Avengers: Endgame is set to make $300 million this weekend. If it clears that benchmark, the film would make box office history for the biggest first weekend ever.

Indeed, it’s safe to assume that the film will crush that record, and a bunch of others too — by the end of its commercial run, it wouldn’t be surprising if it overtook Avatar‘s $2.7 billion and became the highest grossing film of all time.

But commercial performance is one thing — what about the critics? Well, looks like things are going to similarly dominate there; if the word coming out of the premiere is anything to go by, this one will largely be a hit with reviewers as well.

“Best Superhero Movie Ever”

Avengers: Endgame has a lot of narrative threads it needs to put to bed. Over the course of some three hours, the film’s got to tidy up dozens upon dozens of character arcs, keep things both serious but suitably light, ensure the stakes remain high without ever letting the tone slip into self-parody, and generally keep many millions of Marvel fans happy.

But that’s just the thing — according to some critics, the film has done exactly that.

Scott Wampler of Birth. Movies. Death has applauded the film, calling it “about as strong an ending as you could ask for”, and praising its “emotional beats and moments of triumph.”

Lindsay Romain of Nerdist is similarly impressed, calling it fantastic, while Erik Davis of Fandago has referred to it as the brains to Infinity War‘s brawn.

Some are keeping their reactions a little more simple, and are claiming Avengers: Endgame is nothing less but the “greatest superhero movie ever”, which sounds like Spider-Man 2 erasure to me.

This Thing’s Gonna Get Emotional

Another thread throughout the critical responses reveals that Avengers: Endgame has a massive amount of emotional heft. That’s not such a surprise, exactly, given that the expiring contracts of some of the film’s key players means that some of your favourite heroes are absolutely going to die.

But the level of emotion that some critics have admitted to feeling does make Endgame an unusual proposition — a superhero movie that will actually make you bawl your eyes out.

Beatrice Verhoeven of The Wrap admitted to crying “a lot”, Maude Garrett of Geekbomb couldn’t stop the tears long after she left the cinema, and Peter Scrietta of Slashfilm called out the impeccable “fan service” — as well as noting exactly how many times he blubbed.

All in all, it sounds like Avengers: Endgame is a treat. The film opens in Australian cinemas today, so get ready to experience the whole three-hour shebang yourself.

Oh, and what would a critic review round-up be without a little check in with Ben Mekler, the comedian who has spent the last few years writing deliciously ersatz Twitter reactions that somehow keep getting included in articles like this?

Beautiful.