Endgame Thoughts

Just a couple thoughts about Endgame.

I've watched it a couple times at home now, and a couple thoughts:

A lot of people are hollering about a couple of Oscar Nominations for the flick, and I think there are areas for consideration (I would champion the screenplay, for sure, and might even listen to an argument for direction, though I'm not in that camp currently).  A lot of folks think Jeremy Renner deserves a nomination for Supporting Actor.  And while I enjoy Renner as a performer, I found his performance...I dunno....uneven?  Quite good in parts, yes...the relief his face shows when he sees his phone ringing after Hulk's snap, especially.  But I felt the only true dip in quality of the movie comes in his and Scarlett Johansson's meeting with Red Skull....it's the only scene that didn't seem to hit home with me, for some reason.

If we're talking performances, we really ought to dig into Chris Evans and Josh Brolin's performances....Evans playing straightlaced across seven flicks and having a bit of nuance there?  That's hard.  And Josh Brolin just knocks it out of the park....and being able to show so much with just his eyes, basically. 

And I wouldn't argue too much if they wanted to throw Robert Downey Jr.'s name into the mix.  As a lifetime achievement sort of thing.  I mean, I don't know that Iron Man would have worked in 2008 without his charisma.  And without that, I don't know that you get the green light for the rest of this whole shebang.

I think I've watched the movie six times now.  And that final battle is truly an awesome bit of moviemaking.  Waiting 22 movies to say "Avengers Assemble" was a nice touch. 

This time around, I was struck and a little moved by having Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts show up in the Rescue armor.  (A digression about Paltrow, who has admitted to not watching/caring much for the movies, and her performance....I respect the performances a lot because she brought so much to the table....there are a couple of actresses out there who you can almost see "slumming it" in their performances in other genre flicks....and Natalie Portman is highest on that list.  Paltrow shows up, and holds up her end of the bargain without winking at anything or anyone, and she's one of the strongest bits of the flick, and an MVP in the whole 23 movie effort).

I love the relationship between Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch.  Their conversation in Age of Ultron is one of the few highpoints in one of the few Marvel flicks that just has not aged well for me.  Seeing that relationship grow across a couple other flicks, and getting moment of reflection at the end of the flick was a good moment....

Yeah.  I've gotten a little misty-eyed when Peter and Tony meet up again.  A few times.

Just a great flick.  A gratifying one.  My friend Ryan said something really cool:  they made these movies out of stories that we got tolerated for reading, and laughed at sometimes, and made them so that everybody can enjoy them.  And that's an awesome thought.....