By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs And Rickey B. Combs
Here?s the thing. My husband Rickey is a huge Marvel Comics fan. Not the real geeky, collector of figurines, T-shirt wearing, gotta go to San Diego's Comic-Con every year sort of fanboy, but the kind who grew up reading Marvel comic books and watching all the Marvel cartoons. He still does the latter on occasion.
He knows all the back-story on the major and even minor Marvel characters. If only I could get him to love horror films as much, but that?s another story. Honestly, I?ve got to admit, he?s enlightened and opened my eyes to the entire Marvel Comics Universe.
Now, I?ve even started to collect a few of the action figures, like Black Panther, Thor, Falcon and Erik Killmonger. He?s made writing about these movies much more enjoyable too.
So, we decided to have a little fun and ?assemble? to write a joint review of
?Avengers: Endgame.?
We can?t give too much of the plot away because you really do need to be blown away without us dishing on the film?s biggest surprises. Although by now, the cat is out of the bag. The biggest reveal from us is that ?Avengers: Endgame? is phenomenal and we both loved it.
For three hours and one minute,
?Avengers: Endgame? will dazzle, delight, shock, sadden and yet leave you completely fulfilled. It?s an emotional roller-coaster ride. Yes, it lives up to aIl the hype. And if this is indeed the end, well, what a fantastic finish.
?Avengers: Endgame? is the sequel to 2012's ?The Avengers,? ?Avengers: Age of Ultron? (2015) and ?Avengers: Infinity War (2018). It?s also the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
What directors
Joe and Anthony Russo (?Avengers: Infinity War?) and screenwriters
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (?Avengers: Infinity War?) have created and captured on screen is masterful.
?Avengers: Endgame? triumphs on so many levels. Perhaps the film?s most notable achievement is how it seamlessly blends multiple storylines in such spectacular fashion.
When we last saw Thanos (Josh Brolin) in ?Avengers: Infinity War,? he had turned half of the Marvel universe and more than a few of its beloved characters into dust with a mere snap of his finger. The six Infinity Stones and gauntlet he possesses have made him a powerful and feared man.
However, this fool and his vicious army must be stopped.
But, are there even enough Avengers left to assemble and get the job done?
Well, there?s Ironman/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr, ?Avengers: Infinity War?) who is floating out in space, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson, ?Captain Marvel?) is looking all depressed and sitting around eating lame peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The once-hunky and handsome Thor (Chris Hemsworth,?Avengers: Infinity War? and ?Bad Times at the El Royale?) is now a hot mess with dirty hair and a beer belly to boot.
Captain Marvel (Sacramento?s own Brie Larson, ?Captain Marvel?) still has her hands full with other planets and galaxies to tend to. Captain America (Chris Evans, ?Captain Marvel?) is trying to help people cope with the tragic turn of events. Meanwhile, Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, ?Avengers: Infinity War? and ?Spotlight?) is still intimidating but has scaled down the brawn. He?s a hipster Brainiac and kind of has his anger issues under control. Oh, and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) has gone rogue.
So, at first blush, you wonder if any of these Avengers have anything left in the tank to save the world from Thanos? dominance.
It sure doesn?t seem like it until Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd, ?Ant-Man and the Wasp?) of all people comes out of the Quantum Realm with an idea that just might work. He?s created a type of time machine that would allow the Avengers to travel back in time and gather the Infinity Stones before Thanos does. Yet, there are some major and hilarious kinks that need to be worked out with the time machine before they can implement their plan.
It takes the mastermind and ultimate electromechanical tinkerer, Ironman (Downey Jr.) to perfect the time machine and set this plan in motion. And once it?s done, ?Avengers:Endgame? becomes a marvelous adventure culminating with an epic battle scene that brings together Marvel superheroes, including its mightiest female warriors?like Wakanda?s Okoye (Danai Gurira, ?Black Panther? ) and Shuri (Letitia Wright, ?Black Panther).
?Avengers: Endgame? really has everything you?d expect from a grand finale. The action sequences are astounding. There is plenty of humor too which comes courtesy of Rocket, (Bradley Cooper, ?A Star is Born?), War Machine (Don Cheadle, TV?s ?Ratched?), Thor (Hemsworth) and Hulk (Ruffalo).
The one thing fans don?t get this time around are those highly anticipated post-credit scenes, but don?t worry. If you?re still in need of a Marvel superhero fix after ?Avengers: Endgame,? hang on. ?Spider-Man: Far from Home? swings into theaters July 5.
Editor's Note: Be sure to catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays now at 6:20 p.m. on radio station KFBK 1530 AM and 93.1 FM.
Check Out This Trailer For
"AVENGERS: ENDGAME"
Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of The Broadcast Film Critics? Association (BFCA), The Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC), The Alliance Of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.
