Avengers: Endgame

Avengers assemble! A crushing beginning, a pile of iconic moments, where whispers of disbelief mixed with deafening silence spread through the cinema, three movies in one, the best performances in eleven years (Robert Downey, Jr., Jeremy Renner), and a phenomenal conclusion that defies even the most daring expectations. In a way, three hours is too little, because those three hours are so full of glory that even a few days after the screening, I am still only retrospectively recalling fascinating scenes that were cautiously concealed under my first impressions. Definitely the movie of the year and, in terms of its pop culture impact, also a well-deserved, undeniable, extremely moving, and – precisely due to the intimacy of individual interactions – the unrivalled event of the decade. (24/04/2019)

I'm not a big fan of comic book CGI coloring books, but I have to capitulate here. Especially thanks to the middle section, when it clicks together beautifully like a sophisticated jigsaw puzzle that recalls all the previous Marvel movies, and the film rolls out such incredible fan service that it's almost admirable. That and the last nostalgic quarter of an hour will actually show how the suits from Marvel have it perfectly thought out in advance, even ten or fifteen years in advance. A perfectly tuned machine that is unparalleled in today's film studio constellation. Kevin Feige is a stud. (06/05/2019)

There is no doubt about the fact that the realization possibilities of a Hollywood blockbuster are at their peak. An expertly crafted ride that has no time to hesitate or fumble. But it lacked emotionally for me more than I was willing to admit at first. The anticipation of Thanos' uncompromising body count disappears at the snap of a finger, and where others had tears rolling down their faces, I just sat nervously. In that spectacular wringer of emotions, I actually enjoyed one very unexpected emotion when the two grown men just chat on the way to the car. The rest passed me by. Kevin Feige will be taught about someday. Hats off to him. (06/05/2019)

On the one hand, I'm glad the Russos broke the sequel rule of "cram more in than last time" and went a different route. But the truth is that this path is going more towards comic book fans than people who have no idea what Ant-Man's real name is... but they're not going to the cinema anyway, so what? Endgame manages to shock a few times in the first ten minutes, only to evolve in a direction that the trailers practically didn't even hint at. The directing duo conceived the whole thing in a much more intimate fashion this time around, relying heavily on fan service and clearly wanting to give each of the superhero veterans plenty of space. The humour is not absent this time either, but it's nice that the heroes are still aware that they screwed up last time and everyone has to deal with it in their own way. This more intimate mode suits the Avengers and makes things happen that even the most optimistic fans probably didn't hope for. Ironically, though, it's also the biggest problem, because it doesn't really start to get spectacular until the end. In sheer magnificence, Infinity War probably trumps Endgame, but I still felt like the whole thing could have come a little sooner. I enjoyed it a little more last time, but I can't imagine putting Infinity War on in a few years and saying I don't give a shit about Endgame. All in all, it works practically perfectly. And as a farewell to an era of cinema, more than worthy as well. (27/04/2019)

For the first time, Marvel has made a solid comic book drama with existential overtones instead of a flat CGI fest about the destruction of the world, and everyone's completely stoked. Easily watchable, character-driven, with a delightfully sentimental finale. The catharsis of Captain America's character outweighs the others, though it's hard to say whether intentionally or not, while the time travel with all its paradoxes – equals an annoying pile of bullshit, as usual. (11/05/2019)